Defend the right of pro-Israel students to vote at university against boycotting the Jewish State. Demand that UCLA resist intimidation efforts and bullying tactics employed by Students for Justice in Palestine and other anti-Israel activists.
Recently, the UCLA chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), an aggressively anti-Israel organization, went to University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) judicial court in an effort to invalidate the votes of anti-BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) students who had traveled to Israel on free trips sponsored by pro-Israel organizations. The staunch anti-Israel group asked the court to review the legitimacy of votes previously cast by two members of the judicial council, Sunny Singh and Lauren Rogers, against boycotting the State of Israel.
Students for Justice in Palestine sponsored a resolution last February that called on UCLA’s administration to divest from companies that do business in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria). That resolution failed 7-5 with the assumption being (the ballot was secret) that Singh and Rogers voted against it. During 4.5 hours of cross-examination, SJP’s student council claimed that Singh’s and Rogers’ anti-BDS votes were a quid pro quo in exchange for their free trip to Israel or at least a conflict of interest. According to an official press release, SJP claims that “through free trips and other in-kind gifts,” the pro-Israel groups “bought loyalty and influenced council votes.”
The press release added that the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee, the organizations that sponsored the trips, “have a public anti-divestment position, and are on record as encouraging students across campus to oppose divestment and other resolutions critical of the investment of university assets in the systematic violation of Palestinian human rights.”
The case, Students for Justice in Palestine v. Singh and Rogers, was unanimously rejected, with written opinions by the board to be issued on June 4. In response, Students for Justice in Palestine lashed out on Facebook and Twitter, calling the ruling “a major blow to the integrity of student government at UCLA.”
This vote is the latest in a series of defeats for Students for Justice in Palestine as Jewish and other pro-Israel students begin standing up to the organization’s over-the-top tactics. Pro-Israel students at Brooklyn College, Northeastern University, Cornell University and New York University, to name just a few, have defeated anti-Israel efforts by Students for Justice in Palestine over the past year.
Students for Justice in Palestine or Anti-Israel Agenda?
As Americans United with Israel, we must encourage students to resist intimidation efforts aimed at diminishing support for the Jewish State. Organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine, the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and the BDS movement will continue to fight to further their agenda.
Bear in mind, ‘pro-Palestinian’ is an easier slogan to sell than ‘anti-Israel,’ but make no mistake, they are one in the same.
Defend the legitimate right of Singh and Rogers to participate in the democratic process and to vote against BDS. Go to:
https://www.usac.ucla.edu/askus/index.php
Written by: Noah Alhadeff, United with Israel
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