Writer Mocks California Student Vote to Boycott Israeli-Made Hummus

The writer mocks the narrow scope of the boycott resolution and its hypocritical disregard for the real problems in the world.

By: Rachel Frommer, The Algemeiner

A California school’s student senate was mocked on Tuesday for taking “a brave and consequential step against chickpea paste,” after voting to ban Sabra hummus, an Israeli brand, from campus dining halls.

In an anonymous letter to the editor of University of California, Riverside’s student newspaper, The Highlander, the writer ridiculed the boycott of the company for its alleged financial ties to the IDF, and for showing “solidarity” with Palestinian and Muslim students by condemning the “the villain behind all” their struggles — a tasty dip.

“[I]t occurred to me, since our student senate is so good at resolving international issues and aiding the oppressed, could we, dare we, stop at hummus?” the author wrote, before suggesting that students and faculty should be prohibited from driving cars — as motor vehicles require oil from countries that murder gays — or that a ban should be placed on travel to and courses about countries performing female genital mutilation.

The writer went on to say, “If the senate cannot or will not support women or members of the LGBTQ+ community and insists on only supporting Palestinian and Muslim students, then I would request that the senate at least do this honestly and consistently,” noting that — unlike Sabra hummus — Motorola, Microsoft and Apple smartphones and computers built with Israeli technology or in collaboration with Israeli researchers have not been been banned from the UCR campus.”

After asserting that the United States is Israel’s greatest ally, the writer also “propose[d] a ban on all USA products, funding and personnel on the UCR campus.”

The writer wryly noted that hummus “can hardly be less offensive” than these other goods and, so, “In the name of liberty, equality and solidarity, let’s ban them all!”

As The Algemeiner reported, a UCR campus rabbi said the recent senate’s vote to boycott Sabra sent a “clear message” to Jewish students: “We don’t want you here, even your hummus.”

The UCR administration has said it will not be making any changes to its dining hall hummus options and by doing so has essentialy killed the boycott attempt.

The UC system recently came under scrutiny as a “hotbed” of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. According to a Brandeis report on campus anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment across the US, the UC system ranked among the top colleges at which Jewish students “perceive a hostile environment.”