Tensions Between Zionist, Anti-Zionist Student Groups Run High
April 25, 2018
Tensions between Jewish student groups on campus have risen in recent weeks and continue to do so. After the announcement on April 9 that over 50 NYU student groups had pledged to support the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement against Israel, organizations on both sides of the conflict began strategizing.
NYU Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine, the two organizations that orchestrated NYU’s student BDS coalition, launched their annual Israel Apartheid Week. From April 15 to 21, these organizations held events dedicated to spreading awareness of the significance of BDS.
“We knew that after launching our petition, we needed to have an event covering what BDS is, to demystify its biggest myths,” a spokesperson for JVP told WSN. “The biggest myth is that it’s anti-semitic and that it should cause Jewish students on college campuses to feel fear. BDS is simply asking Israel to adhere to human rights and international law.”
The Boycott, Divest and Sanctions is a Palestinian-driven political movement against Israel’s “occupying and colonizing [of] Palestinian land.” The movement calls for using boycotting of all Israeli goods, businesses, academic institutions, arts and other aspects of its culture. JVP and SJP’s Israel Apartheid Week at NYU consisted of a wide array of protests and teach-ins following the mission of BDS. These events included a protest of the Birthright Gala on April 15, a student-run discussion drawing parallels between Israel’s military and prison industrial complex and that of the United States.
A Week of Celebration and Protest
In response to being boycotted by JVP and SPJ’s coalition, Realize Israel and TorchPAC, two of NYU’s largest pro-Israel student groups, kicked off Israel Peace Week 2018. Since the clubs’ conception in 2015, Realize Israel has held Peace Week contingent with Israel Apartheid Week as a means of combating anti-Israel rhetoric. Given the new BDS coalition and the fact that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the state of Israel, the leaders of Realize Israel and TorchPac believed this Israel Peace Week to be more significant than any before.
“This Peace Week isn’t just, ‘We’re open to dialogue. Are you?’ This is ‘You’re not open to dialogue, and we are still asking for dialogue,’” said Adela Cojab, Gallatin junior and president of Realize Israel. “Instead of standing on the other side of the street, we say things like ‘Ask me about Israel. Tell me what Israel means to you, and I’ll tell you what it means to me.’”
Realize Israel held a rally in Washington Square Park on Apr. 18.
Realize Israel and TorchPAC held several events the week of April 15 in celebration of Israeli Independence including but not limited to a pro-Israel rally in Washington Square Park, a teach-in on possible negative effects of BDS and even a barbecue on April 18, Israeli Independence Day.
In addition to carrying out Israel Peace Week, Realize Israel and TorchPAC countered the actions of the BDS coalition by releasing a petition on Change.org and claiming the signing of the coalition was an attack on their organizations. In the petition, Realize Israel and TorchPAC state: “We urge the 50+ signatories of the BDS statement to reconsider the impact such a resolution will have on the future of our diverse, vibrant, and inclusive University and recommit themselves to a process of peace and reconciliation.”
Their petition has 1,746 of the requested 2,500 signatures at the time of publication.
JVP and SJP has released no formal statement in response to the petition. However, one representative who asked to remain anonymous to avoid defamation from pro-Israel groups did speak with WSN.
“I don’t think it’s an attack because nothing actually happened,” the representative said. “It’s just that those groups that signed will not co-sponsor events with Realize Israel and TorchPAC. I think it stands for itself as not an attack but as a commitment — a promise.”
The conflict between the pro-Israel and anti-Israel organizations continued to the town hall meeting on April 19, when President Andrew Hamilton gave his condemnation of BDS.
“We believe the university exists to bring people together not to separate them and for that reason I am opposed to BDS,” Hamilton said. “I made that statement very clear. You are allowed your opinion, but I made that statement and the university will not participate in the boycotting of academics based in Israel.”
Despite administrators disapproval of BDS, JVP remains steadfast in its efforts to support the movement.
“I personally think they have an intentional misunderstanding of what our campaign is asking for,” the aforementioned representative from JVP said. “They referred to it as a boycott of Israeli academics, which is simply untrue.”
In light of the hostilities of the past week, Steinhardt junior and TorchPAC President Jake Steel pushes for peaceful discussion between his organization and those against it.
“I am all for criticizing many of Israel’s disastrous policies and am unwaveringly for Palestinian human rights, but boycotting TorchPAC and Realize Israel and the Anti-Defamation League, whose civil rights advocacy efforts have helped change the world for the better, is not the way to go about it,” Steele said.
According to JVP, a university facilitated discussion between the leaders of JVP, SJP, Realize Israel and TorchPAC will take place in the coming weeks.
CAS junior and JVP Co-Founder Rose Asaf expressed her doubts on the value of the discussion.
“All I’ll say is that the administration is trying their hardest to butt their way into this. They tried to set up a dialogue session,” said Asaf, “But to be honest, we at SJP and JVP will remain firm in our position, and we believe our allies and those in solidarity with us will remain firm in their position as well.”
Email Noah Mutterperl at [email protected].
Aviva • Sep 4, 2018 at 7:53 am
JVP, JFREJ, and these other fringe anti Israel groups are nothing more than local grown terrorist groups and should be watched with care. They may be in a University and young, and perhaps naive but so were the Twin Tower bombers. Terrorists are recruited in these educational institutions, where young people are ripe for recruitment, and fear bullying, just what these fringe groups are so well adept at. Try speaking with them about facts, and they are unable. Israel and Jews are as old as Jesus, well much older. the Palestinians are what Jews were called historically, to switch the victims and portray the Jews as colonists is itself a ridiculous concept, since no Jew is permitted to live in Muslim nations, or those handful there, may not have any rights. Visit Israel, and one will see Jews, Asians, Muslims, Christians, side by side on any street. Parliament has Arab Palestinians as well as Israelis, so these terrorists must be watched with much care. Aviva
Armen Dacity • May 23, 2018 at 10:40 pm
JVP is a complete fraud. They are a virulent anti-Israel/anti-Semitic organization that masquerades as a Jewish organization.
beer baron • Apr 28, 2018 at 6:53 pm
I looked up the innocuous-sounding “Jewish Voice for Peace” online and quickly learned that it is a radical, anti-Zionist, progressive hate group.
It is such a vile organization that it is on the ADL’s top-10 list of anti-Israel organizations. Quite an honor!
Reality Check • Apr 27, 2018 at 3:07 am
The BDS movement aims to eliminate Israel from existence. This is a fact. BDS demands that millions of Palestinians who never actually lived in Israel “return” to Israel. The sole purpose of this is to make Jews a minority in the only Jewish-majority state in the world. By making Jews a minority, the new Arab/Muslim majority could vote Israel out of existence. That’s the whole point of BDS.
There are over 20 Arab-majority states. There are over 50 Muslim-majority states. ZERO of them protect minority lives. To insist that the world’s only Jewish-majority state COMMIT SUICIDE by allowing Jews to become a minority is asking Israeli Jews to accept another Holocaust. THere is NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER that Jews would be a protected minority if Israel ceased to exist. NO minorities are protected in that region.
Ask any BDS group: Do you call for millions of Palestinians to become Israeli citizens? The answer is yes. Because they aren’t promoting peace. They just want Israel either destroyed or erased, by any means necessary.
BDS is an antisemitic hate movement. That’s why BDS groups refuse to even talk to Israelis. They don’t want to work peace out with Israel. They want Israel dead/gone.
BDS is a hate movement. And Jewish Voice for Peace is one of the most anti-Jewish, anti-peace hate groups in the country right now. Which is why they team up with people who think intifada is awesome and think the Hamas terrorist group are a bunch of teddy bears.
James Spencer • Apr 26, 2018 at 11:56 pm
The movement calls for using boycotting of all Israeli goods, businesses, academic institutions, arts and other aspects of its culture……..and these students came to NYU and New York City? What were they thinking?
Gamaliel • Apr 26, 2018 at 8:29 am
Who is occupying whom? Judea and Samaria were part of Israel long before the Romans conquered the area and named it Palestine. Who is engaged in Apartheid, present day Israel in which Arabs and Jews are citizens or Judea and Samaria where Jews dare not enter Palestinian controlled areas for fear of being murdered.
There was apartheid in South Africa. That is gone and white farmers are being murdered now. Not everything is as clear cut as propagandists would have us believe.