For those of you who don’t know, UCLA’s student government recently passed a motion calling on the UC to divest from Israeli companies and academic institutions. As an active Bruin, this disturbs me greatly. I wrote to the ADL, this is their thoughtful and complete response. I figured I’d make it publicly available.
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Thank you for contacting ADL regarding your concern, especially as a UCLA alum, over the recent passage of a BDS resolution targeting Israel by the Undergraduate Student Association. We are well-aware of this particular situation and worked diligently with the UCLA Jewish and pro-Israel students, staff and faculty in helping them determine their best course of action. We reported on this situation last week on our website and Facebook page. I have included the links for you below:
· Access ADL National Blog: California Campuses See Increase in Anti-Israel Activity
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns, both on and off campus, are something that ADL has been fighting since they first became active. We are a great resource for Hillel professionals, Jewish and pro-Israel undergraduate and graduate students, university administrators and campus leaders on issues related to anti-Semitism, responding to anti-Israel activism and developing pro-Israel programming. ADL provides most of its support “behind the scenes,” empowering students, faculty and staff to stand up to effect change.
ADL has a multitude of resources, including a Webpage talking about BDS and other anti-Israel activities in the U.S. and how to combat these activities, as well as one specifically for campus issues, College Campus Affairs. All of our resources and publications are free and available to the public.
We appreciate the time you took reaching out to us about this. Please continue to check our website and social networking pages to see further updates about campus activities and what ADL is doing on campuses across the country.
Sincerely,
ADL (name redacted)