A trustee of Ivy League school Brown University has resigned in protest over the board's decision to hold a vote on divestment from Israel that was part of a deal with pro-Palestinian students who disrupted campus in the spring.
As Breitbart News reported at the time, Brown caved to protesters' demands and agreed to hold a divestment vote in October in exchange for students agreeing to voluntarily remove the “encampment.”
This is the first time a university has agreed to consider divestment from companies that do business with Israel – a central demand of the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which targets only the Jewish state.
Breitbart News reported:
In December, 41 anti-Israel activists were arrested after occupying the administration building. In April, activists occupied a section of campus known as the Main Green. concern Local Jewish leaders and clergy have said some of the slogans used by activists on and off campus are anti-Semitic. call For the elimination of Israel.
Instead of enforcing university policy, Brown University decided to cave to the mob, as did Northwestern University.
…
While campus rabbis expressed relief that the camp would be removed, other local Jewish groups expressed alarm. Rabbi Ron Fish of the Anti-Defamation League's New England chapter accused Brown of “legitimizing an anti-Semitic and hateful campaign.” Noting that Brown has opposed divestment in the past, he said Brown's deal would simply invite more violent protests and “anti-Semitic harassment” of Jews.
On Monday, Brown University trustee Joseph Edelman's resignation letter read in part: Published As an editorial The Wall Street Journal.
He writes:
I believe it is morally reprehensible that a divestment vote was even considered, especially after the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust. On October 7, 2023, Israel was invaded and brutally attacked by Palestinian terrorists, slaughtering 1,200 innocent people, some of whom were raped and burned alive, and more than 250 were abducted and held hostage in Gaza. Israel, like all nations, has a moral obligation to protect its own people from terrorist attacks, and has done just that. The fact that, of all nations in the world, only Israel is expected to exercise restraint because of the civilian lives that are tragically lost in war is revealing.
I am not saying that actual principle influenced Brown's decision to vote for divestment. It was based not on facts or values, but on softness toward student activists. For some reason, the university's leadership chose to reward, rather than punish, activists who were disrupting campus life, breaking school rules, and inciting violence and anti-Semitism at Brown.
…
I view the willingness to hold this vote as an astonishing failure of moral leadership at Brown University. I am not willing to lend my name or time to an organization that lacks basic moral judgment. I hereby resign from the Board of Trustees.
While some universities refused to give in to the protesters' demands and the protesters agreed to disperse the camps anyway, others confronted the protesters.
A few, like Brown, succumbed to anti-Semitic mobs.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sundays from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm (4:00 pm to 7:00 pm ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. Agenda: What President Trump Should Do in His First 100 Daysavailable for pre-order on Amazon. He also Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump's presidencyavailable now on Audible. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
