Campaign for divestment spurs University debate

Vincent Lloyd '03 insists that he does not deliver a message of intolerance or prejudice when he talks about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and his commitment to the campaign to divest University funds from Israel. Rather, he said he emphasizes his commitment to fairness and peace.

But a national discussion about the growth in anti-Semitism on college campuses has raised serious questions about where the campaign to divest from Israel fits into the picture. At San Francisco State University last May, police were called after pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups clashed and students reported hearing racist remarks. And at Concordia College in Montreal, protesters broke windows while awaiting former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's arrival. His appearance was cancelled because of security issues.

Concern about anti-Semitism has become so acute in recent months that more than 300 college presidents signed a statement condemning anti-Jewish activities that was circulated by the American Jewish Committee and published in The New York Times on Monday.

On Sept. 17, Harvard University President Lawrence Summers delivered a speech suggesting a connection between the divestment movement and anti-Semitism.

"Where anti-Semitism and views that are profoundly anti-Israeli have traditionally been the primary preserve of poorly educated right-wing populists, profoundly anti-Israel views are increasingly finding support in progressive intellectual communities," Summers said. "Serious and thoughtful people are advocating and taking actions that are anti-Semitic in their effect if not their intent.

"Some here at Harvard and some at universities across the country have called for the university to single out Israel among all nations as the lone country where it is inappropriate for any part of the university's endowment to be invested."

Princeton Divestment, an unofficial campus group campaigning to divest University endowment funds from companies with strong ties to Israel, is the type of group Summers is concerned with.

Princeton Divestment takes the position that certain Israeli policies consist of human rights abuses against the Palestinians.

"What we ought to at least do is look at companies that are supporting human rights abuses in the region and stop supporting those companies," said Lloyd, an active member of the group.

Lloyd said he does not view the divestment movement as anti-Semitic or opposed to the existence of Israel.

A statement on Princeton Divestment's website by professor emeritus Richard Falk says that "to divest from companies profiting from business with Israel at this time is to express solidarity with victims of massive crimes against humanity and to call upon Israel to respect U.N. authority and the elemental rules of international law by withdrawing from occupied Palestinian territory."

"We want to show that there are alternatives to violence," Lloyd said.

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The divestment movement is modeled on the successful effort in the 1980s to divest the University's funds from South Africa to encourage an end to apartheid.

The "transition [from apartheid] in South Africa was by the means of nonviolent protest and boycott and divestment," Lloyd said.

But many object to linking Israeli policy with South African apartheid.

"The equation of an apartheid state to Israel is morally incorrect," said Rabbi James Diamond, director of the University's Center for Jewish Life.

Though Diamond said he opposed divestment, he also said the campaign was not anti-Semitic.

"The divestment movement is not monolithic. I cannot assess the motivations of everyone involved," Diamond said, adding that though some advocates of divestment might be anti-Semitic, others are not.

Indeed, Jewish students were instrumental in the formation of Princeton Divestment.

Diamond explained that some American Jews react with sensitivity to the divestment campaign because it is difficult for them to differentiate between criticism of Israeli policy and anti-Zionism.

In Israel, Jews can simultaneously oppose Israeli policies through voting and still live in and support the Israeli nation.

"You can be critical of Israel; that doesn't mean you are against all Jews," Diamond said.

Religion Professor Cornel West GS '80 — scheduled to speak at a conference on Middle East peace this weekend — agrees.

West said the characterization of divestment as anti-Semitic is "grossly unfair."

"Some people really want to foreclose the debate" by tainting it with the charge of anti-Semitism, West said, and "we've got to have a robust debate."

Although West said he thinks Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands is immoral, he does not support divestment.

"As a tactic, I cannot support it because what we need is some bridge building," West said.

That figures such as West and Diamond do not support divestment is an obstacle to the success of the campaign. University policy requires that the campus community thoroughly debate an issue and then reach a broad consensus before University investment policies are reconsidered, President Tilghman said.

"With South Africa, there was a deep consensus with respect to divestment," Tilghman said Tuesday, but divestment from Israel "simply doesn't qualify for consideration."

Lloyd said he is frustrated by University investment policy, arguing that it should not be based on consensus, but ought to be based on what is ethical.

"The University ought to be examining all the time the ethical nature of their investments," he said.

Currently, University investment decisions are based on financial factors, not ethical judgments about each company, said Robert Durkee '69, vice president for public affairs.

But Lloyd and Princeton Divestment plan to continue their campaign. In the next few weeks they will set up tables in college dining halls and the Frist Campus Center, Lloyd said.

When people are educated about what happens in Israel and Palestine, "there is outrage," Lloyd said. Lloyd also reports that 45 faculty members and more than 300 students have signed statements endorsing divestment.

Despite the continued presence of a divestment movement on campus and Summers' suggestions, however, most students and faculty agree that Princeton has been fortunate to escape anti-Semitism.

"I think we have been remarkably untouched by anti-Semitism," Tilghman said.

And Rabbi Diamond said he agrees.

Right now, "I don't think anti-Semitism is an issue at Princeton," he said.