NYU Student Senate to Vote on BDS Resolution Through Secret Ballot

New York University’s (NYU) student senate is planning on voting on a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolution on Dec. 6 through a secret ballot.

The resolution, titled “Resolution on the Human Rights of Palestinians,” calls on NYU to divest from Caterpillar, General Electric (GE) and Lockheed Martin for doing business with Israel.

“NYU must dedicate itself to ethical conduct in its investment practices by divesting from companies that profit from human rights violations in Palestine and other communities globally,” the resolution states.

Among the student groups supporting the resolution include NYU’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter, NYU’s Jewish Voice for Peace chapter and NYU’s Young Democratic Socialists in America chapter.

The student senate reportedly chose the secret ballot for security reasons, as three students said “they had been threatened in the past for publicly supporting Palestinian rights,” according to the Washington Square News.

However, Hali Haber, CAMERA’s Director of Campus Programming, told JNS that having the vote be on a secret ballot show a “lack of transparency and accountability.”

“Until members of the assembly are willing to attach their own names to the resolution, nobody else should take their vote seriously either,” Haber said.

Six students will be allowed to give arguments in favor and against the resolution.

NYU President Andrew Hamilton has previously denounced BDS in an April town hall.

“The university will not participate in boycotting of academics based in Israel,” Hamilton said. “We believe in academic freedom and the free flow of ideas. Boycotting is antithetical to that vision.”