Israel Divestment Vote at Brown: Proof That Not All Votes Are Created Equal

There are certain words in liberal democracies that we are taught to cherish. “Freedom” and “rights” are among them. So is “vote.” The freedom to vote ensures that our rights are protected.

So why would Joseph Edelman, a trustee of the Brown Corporation, resign from his post because of a vote? If he feels strongly about an issue, shouldn’t he stick around and express his view through a vote?

It turns out that even a vote is not all it’s cracked up to be.

In this case, an anti-Israel group at Brown has been pushing for the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel. In the midst of last year’s protests, Brown agreed to hold a vote on the issue in exchange for the demonstrators to dismantle their encampment. In other words, it looks like they were bullied into the vote, which is scheduled to take place next month.

Beyond anything else, let’s get one thing out of the way: The Achilles heel of all boycotts against Israel is the sheer discrimination of singling out the world’s only Jewish state while ignoring real genocidal regimes.

After being attacked on Oct. 7 in the worst massacre of its history, Israel defended itself to regain deterrence against its sworn enemies. Is that cause for divestment?

Is Israel’s defensive war in Gaza worse than what evil regimes like Russia, Iran, China and Syria have been doing for years?

This only begins to describe the anti-Israel nature of the story.

For any university to even consider divesting from Israel is borderline self-destructive. Israel is a vibrant society bursting with innovations, especially at its many universities. Every college in the U.S. has an interest in nurturing investment in such a thriving academic environment.

But perhaps worse of all is the fact that the movement at Brown pushing for Israel divestment, the Brown Divestment Coalition (BDC), is poisoned by bad faith.

For starters, a recent report submitted to Brown identified 45 false claims made by the BDC.

“First, they broke both the law and university policies,” the report concluded. “Then, as extensively documented below, they lied to the university about nearly every aspect of their cause. Now, the BDC expects the university to harm its own interests and violate its own values in service of the BDC’s bigoted demands.”

The report highlights two issues crucial to any university–credibility and bad faith: “[Brown] has a moral and professional obligation to embrace and embody intellectual honesty…As the record shows, the BDC is not willing to engage honestly with the facts. Instead, it seeks to exploit Brown for purely partisan ends.”

Which brings us back to the vote and Edelman’s decision.

“I find it morally reprehensible that holding a divestment vote was even considered, much less that it will be held — especially in the wake of the deadliest assault on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Edelman wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

His key point is that the vote itself is the real offense.

“There are some votes you do not take.  This was one of them,” another philanthropist wrote in an email. “Would they vote on whether to allow free speech? Would they vote on whether to allow gays? Would they vote on whether to allow a lesbian club?”

In a statement to the Daily Caller, a spokesperson for Brown defended the vote: “Our process allows any University community member to submit a divestment proposal for examination, and does not pre-determine the merit or outcome.”

That may well be, but it doesn’t obligate Brown to accept proposals that violate basic principles of fairness and truth.

Brown deserves better than this. It is not anti-Jewish. Its leadership has come to the defense of Jewish students. Its Hillel and Chabad houses are sanctuaries of Jewish living.

It looks to me like Brown got ambushed by cynical Jew-haters who exploited an innocent-sounding idea like a vote.