As the 2017-18 academic year comes to a close at UC Santa Barbara, a resolution to divest from companies that do business with Israel has officially failed yet again.
According to a press release from StandWithUs, the UCSB’s Associated Student Senate did not bring up the divestment resolution for a vote in its final meeting before summer break over procedural matters.
“We are incredibly proud of the students who worked tirelessly to make their voices heard on this issue,” StandWithUs Campus Strategist & Campaign Manager Sarah Tagger, former Student Board President of Santa Barbara Hillel, said in a statement. “While it is unfortunate that this campaign of hate surfaced on campus yet again, UCSB continues to stand on the right side of history.”
Rabbi Evan Goodman, executive director, told the Journal in a Facebook message on May 25, “Santa Barbara Hillel always stands with our students in firm opposition to BDS resolutions. We are pleased that this year’s 68th UCSB Student Senate is now complete and BDS once again failed.”
On May 16, the student senate had changed the divestment resolution to requiring a two-thirds majority vote to pass instead of 50 percent plus one vote of the senate. In response, 12 of the 25 student senators walked out of the meeting and the resolution never came for a vote.
As the Journal has reported, on May 23 the meeting to swear in the new board was derailed by anti-Israel protesters angry at the change in designation of the resolution. An emergency meeting was held the following night to swear in the new board and now the divestment resolution will not be brought up to a vote for the rest of the academic year.
It is now the fifth time in six years that divestment has failed at UCSB. UCSB remains as the only UC to have not voted in favor of Israel divestment.
