Cornell Student: ‘Jewish Community Found Its Voice’ in Defeating BDS

Cornell student Josh Eibelman, who warned of the normalization of anti-Semitism on campus, wrote in a June 5 Op-ed for The Forward that the campus “Jewish community found its voice” after they defeated a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolution.

Eibelman wrote that Cornell Students for Justice in Palestine’s (SJP) anti-Israel rhetoric, which included accusing Cornell’s Chabad of engaging in “shady politics,” provided a wake-up call to the Jewish community. Eibelman told the Journal in a phone interview that the community had gotten too “comfortable,” but once the Jewish and pro-Israel communities realized that “BDS and SJP were actual threats,” it became apparent that “more action had to be taken.”

The threat of SJP and BDS “mobilized hundreds of Jewish students on campus to attend student assembly meetings, to make pro-Israel and anti-BDS posters, and learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” and that he, along with Cornellians for Israel and Hillel at Cornell, frequently met with members of the student assembly to convince them to vote against the BDS resolution, Eibelman wrote.

Eibelman told the Journal that most of the Student Assembly members didn’t know much about the conflict.

“I personally had a positive experience with a freshman on the Student Assembly who had no idea about any of the history, and I was able to convey the facts to him and also respond to all the things SJP was telling him, and he was able to become an advocate himself,” Eibelman said.

In his Op-ed, Eibleman wrote that the aforementioned assembly member “met with the BDS activists and challenged them with the facts” Eibelman provided him.

The BDS resolution narrowly failed on April 11, with 14 assembly members voting in favor and 13 against, with two extra “community” votes that ultimately defeated the resolution.

“In our attempts to organize to defeat the BDS campaign, the Jewish community on campus found its voice,” Eibelman wrote in the Op-ed. “In other words, it totally backfired.”

Eibelman told the Journal that he still thinks anti-Semitism remains as much of a threat as when he wrote his April Algemeiner Op-ed on the matter and that likely there will be another push for BDS in the new school year. However, he is “hopeful” that the campus climate will improve for Jewish and pro-Israel students.

“We have organized and I think we’re in a better position to deal with it than we were last year,” Eibelman said.

On a personal level, Eibelman said that his recent experience in fighting against BDS has caused him to reconsider his pre-medical education track and move more toward a law background.

“I saw that I was capable of really effectively arguing for Israel and responding to some of the claims that SJP made and the BDS activists made, and I saw that those were some skills that I had,” Eibelman said.

Cornell student John Dominguez similarly wrote in an April Op-ed for the World Jewish Congress’ Digital Ambassador Club he formed a closer bond with the Jewish community on campus after the fight against BDS.

“Numerous friendships have been forged between myself and members of Cornell’s Jewish community,” Dominguez wrote. “I’ve become a ‘regular’ at Shabbat events on campus. My experiences at Hillel and Chabad have led me to develop a renewed knowledge of Judaism, its rich traditions and customs, and community. I’m proud to have to stood with students to reject BDS and invest in peace.”