Princeton BDS Referendum Vote in Dispute

There is currently a dispute over whether or not a referendum supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement passed the Princeton University student body or not.

The referendum asked if the university should “immediately halt usage of all Caterpillar machinery in all ongoing construction projects given the violent role that Caterpillar machinery has play in the mass demolition of Palestinian homes, the murder of Palestinians and other innocent people.” It received 44% of support from the student body, while 40% voted against it and 16% abstained during the voting window of April 11-13.

Both Jewish Insider (JI) and The Princeton Tory, a conservative student newspaper, reported that this would mean the referendum failed because the abstention votes would put the opposition in the majority; however, The Daily Princetonian student newspaper reported that under the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) constitution, abstention votes are not counted toward the majority, which would mean that the referendum passed.

Student Myles McKnight argued in an email to the USG that the abstention votes should count, pointing to text messages from USG Chief Elections Manager Brian Li to Tigers for Israel President Jared Stone stating that the abstention votes would in fact be counted toward the majority. Based on what Li had said to Stone, Tigers for Israel had tailored their strategy toward urging students to officially abstain from voting on the referendum. “Their campaign strategy was materially different than it would have been had Brian informed Jared of a different counting procedure,” McKnight wrote, per The Daily Princetonian.

Both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups are claiming victory. President of the Princeton Committee on Palestine Eric Periman, who sponsored the referendum, told The Daily Princetonian he was “incredibly enthusiastic about the results.” He added that the campaign for the referendum “was always about raising awareness about the violation of Palestinian human rights and the ways that Princeton is complicit in those violations of human rights.”

Israel on Campus Coalition CEO Jacob Baime said in a statement, “This is an encouraging outcome for anyone who wants Princeton to remain a safe and equitable place for all. Despite the misinformation and dangerous rhetoric employed by anti-Israel activists during this campaign, 56% of students chose not to support an antisemitic BDS referendum. The Princeton community spoke loud and clear that the road to peace between Israelis and Palestinians is paved with dialogue and cooperation, not division and intolerance.”

An official result will be announced by the USG on April 15.