A pro-BDS resolution calling on the University of Maryland to divest funds from “companies engaged in human rights violations in Palestine” by a coalition of students was defeated by Student Government Association on Wednesday night by a vote of 25 to 9.
The vote on the non-binding resolution followed four hours of student testimonies and an hour of debate by members of the student government.
The scheduling of the vote during Passover had been criticized. “The timing of this resolution is particularly insensitive given that many Jewish students will be away from campus this weekend for Passover and will be celebrating the intermediary days of the holiday when the vote takes place,” Elan Burman, a Maryland Hillel staffer told The Algemeiner.
The student government association told Fox News it wasn’t possible for the meeting to be moved because it was the last meeting for bills to be heard before finals and the end of the school year.
Still, 74 students argued against the resolution and 55 in favor, according to the student newspaper The Diamondback.
And some students stood in line to enter the Stamp Student Union’s Colony Ballroom carrying boxes of matzah.
Some 650 students signed a petition by #DivestUMD, an initiative of Students for Justice in Palestine. The resolution was endorsed by campus groups including the Pride Alliance, Political Latinx United for Movement and Action in Society and the Muslim Alliance for Social Change, the Diamondback reported. A petition against the resolution was signed by 1,086 students.
Spectators clapped and snapped when they agreed with a student’s testimony; cheering and holding up signs wasn’t permitted, though Speaker Noah Eckman had to remind them of this several times.
In 2017, a similar resolution was introduced in the student government but did not make it to a vote.
