June 5, 2015
Melbourne, Australia… The B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has condemned the UK’s National Union of Students (NUS) for adopting a policy of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel. The adoption of this policy will enable student unions throughout the UK to impose sanctions on Israel and to institute boycotts of Israeli products on university campus.
ADC Chairman, Dr Dvir Abramovich, issued the following statement:
“Those who remember that in 2014 the very same executive council voted against a motion denouncing ISIS for its atrocities against the Kurds and supporting the people of Iraq, would not be surprised by this appalling vote. This biased, anti-Israel resolution once again demonstrates the double standard Israel is repeatedly and unfairly subjected to and the unrelenting effort to isolate the Jewish state. As the ADC has stated in the past, such boycotts will do nothing to promote the cause of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Instead of building bridges and cultivating interfaith dialogue, the NUS has chosen the path of demonisation and vilification. This discriminatory and distorted vote by a body which purports to represent 95 percent of all student groups in the UK will only further inflame the already toxic and anti-Semitic environment Jewish students have had to endure on campuses, and will dissuade moderate voices who believe in a negotiated settlement to the conflict from speaking out. I commend those British government officials who rejected this divisive measure, and I am heartened that the umbrella organization for British universities has rejected and discredited this ill-conceived boycott.”
The Anti-Defamation Commission, founded in 1979, is Australia’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through educational programs that combat bigotry, prejudice and all forms of hatred.
For further information please contact Dr Dvir Abramovich on (03) 9272 5677
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