In a major blow to Israel-haters who support the boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement on campuses to divest from companies doing business in Israel, the Cornell Student Assembly staved off an attempt to stealthily move a vote on divestment until the week of Passover, when supporters of Israel would be home and not on campus.
The Cornell Student Assembly voted late Thursday afternoon to shelve the resolution to divest. The assembly had to overrule the assembly president’s decision “not to allow the motion to table until the Resolution was presented.” Because of the vote by the assembly, the divestment resolution was never presented.
Students for Justice in Palestine, a vehemently anti-Israel group, was lobbying to move the vote on the resolution until Passover week. One assembly member wrote to Legal Insurrection, “[Resolution backer] wants to see 20 year old college students form firm opinions on an issue we know very little about and have no responsibility for.”
The pro-Israel groups fighting the divestment resolution had less than 48 hours to figure out a counter-strategy to the delay proposed until Passover week. They succeeded; the vote to shelve the resolution yielded fifteen yeas, eight nays, and one abstention.
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