SGA narrowly rejects divestment bill with an 18-17 vote
A University of Maryland student listens to a bill testimony on Wednesday, Apr. 17, 2024 (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion).
A resolution calling for the university to “divest from companies engaged in human rights violations” failed at the University of Maryland’s Student Government Association’s general body meeting on Wednesday evening.
With a vote of 18-17 and one abstention, SGA legislators voted to sustain the Student Affairs Committee’s ultimately unfavorable decision.
Although it failed, the bill’s sponsor Abel Amene, an SGA Off-Campus Outlying Representative, said the bill was “worth it” because students showed up to express their opinions on the issue.
“I consider that a huge win. That there was an opportunity to voice their thoughts and speak about this [issue],” Abel said.
At the meeting, Hershel Barnstein, president of this university’s Jewish Voice for Peace chapter, argued that the bill is an effort to stop the aiding of genocide in Gaza and is not an antisemitic initiative.
“Calling Israel the Jewish state is an insult to all of the thriving Jewish communities in the diaspora. Israel doesn't represent me and it certainly doesn't represent Judaism,” Barnstein said.
Shortly after the vote was announced, the Jewish Student Union at UMD released a statement on Instagram stating that the resolution isolated Jewish and Israeli students.
“The BDS movement is fundamentally misguided in its approach,” the statement said. “By viewing students as either pro- or anti-‘human rights’ based on their stance on Israel, this bill perpetuates a harmful and false dialectic rooted in blood libel.”
Alternately, the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at UMD issued its own statement on Instagram Thursday calling the meeting a historic day.
“While the divestment bill did not pass this time due to a negative student affairs committee report that was incredibly close to being overturned, we are one step closer to victory and full liberation of all oppressed peoples around the world,” the post read.
Abel said that students against the bill argue SGA should prioritize other issues. However, he believes that the SGA’s focus on this bill does not detract from other legislation.
Abel Amene, sponsor of the divestment bill, listens to speakers for and against his bill Wednesday, Apr. 17, 2024 (Theodore Rose/The Black Explosion).
“We can walk and chew gum, dance and fight for liberation all at once because we are amazing people,” Abel said.
Some students who spoke against the bill urged legislators to vote against the bill and say that Israeli and Jewish populations are in more danger by divesting from companies that protect those populations in Gaza.
Benjamin Blaine, a business management major, stated that the bill would be divesting from companies that defend vulnerable populations.
“Companies like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, in conjunction with the State of Israel, save lives. It's plain and simple,” Blaine said.
The bill’s cosponsor, Alexander Campbell, an engineering representative, expressed his hopes to see collaboration between divisive groups to find common ground on this issue.
“I think everyone agrees on transparency and everyone agrees on human rights, so I’d love to see something next semester introducing something centering around those values,” Campbell said.
Although the bill was not passed this semester, Abel said that he believes the topic of divestment isn’t over at this university.
“We'll wait and this university will eventually be forced to divest,” Abel said. “We will stop this genocide.”