Why can’t Brown University divest itself from Israel if it wants to? The university is considering a proposal to do just that but now it is being threatened by 24 state attorneys general who say that if they do that, they may run afoul of anti-boycott, divestment and sanction (BDS) laws.
The letter says that not doing business with Israel is antisemitic and would be akin to supporting terrorist organizations. Which is a false perversion of the truth. So a private university MUST do business with Israel? They have no freedom to even vote!?
The university has a plan to consider a proposal called “Brown Divest Now,” despite University President Christina Paxson having rejected this effort since at least 2012. The proposal will be held for a vote and it is this very notion that triggered 24 state’s to spring to action. Why would U.S. State Attorneys jump to action to protect Israel’s financial interest? Is that their job?
Anti-BDS laws never became federal law, despite Congress trying for that, but it is a part of several state laws. Brown is located in Rhode Island so it is not clear why so many states would get involved in protecting Israel. Do you have any guesses why they would do that?
