BDS lies: Exposing 45 false claims in the Brown University divestment proposal
[Editor’s Note: A copy of the full submission can be found here.]
First, they broke both the law and Brown University policies. Then, as extensively documented here, they lied to the university about nearly every aspect of their cause. Now, the Brown Divestment Coalition (“BDC”) expects the university to harm its own interests and violate its own values in service of the BDC’s bigoted demands.
The expectation came in the form of a divestment proposal submitted earlier this year by the BDC. What is the BDC? It is a coalition of student organizations, many of whom openly describe the murder, rape, mutilation, torture, and kidnapping of Israeli civilians as “just” acts of “resistance.”
After months of student protests and encampments – featuring illegal acts, policy violations, and extremist rhetoric – Brown University leadership rewarded the bad behavior by promising to consider a discriminatory divestment proposal which would target just one country: the world’s sole Jewish state.
To justify the demand, the BDC resorted to applying unique standards to the Jewish state. This alone highlights the bigoted nature of their cause.
It is evident, however, that the BDC struggled to justify divestment even with their own discriminatory standards. They thus also had to resort to lying about Israel’s actions; and so, like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, the BDC employed lie after lie to fit Israel’s actions of self-defense in an imaginary narrative of “genocide” and “apartheid.”
No lie was too egregious for the BDC, which even claimed that it was Israel which “launched” the war.
To correct the record, CAMERA joined with several Brown University alumni to put together a submission in opposition to divestment. The submission, delivered on August 30, identifies a total of 45 false claims made in BDC’s proposal, debunking each in turn.
That so many student organizations at Brown would resort to this level of intellectual dishonesty is itself a stain on the reputation of such a prestigious institution. Now armed with accurate information, university officials have an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to the university’s mission of higher education by firmly rejecting BDC’s bad faith ploy.
David Litman is a Senior Analyst at Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).
