Independent Jewish Voices Canada March 15, 2018
OTTAWA-Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) congratulates Palestinian solidarity activists and their allies for the landmark mobilization in favour of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) at the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) General Assembly Tuesday. The motion in favour of BDS received 241 votes, surpassing the anti-BDS camp tally by 10 votes. Since the motion would change the SFUO’s constitution, it required a two-thirds majority and therefore did not pass. Instead, it will be referred to the Board of Administrators where it will be voted on at a later date.
"Pro-Israel lobby groups such as Hillel Ottawa and B’nai Brith are attempting to spin the narrative and paint this as their victory. The reality is that they were out-organized and out-voted,” said Independent Jewish Voices UOttawa-Carleton Co-president Geneviève Nevin.
“Students from Hillel Ottawa and the Israeli Awareness Committee claimed that this motion was an attack on Jews” said Nevin. “As a Jew, I will not let my Jewish identity be utilized to justify the human rights violations carried out by the Israeli state. These organizations do not speak for me, nor do they speak for many other Jews at the University of Ottawa”.
The motion, brought forth by Students for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), IJV UOttawa-Carleton and the Revolutionary Student Movement (RSM), called upon the SFUO to endorse targeted and non-violent economic measures against companies with ties to the Israeli government, military and illegal settlements, until such a time that Israel complies with international law.
“IJV is extremely pleased to see such mobilization in favour of Palestinian human rights,” said Nevin. “This is only the beginning of our efforts and we are very proud of what we have accomplished.”
For more information please contact:
Geneviève Nevin
IJV UOttawa-Carleton
g.nevin @ ijvcanada.org
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