From UC-Davis to Northwestern to Loyola University Chicago, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is passing anti Israel resolutions in student governments across the nation. Until now, opposition has had difficulty stopping the velocity of the BDS movement.  But last week at the University of Michigan, a determined contingent of pro-Israel students mounted a six-hour fight that killed a BDS resolution on the Ann Arbor campus.

“I feel that it was the greatest accomplishment of this academic year for sure,” commented Sarah LaPearl, a Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) fellow on campus. Jewish students had challenged the BDS forces last year in what amounted to a warm up for this year’s fight. “We knew they would be stronger,” LaPearl says, “so this time we got a little more united and a little more proactive.”

The vehicle for the opposition’s victory against the BDS resolution was a coalition LaPearl helped organize called Wolverines for Peace (www.wolverinesforpeace.com.)  Its slogan is “Standing against divestment & working towards peace.”

“The Israel leaders from our campus got together to form this group and the people they got on board all had their own networks,” LaPearl describes the group’s formation. Organizers of the new coalition also posted on campus Facebook pages dedicated to Israel, spoke at Hillel meetings, and had a large organizational meeting in advance of the BDS vote.

An attempt to pass a BDS resolution at Ann Arbor last year failed, leading to a week-long sit-in by anti Israel groups in the student government’s chambers, accompanied by reports of ethnic slurs and threats of violence against campus Jews.  This year Michigan’s BDS proponents showed up in force for a showdown. They were led by Ali Abuminah, founder of The Electronic Intifada who has criticized the Palestinian Authority for selling out to Israel, who began the debate before the student government with a 30-minute address advocating for divestment and comparing Israel to apartheid South Africa.

Abuminah was answered by Michigan history professor Victor Lieberman who countered the myth that the Palestinians are merely innocent victims and defended Israel’s record on human rights.  “Israel has offered to recognize Arab sovereignty on five occasions,” Lieberman told the assembled students. “If any of those offers had been accepted, there would be no refugees.”

Although Lieberman had spoken at last year’s BDS vote, he did not specifically speak against the resolution at that time. “This year he felt that he had to be in opposition, so it was great,” commented ZOA organizer LaPearl. “I’m really happy he spoke and I think he did a great job.”

The meeting was attended by a number of students belonging to Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) who supported the BDS resolution and showed up wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the caption “Another Jewish voice for Palestine.”  Describing their role in the drama, Sarah LaPearl commented, “I think that allows bystanders and other students to say ‘oh that’s not anti-Semitic if there are Jews for the cause.’”

After the opening speeches, students who wanted to speak were chosen at random, each of them allowed three minutes to address the crowd. After extending the “community concerns” portion of the meeting twice to a total of 90 minutes, the student government voted down BDS by a vote of 25-15, with one abstention.

There has always been unease among U Michigan Jewish students about BDS (“Another Jewish Voice” notwithstanding) but in the past political differences prevented the opposition from speaking with a clear voice. “I truly think that the reason for our success this was the Wolverines for Peace,” she says. “Everyone, regardless of their viewpoint—we had people from the left and the right at our school who are involved in Wolverines for Peace—came together and overcame those differences and overcame BDS as well.”

But LaPearl is under no illusion that winning this battle means that the war is over. “I think they’ll be relentless in their pursuits,” she says of the Ann Arbor BDS movement.  “I think they’ll try to bring it back next academic year. I’m sure they will probably come back stronger than they did this year, so that’s why it is so beneficial to keep Wolverines for Peace united and working together through the entire year, not just when BDS comes around.”

ken at last year’s BDS vote, he did not specifically speak against the resolution at that time. “This year he felt that he had to be in opposition, so it was great,” commented ZOA organizer LaPearl. “I’m really happy he spoke and I think he did a great job.”

The meeting was attended by a number of students belonging to Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) who supported the BDS resolution and showed up wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the caption “Another Jewish voice for Palestine.”  Describing their role in the drama, Sarah LaPearl commented, “I think that allows bystanders and other students to say ‘oh that’s not anti-Semitic if there are Jews for the cause.’”

After the opening speeches, students who wanted to speak were chosen at random, each of them allowed three minutes to address the crowd. After extending the “community concerns” portion of the meeting twice to a total of 90 minutes, the student government voted down BDS by a vote of 25-15, with one abstention.

There has always been unease among U Michigan Jewish students about BDS (“Another Jewish Voice” notwithstanding) but in the past political differences prevented the opposition from speaking with a clear voice. “I truly think that the reason for our success this was the Wolverines for Peace,” she says. “Everyone, regardless of their viewpoint—we had people from the left and the right at our school who are involved in Wolverines for Peace—came together and overcame those differences and overcame BDS as well.”

But LaPearl is under no illusion that winning this battle means that the war is over. “I think they’ll be relentless in their pursuits,” she says of the Ann Arbor BDS movement.  “I think they’ll try to bring it back next academic year. I’m sure they will probably come back stronger than they did this year, so that’s why it is so beneficial to keep Wolverines for Peace united and working together through the entire year, not just when BDS comes around.”