World politics were introduced to the chambers at the final Student Senate meeting of the semester.
The Senate’s holiday tradition of wearing tacky sweaters on the last meeting before Winter Break was set aside for a more serious matter Tuesday night.
A controversial resolution condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement was added to the agenda on the floor. It was eventually tabled for discussion after Winter Break.
According to the Palestinian BDS National Committee’s website, the movement calls for the end of all financial partnerships with the State of Israel because of Israel’s human rights violations against Palestinians.
Fully supporting the movement means UF would have to terminate 20 study-abroad programs, six Hebrew classes and its partnership with PepsiCo, a partner of Israeli food manufacturer Strauss Group, according to the resolution.
As such, the resolution states Senate does not support legislation that would further the movement.
A resolution is a nonbinding piece of legislation that represents the opinion of the Senate.
Students from Gators for Israel, Students for Justice in Palestine and Students for a Democratic Society overflowed into the aisles.
“BDS targets institutions and corporations, not study-abroad programs,” said Farah Khan, vice president of Students for Justice in Palestine.
Vice President of UF’s Jewish Student Union Corey Flayman encouraged senators to oppose the BDS movement because of UF’s large Jewish student population and the U.S.’s strong relationship with Israel.
Because many senators were unfamiliar with the issue, several senators motioned to table the legislation until the Senate reconvenes Jan. 7.
“This is about potentially marginalizing students on either side,” said Sen. Paul O’Quinn.
The vote was close: 40 senators for tabling and 35 opposed. So the emotionally charged issue will continue into the new year.
“This is probably the least black-and-white issue on earth,” Sen. Joshua Goldsmith said.
A version of this story ran on page 9 on 12/4/2013 under the headline "At final meeting, Senate debates Palestinian-Israeli conflict"
Tesneem Shraiteh speaks at the Student Senate meeting Tuesday evening against the proposed Senate resolution condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement.
