Northwestern University Concessions to anti-Israel Protesters Should Apply to All Conflicts or None at All.
Most people are happy to ignore statements of Israelis. As an Israeli and a Northwestern University — Kellogg School of Management alumni I would like to make a statement on Kellogg concessions to the anti-Israel protesters that demands equality and fairness not for Israel but all other victims of conflict and students of Northwestern University:
1. Allowing students to break University policies that are detrimental for the student body who are there to learn for any reason is a disservice to all students.
2. Giving concessions and rewarding students for such actions further encourages future actions and sets a precedent for further demands for any reason.
3. The student protests are organized and funded by some of the most unprogressive and often terrorist linked groups. The demands are made by those groups and are dictated to the students. As such the concessions do not go to benefit the student body or the rights of Palestinians but to the antisemitic aims of the anti-Israel Qatar and Iran funded organizations.
4. As responsible entities to students, parents, alumni, funders including the government of the United States, University presidents and board of trustees have to make decisions that are fair and with all the stakeholders in mind. This means, that if they provide something to one group, they must also offer something similar to all groups. If they place a restriction on one group, they must also place restrictions on all groups. Thus if they offer a seat at the table that makes financial decisions on behalf of the University to anti-Israel protesters, they must also offer a seat at the table to pro-Israel groups. They must also offer a seat to any other group including pro and anti Ukraine, pro and anti Iran, pro and anti China/Taiwan and any other conflict.
5. This also means that if they are to treat Israel without prejudice, then should they divest from Israel, they must also divest from England as they occupy Northern Ireland, Turkey which occupies Cyprus, Morocco which occupies Western Sahara, China which occupies Tibet and so on and so forth. This is the federal law and should they not abide by the law, all federal funds must be withdrawn from the University. Should those funds not be withdrawn, the federal government should be sued for allowing prejudice to be applied when it comes to divestment.
6. Should such actions raise tuition, it should be up to the entire student body to decide whether to participate in divestment actions or not.
7. If they are to give 5 scholarships to Palestinians on grounds of the conflict, they are to give 5 scholarships to students from all other countries that experience conflict including Ukraine, South Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan and any other conflict as long as the scholarships are provided to the Palestinians.
I am saddened by the fact that the Northwestern University gave in to antisemitic demands of groups which broke laws and University policies. However, if they give in, I expect them to be fair and act without prejudice to Israel and other nations that suffer same if not more than Palestinians in Gaza.
