By Emily Hakimian
Adelphi University has a stellar reputation for acceptance. Unfortunately, a movement spreading on college campuses has made its way to Adelphi, threatening to undermine this community value.
The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is a global campaign that’s leading anti-Israel divestment initiatives. While the movement frames itself as a peaceful call for social justice and liberation for Palestinians, its methods betray its true intentions. In reality, it seeks to eliminate self determination for Jews by eliminating Israel. One of its leaders, Omar Bargoutti, has openly admitted: “Good riddance! The two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israel conflict is finally dead. But someone has to issue an official death certificate before the rotting corpse is given a proper burial and we can all move on… the one-state solution whereby definition Jews will be a minority.”
While the BDS Movement’s platform seems reasonable at face value, its three central demands are intentionally misleading: ending the occupation and dismantling of the security barrier, equal rights for citizens of Israel (which already exist) and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
The second demand is the easiest to expose as misleading because it demands something that already exists. All citizens of Israel have equal rights under the law, including its 20% Arab minority.
The others require context. BDS’s demand to end the “occupation” and dismantle the security barrier ignores why they exist and what it would take to end them. Israel took control of the West Bank from Jordan in the defensive 1967 Six-Day War. The 1993 Oslo Accords allowed Israel to retain control of parts of the West Bank until a peace deal prevails. Most Palestinians live in Area A, controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Israel has made multiple peace offers, all of which have been rejected. To end Israel's presence in the West Bank, we need to foster peace and pressure both parties to agree.
The security barrier, built in response to the second “intifada,” complies with the Oslo Accords. Before it was built, terrorists could easily enter Israel and attack civilians. The barrier has effectively ended suicide bombings and saved countless lives. While it causes hardship for Palestinians, pressuring Israel to expose its citizens to terrorism instead of pushing both sides toward a peace agreement is counterproductive. Calling to end such security measures is essentially asking Israel to stop defending its citizens, which they cannot agree to.
Similarly, the “Right of Return” is a euphemism for the elimination of Israel.
“If the refugees were to return, you would not have a two-state solution,” Barghouti stated. “You’ll have a Palestine next to a Palestine, rather than a Palestine next to Israel.”
Perhaps the most telling position of BDS’s true motivations is their anti-normalization policies. They explicitly oppose any cooperation, dialogue, or coexistence with those who support Israel’s right to exist. This is also the policy that most threatens Adelphi’s values of acceptance and diversity. On the ground in the Middle East, this means that BDS opposes efforts to increase cooperation, collaboration and peacebuilding between Israelis and Palestinians. On campus, anti-normalization requires that organizations cut ties with any person or group that recognizes Israel’s right to exist. Given that the majority of Jews and Jewish organizations believe in Israel’s right to exist, anti-normalization would effectively cut most Jews out of campus life.
Their rhetoric and actions shatter the veneer of progressive liberal language that is meant to garner the support of impressionable youth, the next generation of leaders and decision makers. It reveals the true nature of BDS: a venomous, deceitful, anti peace , anti co-existence movement that will settle for nothing short of the annihilation of the Jewish state.
Adelphi’s reputation for acceptance took years of collaboration and dialogue. We were always progressive; women attended when it wasn’t socially acceptable at the time. We did this for the greater good of our community. Now is the time to safeguard this tradition, be brave and do the right thing even when it's unpopular.
As Panthers, we can do so much better than BDS. Say “no” to divestment, anti-normalization and divisiveness. Say “yes” to co-existence, cooperation, understanding one another and dreaming of a better future where both nations live side by side in peace.
Emily Hakimian is the founder and president of Students Supporting Israel (SSI) at Adelphi. She’s also involved with StanWithUs and the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). She’s a political science major with a minor in criminal justice and is in the class of 2027.
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