BDS on campus: A response to Jay Sanderson

Last week, I was driving through La Verkin, Utah on my way back to Los Angeles after three peaceful days of hiking and camping in Zion National Park. We turned a corner and my phone lit up, buzzing and beeping after being disconnected. Amid the text messages and emails, a headline caught my eye about a Jewish leader in Los Angeles who had criticized the the Israeli government’s approach to combatting BDS on campus.

I read through the article and tried to make sense of it. Jay Sanderson’s comments, detailed by Haaretz columnist Judy Maltz, did not fit the impression that I had of the conservative-leaning Los Angeles Jewish community. I was encouraged to see a Jewish leader speaking out about his disagreements with the Israeli government, and calling for pro-Israel advocacy that includes the questions and visions of students.

As soon as I got home, I drafted a response to Mr. Sanderson, thanking him for his leadership and for speaking candidly about the polarizing debates over BDS that many students experience on campus. I was disappointed to see that Sanderson later regretted his initial comments, following them up with remarks that put him more in line with the same non-nuanced Israel advocacy he initially criticized. While he insists that his comments were taken out of “context,” it’s hard to believe that Haaretz would have printed his comments inaccurately. I’m left wondering what caused such a significant shift in Sanderson’s position from the first article to the second.

Initially, Sanderson rightly pointed out that efforts against BDS on campus have only helped to “stoke the fire” of the polarized debates over BDS and drive young Jews away from Israel and the Jewish community altogether. As an alternative, he called for less noise and more nuance in conversations about Israel. His comments are an important call to action to create more space for young people, like Sanderson’s own 22-year-old daughter, who returned from trips to Israel with many concerns about the direction of the country, to ask questions.

Like Sanderson’s daughter and many other Jewish college students, I have serious questions about the direction that Israel is headed and the policies of the Israeli government. Thousands of young people across the country see continuing settlement expansion in the West Bank threatening the viability of a two-state solution, and we are worried for Israel’s future. We see that the occupation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank has gone on for almost fifty years, and we feel deep concern for the rights of Palestinians.

Our questions and principles have led us to Israel advocacy rooted in support for diplomatic solutions and opposition to policies and rhetoric that perpetuate and escalate the conflict. And they have led us to oppose the BDS movement on campus, because of its failure to advocate for a practical solution that would address the needs of both peoples.

I was so heartened to read that Sanderson recognized that our community needs to find more meaningful ways to engage young people. But he should have gone farther. The truth is, an obsession with “combating BDS” is often a distraction from the real issues in front of us and from our real questions. BDS fights often serve to reinforce the non-nuanced dialogue against which Sanderson initially spoke out.

Traditional approaches define “pro-Israel” on campus as simply opposing BDS resolutions and reading off pre-approved talking points – leaving out any commitment to working to support solutions and end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If we want this to change, we need help from our communal institutions.

Unfortunately, these institutions have largely been failing us – advancing an unhelpful, overly combative and one-sided approach. It’s true the hard-line messaging against BDS advocated by the Israeli government is, to some extent, responsible for driving students away from the Jewish community. But the Federations should also take responsibility for themselves.

There are many ways that Jewish Federations and other important communal institutions around the country can move forward positively. They can heed J Street U students’ call to ensure that their policies and practices recognize the Green Line, a vital component of showing true support for a two-state solution. They can make clear that they do not support the settlement enterprise and the ideology of those who work towards permanent Israeli control of the West Bank. Most importantly, they can listen carefully to students’ questions and take our concerns into account.

In the past few years, important voices throughout our community have begun to speak out about the dangers of occupation, and to call for a broader conversation about Israel that can honestly and successfully engage concerned young people. These include leaders from the Reform movement, which I am proud to call myself a part of.

I was pleased to see Sanderson taking a step in the right direction. But this is not the first time an American Jewish leader has expressed concern over the flight of young people from our community – and it won’t be the last.

We need more than just words. These concerns must followed up with real action – and a real willingness to improve upon strategies that are not working.

Lizzie Stein is a senior at Occidental College and is the Vice President for the Southwest on the J Street U National Student Board.