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Bruins for Israel react to Palestine Awareness Week in press release

By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

Nov. 7, 2014 1:32 a.m.

Bruins for Israel said it will deliberately refrain from any counter-protests in response to Palestine Awareness Week, according to a group statement released Thursday.

In the press release, Bruins for Israel members said they do not want to bring attention to the week of events put on by Students for Justice in Palestine. Group members said in the statement that they think Palestine Awareness Week is an “illegitimate jab at the state of Israel.”

Eytan Davidovits, president of Bruins for Israel and fourth-year economics student, said the student group members wanted to clarify through the press release what their motives were and why they had not responded to the announcement of an upcoming divestment resolution earlier this week.

The resolution, spearheaded by Students for Justice in Palestine, calls for the University of California to divest from certain companies that some students say profit from the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The resolution is set to go to the Undergraduate Students Association Council in about two weeks.

“The motives behind the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement are not toward peace and coexistence. It has a political agenda that is masked behind human rights, but simultaneously erases Israel’s existence,” Davidovits said.

Davidovits said Bruins for Israel aims to find what it thinks is a better approach to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that will not create further tension between communities at UCLA.

In February, USAC voted against a similar resolution after an almost 12-hour-long meeting, which included about nine hours of heated public comment.

“After the divestment hearing (in February) the campus was torn and stressed, the cyberbullying was unacceptable and councilmembers felt threatened,” he said. “We do not want to go back to tactics that broke down the campus. We see a future that we can positively affect.”

Rahim Kurwa, a sociology graduate student and member of Students for Justice in Palestine, said the group respects students’ rights to express their own narrative on campus and decision to not participate in Palestine Awareness Week.

“Students for Justice in Palestine holds no antagonism toward anyone in the region or on campus,” Kurwa said. “While we respect Bruins for Israel’s disagreement with us, we ask them to show empathy to the many students across campus who wish to pass divestment for the most humanistic and positive reasons.”

Bruins for Israel’s press release also said it will organize teach-ins to educate the UCLA community about the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in upcoming weeks.

Bruins for Israel said it will hold a town hall meeting next Thursday at 5 p.m. at Hillel for students who support their efforts against the divestment resolution.

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Alejandra Reyes-Velarde | News editor
Reyes is the Daily Bruin's News editor and an Editorial Board member. Previously, she was the Science & Health editor covering research, the UCLA health system and graduate school news. She also writes Arts & Entertainment stories and photographs for the Bruin.
Reyes is the Daily Bruin's News editor and an Editorial Board member. Previously, she was the Science & Health editor covering research, the UCLA health system and graduate school news. She also writes Arts & Entertainment stories and photographs for the Bruin.
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