By Max Wiseman, Students Supporting Israel President

At the Sept. 10 meeting of Chapman University’s Investment Committee, a student-led proposal calling for divestment from Israeli and Jewish-owned companies was thoroughly debated. The proposal, backed by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and supported by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, sought to pressure the university to sever financial ties with businesses connected to Israel. After careful deliberation, the committee, led by Trustee Jim Burra, declined to divest, emphasizing the university’s fiduciary duty to protect its endowment. 

“We have a fiduciary responsibility to preserve and grow the endowment, which directly supports the mission of the university,” Burra stated, stressing the need for financial decisions to be based on risk and return, not political pressure.

The decision is a crucial victory for the Jewish community, both locally and globally, as the call to divest from companies tied to Israel is inherently antisemitic. By singling out Israeli and Jewish-owned businesses for exclusion, SJP and the BDS movement target a specific ethnic and religious group, which directly contradicts the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) that universities like Chapman uphold. The idea of divesting from companies solely because of their connection to Israel or Jewish interests is akin to calling for divestment from all businesses owned by African or Black individuals; it is discriminatory and rooted in prejudice.

The BDS movement, which supports SJP’s divestment efforts, has been widely criticized for promoting antisemitism under the guise of political activism. BDS not only advocates for the economic isolation of Israel, but also aligns itself with groups like Hamas, which calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and the killing of Jews in its charter. Such associations raise serious concerns about the underlying motives of BDS, which many see as promoting hatred rather than justice.

Furthermore, the claims of "genocide" against Palestinians, which are often used to justify divestment campaigns, do not hold up under scrutiny. Since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, the Palestinian population has steadily increased, disproving claims of systematic extermination. According to data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the Palestinian population in Gaza grew from approximately 1.4 million in 2005 to over two million as of 2022. This population growth contradicts the assertion that genocide is occurring, as genocide is defined by the intentional and systematic destruction of a particular group, which is not supported by these population trends.

By rejecting the divestment proposal, Chapman University has made a powerful statement against discrimination and in support of its fiduciary responsibilities. The university’s decision ensures that its investments are guided by financial prudence, not by political movements that risk marginalizing Jewish students and the broader Jewish community. In doing so, Chapman reaffirms its commitment to fairness, inclusivity and the values of DEI, ensuring that all students — regardless of their ethnicity or religion — are treated equitably.