Demand the University System of Maryland Reject Divestment

The student council of the University System of Maryland recently passed a resolution calling on the University System to divest from companies that produce military weapons technology. While disguised as an anti-war campaign, this SJP-backed proposal is really just the latest attempt by anti-Israel activists to push USM toward divestment from Israel. The resolution is scheduled to be presented to the Board of Regents on June 12.

Call on the University System of Maryland Board of Regents to reject this Trojan horse effort to ostracize the Jewish state and its supporters.

To the University System of Maryland Board of Regents:

I am writing to urge you to strongly reject the demand by the University System of Maryland Student Council (USMSC) to divest the University System’s endowment from military weapons manufacturers.

This demand is not genuinely about weapons manufacturers: it is a transparent attempt to move toward divestment from Israel. In 2024, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and other allied groups launched a pro-Hamas encampment on Maryland’s campus to demand divestment from Israel. In the last two years, SJP has pushed student governments at USM campuses to pass several resolutions calling for divestment from companies that do business with Israel.

Now, the USMSC is repackaging the same divestment demand under the guise of "weapons divestment” in a Trojan horse attempt to push Maryland toward adopting the antisemitic boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

Divestment from Israel is not about promoting human rights or social justice. It is a thinly veiled attempt to delegitimize the Jewish state and its right to exist. By granting legitimacy to this divestment petition and the extreme group behind it, the Board would be legitimizing antisemitic attitudes and emboldening those who seek to harm Jewish members of the Maryland community as well as harm the Jewish state, which is currently fighting for its very survival.

I urge you to publicly reject demands to divest from military weapons technology. The Board of Regents must stand against this campaign of delegitimization and send a clear message that the University System of Maryland will not be manipulated by antisemitic activism dressed up in social justice rhetoric. Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist students at USM institutions are watching to see whether you will take a stand.

Signed,
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