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‘Rutgers students must now contend with an even more hostile environment than the one they currently endure, knowing a great number of faculty and TAs stand against them in the classroom and beyond’

Two Rutgers University faculty unions have approved a resolution to divest from what it contends is “genocide in Palestine.”

The joint resolution was approved by the main faculty union and the one representing adjuncts.

“In the AAUP-AFT, 58 percent of members who cast a ballot voted yes, 38 percent voted no, and 4 percent abstained — 42 percent of those eligible to vote cast a ballot,” according to an announcement from the university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

“In the Adjunct Faculty Union, 62 percent voted yes, 34 percent voted no, and 4 percent abstained—24 percent of those eligible to vote cast a ballot,” it stated.

The resolution defended the use of academic boycotts as “legitimate tactical responses to conditions that are fundamentally incompatible with the mission of higher education.”

It called on Rutgers to adopt a boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against Israel.

The resolution was approved even though in May Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway openly rejected calls for BDS reiterating plans to move forward with a collaboration with Tel Aviv University. Holloway’s support came in the wake of Rutgers University student vote to divest from Israel.

Holloway did make several concessions to pro-Palestinian factions on campus as the time, however, including to accept “at least 10 displaced Gazans” and greenlight plans for “Arab Cultural Centers.”

Algemeiner reported that the “unions’ passing a resolution which calls for BDS comes amid new scrutiny of the role faculty — specifically the group Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) — have played in fostering campus unrest, extremism, and antisemitism.”

“…At Rutgers, for example, this month’s resolution was heavily promoted by FJP, which accused the university of supporting genocide in over a dozen social media posts it published to promote it.”

The resolution has prompted concern among the Jewish Faculty, Staff, and Administrators group at Rutgers, or JFAS-Rutgers, which has issued a statement calling it “controversial” and “divisive.”

The resolution is “antithetical to the goal of improving working conditions for Rutgers’ faculty and adjuncts; violates and undermines academic freedom; and discriminates on the basis of nationality, ethnicity, and religion,” according to the group.

“The resolution rests on false, dubious, and tendentiously framed claims,” JFAS-Rutgers stated. “…They egregiously frame the issues in a skewed, one-sided fashion, failing even to mention the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct 7, 2023.”

“Academics should never present extreme, one-sided narratives as ‘facts’ and must remain sensitive to the range of perspectives on contested events. No measure with such inflammatory, baseless language should receive academic endorsement.”

According to the statement, the BDS resolution also violates the law.

“New Jersey officially condemns BDS (SJR81) and prohibits the state from investing pension and annuity funds in companies boycotting Israel (S1923). Passing this resolution thus has public policy and legal ramifications. Further, the AAUP’s mission includes securing state funding for higher education, yet this measure will very likely have the opposite effect,” JFAS-Rutgers stated.

One Jewish faculty member told The College Fix the vote’s outcome will hurt students.

“Rutgers students must now contend with an even more hostile environment than the one they currently endure, knowing a great number of faculty and TAs stand against them in the classroom and beyond,” said the faculty member, who asked to remain anonymous.

MORE: Rutgers administration buckles to anti-Israel activists’ demands

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