Scott Gurvey's Public Offerings

A group calling itself “Princeton Israel Apartheid Divest” (“PAID”) submitted a proposal to the university asking that it divest and dissociate from companies and holdings with ties to Israel. The Princeton’s Resources Committee asked members of the community for comments. An abridged version of my response follows.

Dear Members of the Committee:

I appreciate that the Committee has included alumni as it solicits community views on the proposal…. This is a serious matter, and the ultimate decision of the Committee and the Board of Trustees will reflect on the institution in which we are all stakeholders….

(E)ven a cursory examination of the claims and assertions made by PIAD calls into question the good faith of that organization and demonstrates that the goal of the Proposal is to require the University to take a “tactical position” to “achieve particular results” which the guidelines do not endorse.

The use of terms including “genocide”, “apartheid”, “ethnic cleansing”, and “colonialism”, with regard to the State of Israel represent a slander demonstrating not simply a bias but an ignorance as to the meaning and etymology of these words….

The PIAD is not a grassroots, Princeton generated organization. It is a part of a larger, well organized and very well financed organization which has been seeking support for its “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions” program since a time even before the creation of the modern State of Israel. The program has achieved some success on some American university campuses. It has done this by hiding its principal goal, which is the elimination of Israel.

The BDS movement seeks to delegitimize Israel, denying it the right to exist. It also denies the fact that Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people. It hides its funding and leadership, which are demonstrably connected to people who advocate the destruction of the State of Israel and in some cases, the elimination of the Jewish people. These require little research to confirm. One needs only to listen to what the leadership of the BDS movement says in their public statements….

There is no consensus, no “collective position” that can be reached by the Committee. The Proposal claims “The campus community has developed a collective position that the University should divest.” This is false. I am aware of a petition in opposition to the Proposal which is circulating the community. I believe the number of signatories for and against are approximately equal at one thousand each. This is far short of the 100,000 members of the community and clearly not a “consensus” amongst those who have stated a position.

With that lack of consensus support, the Proposal must fail to advance.

The Proposal is a slickly produced 66-page document. It was clearly an expensive production. The challenges of the BDS movement have been met by several opposing organizations, and I urge you to consult them. This Proposal, while targeting at this time only specific investments, has been rightly characterized as a “slippery slope.” The BDS community sees divestiture as a censure but only a step toward its true goal, the end of Israel.

What would be next for Princeton? Would it refuse to purchase any equipment made in Israel, or with Israeli technology? There is a great deal of hypocrisy in the Proposal on this question. Will the petitioners forgo their smart phones, which are likely to contain Israeli developed and patented technology? Will they refuse advanced medical imaging if prescribed because Israeli technology is most likely present in modern CT scan and MRI equipment?

Will Princeton refuse to allow scholars from Israel to attend? Will it refuse to allow collaboration with Israeli scholars and academic institutions? Will it reject applications from Israelis to study at Princeton? Will it refuse admission to people of the Jewish faith?

If it agrees to divestiture, will Princeton take similar action against Russia, which stands as an invader of Ukraine? What about China, which has not only persecuted the Uyghur people, but has grown its navy and is challenging nations surrounding the South China Sea daily? These actions have all been found to be in violation of international law. Will Princeton stop all association with Russians and Chinese?

And what of the terrorist groups, Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, and their puppet master and funder, Iran? A decision that singles out Israel without including all of these for equal censure is to treat the Jewish people in a manner different from others. This double standard is antisemitism, pure and simple.

Acceding to the Proposal would not be “consistent with the fundamental character of the University as an academic institution….” It is not going to resolve the conflict in the Middle East. The University should remain committed to scholarship which seeks truth. It must resist endorsing a one-sided account of a very complex situation. Princeton should provide a forum that challenges the worldview to reach the truth or at least a fuller account and a more balanced account.

I have over the last year been on campus and observed the encampment demonstration first hand. I have also been on the Columbia campus in Manhattan, where I attended graduate school many years ago. I believe Princeton has done a far better job of allowing conflicting views to be expressed in a civilized, academic manner. I felt the same way when I was on campus studying for my AB. The war in Vietnam was the issue then and I was impressed by the way Presidents Goheen and Bowen handled the concerns of the community.

In recent days Brown University has voted not to proceed with a similar divestment proposal. Earlier this year the University of California at Los Angeles, where I teach in the extension program, did the same.

I respectfully recommend the Committee reject the Proposal and so inform the Board of Trustees.

Sincerely,

Harold Scott Gurvey

Class of 1973

Selected References:

• A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Mark Tessler
• Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth, Noa Tishby
• The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign, Anti-Defamation League
• The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign, Anti-Defamation League
• The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Campaign, America Israel Public Affair Committee