Student gov at historically Jewish university rejects resolution to condemn Hamas, demand safe return of hostages
'The word that comes to mind most is outrage,' said one Jewish student.
Following the Holocaust, Brandeis University was founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian Jewish university. Now, students at the historically significant university are shocked after their student government refused to condemn Hamas.
On Sunday, only six members of the Brandeis Student Union Senate voted in favor of a resolution to condemn Hamas and call on the group to release all Israeli hostages, according to a report from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Ten student senators reportedly voted against the resolution, and five abstained.
One Jewish student resigned from his position over the vote, calling the vote “absolutely infuriating.”
“The word that comes to mind most is outrage,” he told JTA.
“The biggest thing that I’m feeling right now and what I think likely a lot of other Brandeis students are feeling right now is disappointment,” said another student. “Especially with the values that our university was founded with, of inclusion, of social justice, and also specifically that Brandeis is a secular university, but it’s a university with intense ties to the American Jewish community… it’s frustrating to see my university that was founded in these values and was founded in the values of the American Jewish community be ignoring those struggles.”
Brandeis Uniersity President Ron Liebowitz issued a statement on the day of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks against Israel, condemning the acts which he immediately categorized as “terrorism.”
”This morning we awoke to news of a deadly terrorist attack on Israel. Many of us in the Brandeis community have close family, friends, colleagues and former classmates and students in the region, and many have spent a frightening day trying to reach those who live there,” said Liebowitz. “My thoughts are with all of those who are suffering in the wake of this outburst of violence.”