University of Maryland SGA passes anti-Israel resolution in vote scheduled for Jewish holy day
The vote, previously slated for Rosh Hashanah, was rescheduled to the holiest day in Judaism with the backing of Students for Justice in Palestine.
The University of Maryland Student Government Association passed a sweeping boycott, divestment, and sanctions resolution Wednesday night while many Jewish students were unable to participate due to Yom Kippur.
The resolution, which passed 29–0 with one abstention on Wednesday evening according to independent UMD paper The Diamondback, demands the university and its charitable foundation sever ties with companies that support Israel’s defense and security industries. It also calls for a student oversight committee to monitor future partnerships.
Jewish students and organizations condemned the vote, calling the timing exclusionary and deliberate.
[RELATED: University of Maryland SJP pushes anti-Israel vote on Yom Kippur]
Supporters of the measure, backed by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), insisted that accommodations such as proxy voting were available. “The priority for us was to make sure that there was accommodations, and I believe SGA did provide them,” sponsor Zyad Khan told The Diamondback.
National leaders have also taken note. Leo Terrell, chair of the Department of Justice’s task force on anti-Semitism, called the decision to hold the vote on Yom Kippur “shameful and unacceptable.”
This was not the first scheduling controversy.
The bill was originally set to be introduced during Rosh Hashanah, another Jewish holiday, before being moved to Yom Kippur. Despite objections, a Wednesday motion to table the resolution until after the holidays failed, with only two legislators in support.
[RELATED: Anti-Semitic incidents on U.S. college campuses see alarming rise, report finds]
The controversy comes amid record levels of anti-Semitism on U.S. campuses.
A recent Hillel International report documented more than 2,300 anti-Semitic incidents during the 2024–25 academic year, a tenfold increase from just two years earlier.
Despite mounting concerns, the SGA resolution marks the first successful BDS measure at Maryland since a divestment referendum in April. Previous attempts at an anti-Israel resolution in 2017, 2019, and 2024 all failed to pass.
