JTA: University of Maryland student government scraps BDS bill before vote

Members of the University of Maryland student government nixed a bill to boycott Israel before it could be brought to a vote.

After two hours of debate Wednesday, the student affairs committee put forward an unfavorable report on the bill by a vote of 21-1 with three abstentions, according to the university’s Diamondback newspaper. Student legislators then voted 23-13 against overturning the report, with one abstention.

Of the 61 students that spoke during the debates, 45 opposed the bill, according to student legislator David Rekhtman.

“BDS does nothing to facilitate that change [of status quo in Israel], nor does it help to promote dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians or students on campus,” said one speaker, Talya Gordon, a sophomore psychology major. “What BDS does is shut down the conversation before it can ever be had.”