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BDS activists at Brown charged with deceiving college leaders

A 41-page report presents a rebuttal of their case to divest from Israel.

Brown University
Marcus Aurelius statue and Lyman Hall at Brown University in Providence, R.I. Credit: Kenneth C. Zirkel via Wikimedia Commons.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) has challenged the Brown Divestment Coalition, claiming that the group has relied on dozens of falsehoods in the anti-Israel arguments it made to Brown University administrators earlier this year.

It just released a 41-page report, “The BDC Proposal: An Exercise in Deception,” that presents a rebuttal of 45 points from the coalition’s case pushing the Ivy League school in Providence, R.I., to divest from Israel.

David Litman, CAMERA senior higher education analyst and the report’s lead author, said “BDC’s selective condemnation evinces its discriminatory motives, which have no place within an academic institution committed to fairness and equality.”

Litman said that the group’s proposal for Brown to divest from Israel “not only distorts facts but also promotes a harmful agenda that singles out the world’s only Jewish state for unwarranted censure.” He said that BDS efforts would perpetuate the conflict.

“Brown University must not allow itself to be exploited in service of discrimination,” he said. “Rejecting this proposal is essential to maintain academic integrity and to prevent the endorsement of misleading and discriminatory campaigns.”

CAMERA delivered the report to Brown on Aug. 30.

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