Have an adamant stance on BDS? Yes? Okay. Then this is not for you, but you’re welcome to keep reading. Have no official stance on BDS? Okay. Then I beg you with every ounce of my being to keep reading.
My name is Audrey Abergel. I’m from Valencia, California and a first generation American from a Moroccan-Jewish household. As a Californian, I was raised to be calm and progressive. As a Moroccan Jew, I was raised to be earnest and traditional. This collection of characteristics has made my beliefs both far left and far right, with an overall tendency to lie right in the middle in terms of every thought, interaction and relationship I have. This view gave me confidence as I moved to Vancouver three years ago and began my degree in political science. During my studies I have learned that life is nothing but a ‘median’. I’m sure you all can relate as you’ve heard once, or a million times, that everything in life is about a certain level of balance.
Now that we have mutual understanding, let me take this a step further. If life is nothing but a median, then I guess we may also say that life is nothing but a grey spot. There is no such thing as ‘black and white’ when everything is on the verge of having double meanings, multiple consequences and variable conditions. As progressive students, we are taught that believing in anything contrary is not only characteristic of a simpleton, but that it is plain ignorant. However, I’m here to tell you that I reject that. Here is why.
For the past two months, I have been on the quieter end of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement, asking the student body to vote no on the upcoming referendum boycotting Israeli products. My decision to be on the quieter end has been an interesting one as I am the current president of the Jewish Students Association (JSA) at UBC. One would think that as a leader of a Jewish Organization on campus, my involvement would be as fervent as would be required. This decision was based off of the idea that I did not want to alienate any member of the JSA who did not agree with my stance or Hillel B.C.'s on BDS. For me, the JSA has always been first and foremost a cultural club, not a political one. Neutrality was my goal and I intended to keep it that way. As a child of the median and as a student of ‘everything is grey’, I truly believed that what I was doing was right. But as the recent weeks have passed and as I became more knowledgable on the referendum, I realized that my stance was ultimately not positive for myself, nor the whole movement.
Like many other students, I fully understand that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complicated to say the least and that if you do not have an abundant knowledge about the conflict, you are mostly left feeling confused. This confusion has most likely led many of you to take the typical ‘neutral’ stance as you can easily admit that both sides have actions to answer to. Yet do not want to offend any one group as you do not believe that you have enough confidence or knowledge to do so.
I’m here to tell you that your neutral stance is action by inaction. By not voting yes or no, you are making a decision. You are actively choosing to ignore the fact that a referendum which seeks to ignore the notion that both countries have a basic right to exist, ineffectively pursue peace through one-sided condemnation and ultimately further polarize Arab-Israeli and, by extension, Jewish relations is taking place on your university campus. Voting NO is allegiant to your neutral agenda. Voting NO means that you believe in having conversations with people who love or hate Israel and/or Palestine. Voting NO means that you believe in a peaceful resolution and recognition for Palestinian and Israeli Human Rights and Liberties. Voting NO means that you understand the irony that being conditional, a median, a grey spot can also be in accordance with what is black and what is white.
For these reasons, I have decided to take a stance and vote no to boycotting Israeli products and I hope for the sake of being bold and having conviction that what you're doing is ethically right, you will too.
Audrey Abergel is a third-year political science student and president of the Jewish Students Association.
Share this article
