On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, the University of Maryland (UMD) Student Government Association (SGA) passed a boycott, sanctions, and divestment resolution against the state of Israel, 29-0 with one abstention.
Because Jews fast, pray, and abstain from work on Yom Kippur, Jewish students, who comprise 20 percent of UMD’s student body, were not able to participate in the voting process. The bill was initially scheduled for a few days prior on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. Only two SGA members supported a motion that would have pushed the vote after the Jewish holidays.
One SGA member claimed, in a statement to UMD’s student newspaper, The Diamondback, “The priority for us was to make sure that there was [sic] accommodations, and I believe SGA did provide them,” referring to proxy voting measures.
This does not take into consideration the fact that observant Jews do not work or use electronics on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur.
“The timing denied our community the opportunity to engage in a fair and meaningful discussion,” said Meirav Solomon, a junior at UMD on the pre-law track. “This decision adds to the growing sense that Jewish students are not safe or heard on campus. SGA is meant to represent the entire student body, and that means ensuring that every community has a voice in decisions that impact them.”
The Trump administration has opened Title VI investigations into various universities, including Harvard and Columbia, for campus antisemitism. Given how Jewish students are being treated on UMD’s campus, there may very well be a case against the university, so long as leadership allows open hatred to continue unfettered.
Hatred towards Jews on Campus
The extremism of SGA students, and their hatred toward Jews, was on display in their comments toward Jewish students during the general body meeting:
“Zionists have no problem doing the evil work of genocide on the high holiday. I know some Zionists and Jewish exceptionalists have claimed that today is not the day to bring this resolution to a vote,” said Abel Amene, a student at UMD testifying in favor of the resolution. “But I ask you this simple question: The genocide is occurring on a Jewish holiday. It is perpetrated by an ethnostate that claims to represent all Jews. Should we wait until tomorrow or the next day to do the little work we can do in our power to stop that genocide?”
Amene continued, “I wonder if anyone would say we should not condemn the KKK at an SGA meeting that happens to be on Ash Wednesday or any other holiday in the Christian calendar because the members of the KKK also happen to profess the Christian faith.”
“I’m not personally a faithful person, but I’ve been raised in a family with strong belief. What I’ve been taught is that a holiday is a perfect day to practice faith. This day in particular is a good day to practice repentance, to show regret for sins committed that year, and to resolve not to commit the sins again,” he concluded.
‘Shameful’ Choosing of Holy Day
As Leo Terrell, chairman of the Justice Department’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, observed on X, extremists on campus “[appear] to be intentionally picking the holiest days of the year for Jews in order to force them to choose between defending their Zionist identities or observing their religion,” calling this “shameful and unacceptable.”
A coalition of 18 on-campus Jewish organizations said in a statement on the UMD Hillel Instagram that they “will not attend any student government meetings on the issue” going forward, as they do not wish to “legitimize the efforts of any SGA members’ one-sided, anti-Israel, and antisemitic agenda.”
Goal of Increasing Polarization
UMD has already stated that the resolution will have no bearing on its decisions or policies. Citing this, the Jewish organizations noted that the antisemitic actions taken by the SGA are “purely symbolic,” meaning that the only goal is “increased polarization on campus [that fosters] an unwelcoming climate for Jewish students.”
Unfortunately, it seems like that strategy is working, not just at UMD but across the country. A February 2025 report by the American Jewish Committee found that just under half of Jewish college students in America have reported feeling “uncomfortable or unsafe at a campus event because they are Jewish; avoided wearing, carrying or displaying things that could identify them as Jewish; or avoided expressing views on Israel on campus or with classmates because of fears of antisemitism.”