Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The administration at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., rejected a resolution passed by the student government last week to ban Sabra hummus, an Israeli product, as part of a campaign on campus to boycott the Jewish state.

In a statement, the administration said, “Dickinson encourages students to voice their opinions and affect change through our governance structure. We are pleased that the discussion about this issue at the Student Senate meeting was civil, and that competing opinions were articulated.

“As an institution that deeply values global diversity and civil discussion and debate, Dickinson opposes this boycott. In 2014, we rejected the call from the American Studies Association to boycott Israeli universities, and instead maintained our ongoing relationships with three Israeli institutions. We reject the current call for boycott on the same grounds.

“Students have committed to continue with the open dialogue and active listening that they demonstrated during the discussion. We are confident that as they grapple with this and other complex issues, they will continue to seek out and consider multiple perspectives, and draw on the critical thinking and analysis skills they are developing at Dickinson.”

The person leading the charge was Henry Cohen, a senior whose father, Jeremiah Cohen, owns Bullfrog Bagels in Washington, DC.

A petition on Change.org was launched calling for a boycott of Bullfrog Bagels that has since been taken down. It accused Cohen of following anti-Israel pages on Facebook.

Cohen contacted JNS saying he did not support the anti-Israel BDS movement.

The petition also mentioned his daughter, Rosemary Cohen, who was a member of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Haverford College outside Philadelphia.

While she has since graduated, she stated the goal of her school’s 2017 “Israel Apartheid Week” was “recognizing apartheid in Israel and American financial complicity in that apartheid,” while rejecting “peaceful dialogue.”

Change.org spokesperson David Barre told JNS that “the petition received a defamation claim from the target and also revealed personal information about his kids, which violated our privacy policy. So that’s why it was removed by our policy team.”