Natasha Patel

Overview

Natasha Patel is a member of Stanford Out of Occupied Palestine (SOOP) and a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on the Stanford University campus. Patel was listed as one of the Ten Most Influential Political Voices on Campus for 2014-2015 by The Stanford Political Journal.

Patel is a senior at Stanford, majoring in Philosophy and Education. Patel is active in student government

Accusing Jews of Buying Influence

On February 27, 2015, Patel co-authored an op-ed with anti-Israel Stanford graduate Kristian Davis Bailey titled, "Free Dinners and Free Trips Won’t Prevent a Free Palestine."

In the article, the authors objected to pro-Israel programs — like Birthright Israel — that offer young Jewish adults a subsidized heritage trip to Israel, which explores and strengthens their Jewish identity and connection to Israel.

The authors slammed the Jewish heritage trips as "disrespectful to the millions of Palestinian refugees."

In addition, the authors accused the trips of interferring with efforts to promote divestment resolutions on campus, claiming that "free trips from organizations that oppose divestment were effectively bribery for votes."

Stanford Divestment Resolution

On February 17, 2015, the Stanford Undergraduate Senate voted in favor of a SOOP resolution calling on Stanford to divest from corporations that "maintain the occupation of Palestine."

The resolution called for Stanford University trustees to divest from companies that "violate international humanitarian law by maintaining illegal infrastructure of the Israeli occupation… facilitating Israel and Egypt’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians… [and] facilitating state repression against Palestinians by Israeli, Egyptian or Palestinian Authority security forces."

Following an initial vote, the resolution failed to garner the required 66% Senate approval, eliciting shouts of anger from the crowd and leaving one senator in tears. However, a re-vote was called by Senate Chair Ana Ordonez, who had abstained from the first vote because the "hostile" atmosphere made it difficult for her to concentrate on the vote. The second vote garnered enough support for the resolution to pass.

Slamming University Neutrality as Profit-Driven

In April 2015, the Stanford Board of Trustees announced the University would not divest from certain companies operating in Israel after concluding that any action to divest would serve to deeply divide the Stanford community.

Patel condemned the Board's insistence on neutrality stating, "The board’s key criteria — divisiveness and negative impact to the university’s educational mission — are the politically correct way of maximizing Stanford’s public image and profit margins."

President John Hennessy also addressed the issue at a faculty senate meeting. "I have never seen a topic that has been more divisive within the university community," Hennessy said. “As a university, we must remain committed to civil and rational discussion, especially when the issues are highly controversial. An atmosphere of intimidation or vitriol endangers our ability to operate as an intellectual community.”

BDS

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true. 

One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”  

Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”

In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.

BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.

The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.

Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.

BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/tasha.patel.94 [Deleted]

Twitter:https://twitter.com/tashahpatel

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-patel-b169638b