Natalie Zahr

On September 15, 2024, more than 100 members of the Stanford Medicine community signed an anti-Israel petition during Israel's war against Hamas. Israel launched the war after the October 7, 2023, terror attacks, during which 1,200 Israelis were murdered.

The petition was titled: “Stanford Medicine community demands an end to Stanford’s complicity in genocide.”

The petition repeatedly accused Israel of “genocide” in its war against Hamas and also accused Israel of the “extermination” of Gazans.

Signatories showed support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and said: “Send a message to the Stanford University Board of Trustees supporting divestment from companies involved in Israeli war crimes, genocide or apartheid.”

Signatories further claimed: “Contracting with companies who aid in the destruction of hospital and university infrastructures, the murder of healthcare workers and the genocide of an entire people is not in line with our Hippocratic Oath to ‘do not [sic] harm.’”

Stanford Medicine comprises Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Healthcare and Stanford Children’s Health.

Hamas uses hospitals, universities and mosques in Gaza to hide their military command centers, store weapons and launch rockets at Israel. According to international law, such sites are no longer deemed “civilian objects,” and lose their right of protection against attack.

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by pro-terror activist Omar Barghouti in 2005 to turn “Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.” Barghouti has also called for Israel's destruction and the BDS movement demands would result in that same goal.

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 infiltrating university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments propose resolutions to boycott or divestment from Israel or Israeli-affiliated entities. 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 and pro-terror activism on campus.