Victor Silverman

Overview

Victor Silverman has defended campus anti-Israel activists, endorsed an anti-Israel agitator and expressed support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Silverman is a professor of History at Pomona College (Pomona), as well as a filmmaker.    

Defending Campus Anti-Israel Activists

Silverman signed a 2017 letter, condemning a decision by Fordham’s dean to block the establishment of a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter on campus. The letter was authored by the anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) organization.

In 2016, Fordham reportedly blocked the formation of a Fordham SJP chapter “based on the reported behavior of other [SJP] chapters on other campuses,” indicating that “the establishment of a local branch could be ‘polarizing’ and pose a safety concern to students and faculty.”

Signatories demanded that Fordham “immediately rescind the rejection of SJP as a student group on campus, apologize to the students affected by this harmful decision, and reaffirm Fordham’s commitment to free speech and academic freedom.” 

The petitioners also highlighted SJP’s BDS activity, characterizing SJP’s efforts to promote anti-Israel boycott as part of “a time-honored non-violent mode of political expression.” The petition accused Fordham’s administration of a “fundamental misunderstanding of what boycotts are, the purpose of a university, and the goals of SJP.”

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in cooperation with Palestine Legal (PL), and civil rights attorney Alan Levine sued Fordham on behalf of four students in April 2017. A New York court annulled Fordham’s decision in August 2019, mandating that the university recognize SJP as an official club. 
 
Fordham appealed the ruling to the NY State Supreme Court Appellate Division in January 2020. On July 24, 2020, Fordham SJP students filed a brief asking the appellate court to deny Fordham’s appeal of the lower court’s decision.
 
As of October 2020, a variety of groups, not directly involved in the case, filed amicus briefs with the Appellate Division for the court's consideration including JVP. 

Endorsing an Anti-Israel Agitator

Silverman signed a petition in 2018 expressing support for anti-Israel activist, Lara Alqasem, demanding that the Israeli government permit her entry into the country. 

In October 2018, Alqasem was detained at Ben Gurion airport after trying to enter Israel, because of her anti-Israel activism and, specifically, her support for the BDS movement. Alqasem was granted entry into Israel after appealing to the Israeli Supreme Court.  

Supporting BDS

In a tweet, published on December 15, 2017, Silverman applauded Brandeis University (Brandeis) for the BDS activism on that campus, writing: “Brandeis, Brandeis! had highest rate of support for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel. Young Jewish students take the lead.”

In April 2016, Silverman reportedly canceled a screening of his film and refused to work with a production company, officially “ending [his] distribution relationship with” them “in response to the film festival's decision not to end financial ties with the Israeli government.”

The article also reported that months before Silverman ended the relationship, the production company had sought “fiscal sponsorships from local consulates” in order to cover travel expenses for many foreign attendees. In response, Silverman accused the production company of “pinkwashing.”

“Pinkwashing” is a claim that Israel advocates manipulate the LGBTQ community in order to garner support for Israel.  

The article went on to note that Silverman and his co-producer of the film “have also supported the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. As members of the American Studies Association [ASA], they backed the boycott of Israeli academic institutions by that organization.”