by NJJN Editorial

August 25, 2010

Despite the claims of the Boycott Israel crowd, Harvard University hasn’t divested its Israeli holdings.

The boycotters, abetted by pro-Israel bloggers with more bandwidth than common sense, put it out there last week that the university had sold off some of its investments in Israel as a political statement.

The truth, however, is that Harvard merely moved its Israeli holdings from one index — for emerging markets — to another reflecting the stock’s successful growth. (Indeed, the Israeli economy grew by an unexpected annualized 4.7 percent in the second quarter, its fastest pace in more than two years.)

“The university has not divested from Israel,” a spokesman said.

The campus divestment movement remains a serious threat — a recent JTA report shows the heroic efforts undertaken by the Hillel director at the University of California, San Diego, to beat back one such campaign. But spreading rumors without waiting for the facts — or considering the source — doesn’t help Israel’s cause.

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