DePaul University students pushing to replace Sabra hummus with an alternative brand in the campus dining halls have been blocked by the university’s Fair Business Practices Committee (FBPC).
FBPC made this decision in spite of the fact that in last week’s student elections 77 percent of students participating voted to remove Sabra from DePaul campus shelves, an achievement that is in large part due to a campaign by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which used documentation from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations to demonstrate that the brand’s parent company, Strauss Group, supports two units of the Israeli military engaged in repression of the Palestinian people.
FBPC argued that the “Strauss Group’s support for the brigades is not material because it does not specifically send weapons,” even though Strauss Group states it provides money and supplies to two brigades which advocacy groups allege have committed human rights violations against civilians.
Campus debate over Sabra hummus has been going on for six months between students, staff and faculty representatives and the latest decision doesn’t seem likely to end the issue. The SJP is already criticizing the FBPC for failing to take their group’s research into consideration and campus activism continues, as this video by SJP makes clear. Watch this space for further developments.
