Last week, the Chilean National Comptroller, a body that serves as the government’s auditor, established that it is against the law for Chilean municipalities to boycott Israel. This landmark decision was in part due to the complaints from the Chilean Jewish Community and the Chilean community in Israel about the Valdivia municipality’s ban on companies doing business with Israel. On the ban, Valdivia Mayor Omar Sabat had stated, “We join this initiative declaring the city of Valdivia the first municipality in Latin America free of Israeli apartheid… We refrain from contracting with any company that profits from and is linked to Israeli apartheid.” According to the complainants, Valvidia’s ban violated equality before law, as well as constituted economic discrimination. When coming to its decision, Chile’s National Comptroller concluded that while the Chilean Constitution gives municipalities a certain amount of independence, it does not give municipalities the ability to engage in foreign policy. Furthermore, according to the Jerusalem Post, “anyone participating in a government bidding process is legally ensured ‘equal and non-discriminatory treatment’ under Chilean law,” and Chilean law also “prohibits ‘arbitrary discrimination that is based on considerations such as nationality and that cause a deprivation, disturbance of threat of the exercise in fundamental rights.’” For these reasons, Valdivia’s boycott was illegal.
Penn State’s “Old Main” (Wikimedia Commons) Last week, the large menorah which sat outside the Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity house at Pennsylvania State University was first torn down and later stolen by vandals. Stunningly, the two incidents were unrelated, with separate parties first tearing down the menorah, then stealing it the next day. State College police identified suspects in both cases and department officials stated that they were working hard to bring them to justice. Though the menorah was recovered soon after its theft, members of Penn State’s Jewish community were rattled by the incident. Penn State is home to more than 4500 Jewish students. Zeta Beta Tau is the oldest and largest Jewish fraternity in the United States, with more than 140,000 Jewish men having participated in its chapters since 1898. The president of the Penn State chapter, Adam Schwartz, raised the money for the menorah following the shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Schwartz stated that he was “appalled that this could happen once and disgusted that this happened again so soon.” Penn State Hillel Executive Director Aaron Kaufman stated, during a lighting of the menorah, with over 100 attendees, a day after its recovery, that “[t]he resilience in the face of the repeated desecration of this menorah is inspiring.” Penn State’s administration acknowledged the event, with college president, Dr. Eric J. Barron, penning a blog post following the incident. Barron also invoked the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting and referred to the recent ADL report on anti-Semitism. Barron states that “nationally there is an increase of anti-Semitism…in the context of the national climate, we need to protect against hate and prejudice of any kind.” The University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) also released a statement in support of the Jewish community following the incident. The UPUA condemned the incident, stating that they continue to “stand by our Jewish classmates, professors and community members as they face yet another attack on their community.” Despite the fear surrounding the vandalism and theft of the menorah, Zeta Beta Tau held all its planned candle lighting events, with many Penn State students, alumni, and members of the campus community in attendance for ceremony.