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To the Editor: 

I’d like to point out that “Berkeley rejects Israel boycott” was glaringly inaccurate. 

The author implied that the city council vote against divestment from Israel was a close call. I sat in on the city council meeting myself, and this was not true. In fact, the city council did not even vote on the divestment issue. After hearing the public and discussing the resolution themselves, the city council voted on a modified version of the resolution. The modified version entirely excluded the divestment clause, as well as other portions of the original resolution. It was overwhelmingly apparent that the city council opposed the divestment clause, so much so that it would not have been worth even putting it to a vote. 

They recognized that divestment would not be an effective means to promote peace. Its only outcome would serve to increase already stressful tensions here in Berkeley, including offensive rhetoric and anti-Semetic attacks. 

- Hilla Abel 

Berkeley