Late Campaign, Non-Binding Referendum Keeps Sabra Hummus at DePaul

By Chuck Sudo in Food on May 23, 2011 8:35PM

A couple of weeks back we posted in our Midday News Links on the fight to have Sabra Hummus removed from DePaul University cafeterias and shelves. The university's Students for Justice in Palestine Group (SJP) contended that Sabra's parent company, the Strauss Group, have supported two notorious brigades, the Golani and Givani, that have been accused of human rights violations.

The SJP's campaign to remove Sabra hummus fell short of the 1,500 votes necessary for passage in last week's student government elections. An SJP press release accentuated the positives, noting that of the 1,459 votes cast on the referendum, 80 percent were in favor of removing Sabra. But there was no guarantee that DePaul administration would have removed Sabra from cafeterias and shelves had it passed anyway, since this was a non-binding referendum.

We spoke with SJP's press contact, Trent Carl, about the referendum vote. Carl once again looked at the positives they accomplished. "We managed to get 1,100 votes out on this issue in four days," Carl said. "And many students had no knowledge that there was a referendum leading up to the election, except for those four days."

Since this was a non-binding referendum, it would have been up to DePaul's Fair Business Practices Committee to ultimately decide Sabra's fate. A press release forwarded to us by Carl said the the FBPC did not find sufficient evidence that Strauss Group was actively supporting the brigades.

As for moving forward to bolster support to continue SJP's efforts to remove Sabra from shelves, Carl said they'll be working closely with other student organizations to keep the issue at the forefront of the student body.