community college

De Anza College is the first community college to support divestment from Israel’s human rights abuses

Student body passes resolution supporting Palestinian rights in the occupied territories by 12-4-2

Students at De Anza Community College in Cupertino, CA, representing a wide coalition of students from all backgrounds and sectors of campus, celebrated a milestone victory for social justice with the passage of a resolution “In Support of Divestment from Companies That Profit from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories.” The resolution was approved by De Anza Associated Student Body by an overwhelming majority, and marks the first time a community college student body has voted in support of divestment from corporations violating Palestinian human rights.

The resolution, sponsored by Viana Marie Roland and Kenneth Gabbard, passed by a 12-4-2 margin. Noting that De Anza College is “committed to the values of civic engagement for social justice,” and had previously “selectively and publicly, divested from companies engaged in fossil fuel emissions,” the resolution named Hewlett-Packard Enterprises, Motorola Solutions, G4S, and Caterpillar as companies that “affect the De Anza community directly, including students whose families experience occupation, systematic discrimination, death, injury, and other forms of human rights violations,” and called upon the Foothill-De Anza Foundation to “adopt a Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) policy that includes a human rights screen for human rights violations,” and to “accordingly divest from companies that violate international human rights.”

Invigorated by the student body’s support for Palestinian rights, as well as the overwhelming support they received from community members, Students for Justice at De Anza (SFJ) is now ready to take the resolution to the Foothill-De Anza Foundation Board to request  a socially responsible investment policy and divestment from the named companies, and others determined to be engaged in similar human rights violations. SFJ  believes this vote  lays a principled foundation from which students from myriad backgrounds can continue to educate and organize in support of all social justice causes, of which Palestinian rights is just one.  

The full text of the resolution is available here and reprinted below:

 

De Anza Associated Student Body Government, De Anza-Foothill Community College District, Foundation Board Resolution

In Support of Divestment from Companies That Profit from the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories

WHEREAS, the students of De Anza College and the De Anza Associated Student Body Government as their representative body, have a rich history in student advocacy and progressive leadership;

WHEREAS, De Anza College is committed to the values of civic engagement for social justice;

WHEREAS, “As a public institution, De Anza College contributes to the development of local, state, national and global communities. De Anza College views their students and themselves as agents of change, responsible for building the world in which all people are able to realize their dreams in ways that are environmentally sustainable and in alignment with the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights” [1];

WHEREAS, Foothill-De Anza Foundation is “dedicated to developing a broadly educated and socially responsible community” [3] and has selectively and publicly divested from companies engaged in fossil fuel emissions [2];

WHEREAS, as defined by Foothill-De Anza Foundation, “It is the responsibility of the Investment Committee to consider how the social and ethical goals of the Foundation, as expressed by the Board, should be reflected in the portfolio. In this regard, the Investment Committee may issue periodic restrictions of specific investments or related strategies [6];

WHEREAS, international human rights law recognizes the rights of all people, including Palestinians, to life, security [4] and political and economic self-determination;

WHEREAS, Israel has been recognized by international law since 1967 as an occupying power in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza [11];

WHEREAS, the following is an illustrative and non-exhaustive list of companies which enables human rights abuses and violence;

WHEREAS, Caterpillar, G4S, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, and Motorola Solutions have violated the universal right “to life, liberty, and security of person;” “to education;” to “privacy, family [and] home;” “to own property, and …[not to] be arbitrarily deprived of property” as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [4];

WHEREAS, Caterpillar is responsible for supplying Israel with D9 bulldozers, which are used by the governing regime, to demolish Palestinian homes and violate human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territories [10];

WHEREAS, Motorola Solutions services “MotoEagle Surveillance,” which is used by the Israeli regime to control Palestinian movement through security maintenance of illegal Israeli settlements, the West Bank separation wall, the wall around Gaza, and military bases [9];

WHEREAS, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has provided biometric identification systems used at Israeli military checkpoints, which restrict the freedom of movement of Palestinians, facilitate discrimination against Palestinians, and reinforce a stratification of citizenship [8];

WHEREAS, HPE profits from global mass incarceration and provides prisoner data systems for the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs (ICE) Law Enforcement Support Center [8];

WHEREAS, G4S provides security services to businesses in the illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. G4S has also provided full body scanners and luggage scanning equipment to various checkpoints throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories [7];

WHEREAS, the consequences of these companies’ actions also affect the De Anza community directly, including students whose families experience occupation, systematic discrimination, death, injury, and other forms of human rights violations;

WHEREAS, the only way to achieve financial neutrality in such situations is to end our investment in and implicit support for such companies through divestment;

WHEREAS, investment in these companies shows implicit support for the decisions and actions of these companies, as well as their consequences, which include the killings of civilians;

WHEREAS, our peers in numerous university student associations, including Wesleyan University, Oberlin College, DePaul University, Evergreen State College, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UCLA, UC Davis, San Jose State University, and Stanford University have passed resolutions calling for divestment from companies that violate international law and human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories;

LET IT BE RESOLVED, by the De Anza Associated Student Body Government exercising its representative authority on behalf of all students;

LET IT FURTHER BE RESOLVED, that the DASB (De Anza Associated Student Body) calls upon the Foundation to adopt a Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) policy that includes a human rights screen for human rights violations such as but not limited to those listed below, and to accordingly divest from companies that violate international human rights law by:

1. Maintaining the illegal infrastructure of the Israeli occupation, in particular settlements and separation wall. This includes companies like Caterpillar Inc. [10]

2. Facilitating Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians. This includes companies like Hewlett Packard Enterprise [8]

3. Facilitating state repression against Palestinians by Israeli security forces. This includes companies like G4S [7] and Motorola Solutions Inc. [9]

UNTIL  the Israeli Government:

1. Ends its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantles the Israeli West Bank Barrier
2. Recognizes the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality
3. Respects, protects, and promotes the rights of Palestinian refugees, to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in United Nations Resolution 194

LET IT FINALLY BE RESOLVED, that the DASB calls upon the Board of Directors of the Foothill-De Anza Foundation to withdraw investments in securities, endowments, mutual funds, and other monetary instruments with holdings in Caterpillar, Hewlett Packard, Motorola Solutions, G4S, and all corporations that are similarly complicit in violating these criteria, at such time and in such manner as to be determined by the Board of Directors with the goal of maintaining the divestment until they cease these specific practices deemed as unethical by the De Anza College community.

[1] https://www.deanza.edu/emp/EMP_Approved_by_College_Council_6_11_15.pdf

[2] http://deanza.edu/news/2013fossildivest.html

[3]  http://www.fhda.edu/_about-us/#sthash.xlppUoLz.dpuf

[4] Universal Declaration of Human Rights

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

[5] https://www.dodgeandcox.com/pdf/shareholder_reports/dc_international_holdings.pdf page 1

[6] https://foundation.fhda.edu/what-we-do/statement_of_investment.html

[7] http://investigate.afsc.org/company/g4s-plc

[8] http://investigate.afsc.org/company/hewlett-packard-enterprise

[9] http://investigate.afsc.org/company/motorola-solutions-inc

[10] http://investigate.afsc.org/company/caterpillar-inc

[11] Geneva Convention, UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch;

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/007/2009/en/4c407b40-e64c-11dd-9917-

ed717fa5078d/mde150072009en.html#2.2.1.2.%20Law%20of%20occupation|outline

RESOLVED, that DASB will make this document public and will present this resolution to all affected parties, including: De Anza College President, Brian Murphy; Associated Vice President, Marisa Spatafore; Vice President of Finance and College Operations, Susan Cheu; Vice President of Student Services, Stacey Cook; Vice President of Instruction, Christina Espinosa-Pieb; Foothill-De Anza Foundation President Don Aoki and affiliated Foothill-De Anza Foundation Board members; Chancellor, Judy C. Miner, Vice Chancellor of Business, Kevin Mcelroy; Director of Office Of College Life, John Cognetta; La Voz Newspaper; and the CEOs of Hewlett Packard, Motorola Solutions, Caterpillar, and G4S.