divestment

California State University Long Beach Passes Motion to Divest from Corporations Aiding Oppression of Palestinians

CSU Long Beach becomes the 13th California campus to pass a boycott or divestment measure.

From the Daily 49er

The Associated Students, Inc. Senate passed in a (15,7,1) roll call vote a divestment resolution from companies that profit from Palestinian oppression.

One side of the gallery restrained their cheers and jitters, while the other side donned dispirited, reddened faces as the ASI Senate tallied their votes.

This resolution would encourage the university to divest from companies that receive monetary gain from Palestinian oppression. The ASI Senate also passed two similar resolutions the same day that encouraged the divestment from companies that profit from LGBTQ+ oppression and private prisons.

Now that all of the divestment resolutions have passed in the Senate, the university at large and its auxiliaries, such as the 49er Foundation and the 49er Shops, will decide whether or not they will support it.

Since the inception of the divestment resolution regarding Palestinian oppression, the Farber Senate chambers have been filled with Jewish and Palestinian people alike, as well as campus members interested in the outcome of the resolution, all voicing their thoughts on the controversy of the Israel and Palestine conflict taking place overseas.

The culmination of emotion before the vote was led by loud claps, cheers and snaps from the audience. Attendance at ASI’s last Senate meeting of the semester was at its highest due to the great controversy over the resolution. Students, faculty and others passionate about the topic sported t-shirts and held up signs advocating for their cause.

The victory, which passed 3 total votes over the span of one month, came amid efforts to suppress and intimidate student senators, covered by Palestine Legal and in the Daily 49er. Students hailed the vote as precedent for further action in support of social justice.

Claremont Students for Justice in Palestine announces boycott victory

Pitzer College Student Senate Approves Budgetary Boycott Amendment

On Sunday April 16, in an important victory at Pitzer College, the Student Senate voted (22 aye, 0 nay, 4 abstentions) to adopt an amendment to the Budget By-Laws which reads in part, “Student Activities Funds shall not be used to make a payment on goods or services from any corporation or organization associated with the unethical occupation of Palestinian territories.”

This is an important step in our fight to build the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement in support of the basic rights and dignity of the Palestinian people. The BDS movement was started in 2005 from a call by a range of over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations in order to increase pressure on the state of Israel until it:

Ends its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands occupied in June 1967 and dismantles the Wall; recognizes the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and respects, protects and promotes the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.

Although we live in a country that now gives 3.8 billion dollars in military aid a year to Israel, adopting this amendment is an important first step in reducing our complicity with a country that maintains an illegal military occupation and regularly commits war crimes against an indigenous population.

Claremont Students for Justice in Palestine is committed to standing up against our colleges complicity in supporting companies and organizations that serve to benefit from continued violence on behalf of the state of Israel. We will continue working to build a movement in solidarity with the liberation of Palestinians and all oppressed people in the US and around the world. The final copy of the newly adopted Pitzer College Student Senate Budget Bylaws can be viewed here: http://pitweb.pitzer.edu/…/Pitzer-College-Student-Senate-Bu…

Contact:
Claremont Students for Justice in Palestine
claremontcollegesjp@gmail.com

In a first, De Anza College passes divestment motion in support of Palestinian rights

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]
  1. Facilitating Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians. This includes companies like Hewlett Packard Enterprise [8]
  1. 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.

 

Irish firm CRH, key target of UC SJPs’ Divestment Campaigns, ends its financial complicity with violations of International Law and Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

SJP-WEST
For Immediate Release

1/20/2016
Contact: west.sjp [at] gmail.com

On January 8, 2016, the Irish firm CRH (previously known as Cement Roadstone Holdings) released a financial report stating that it was selling its holdings in the Israeli cement industry. CRH has been a target of UC wide divestment efforts due to its investment in Israeli companies that provide building materials and cement used to construct the Wall and settlements inside the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Irish Palestine Solidarity Groups, which had been vigorously pressuring CRH to cease its cooperation with the occupation for years, hailed the announcement as a major victory. Irish news reports cited pro-Palestinian pressure as a central issue – noting years of protests at the company’s annual shareholder meetings and citing growing pressure from shareholders as well.

SJPs in the UC system have long placed CRH on its divestment list due to the UC Regents investment in the firm. Student governments at UC Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Cruz, as well as the umbrella group the UC Student Association, have passed motions calling for divestment from companies violating Palestinian human rights, including CRH. Other schools in California, like Stanford‘s undergraduate senate, have passed motions calling for divestment from corporations fitting specific criteria. These criteria include the activities in which CRH had been involved.

CRH’s cessation of involvement with the nearly 50 year long Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is an important victory for all Palestinians living under occupation, particularly those affected by the wall and settlements.

It is also a victory for advocates of corporate social responsibility. Recently, Human Rights Watch stated that businesses operating in the settlements are by nature contributing to violations of international law and should pull out – a recommendation that will only gain traction as more companies apply socially responsible investment principles to their business practices. 

Finally, CRH’s move is a confirmation of the power of public pressure to end corporate complicity with violations of international law and human rights, and an admission that continued involvement with violations of Palestinian rights is not in the interests of investors or corporations. Its actions further reflect a major victory for the students of the UC system who, through their divestment campaigns, have helped raise international public pressure on the corporation to cease its involvement in the occupation. 

Now that CRH has ended its complicity with the occupation, it will no longer be included in calls for divestment by SJPs. SJPs rightly celebrate this victory and look forward to other companies targeted for divestment ending their financial cooperation with the occupation in the near future.

 

UCSC Divestment Victory: SUA Appeal Overturns 2014 Divestment Nullification

UCSC Student Government votes to overturn former UCSC President Shaz Umer’s unconstitutional overruling of divestment bill.  Vote means that UCSC is officially the 7th of 9 UCs voting for divestment, joining UC Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, and Davis.  

Reprinted via City on a Hill Press

With a 28-5-7 vote, the Student Union Assembly (SUA) approved Students for Justice in Palestine’s (SJP) appeal of former SUA Chair Shaz Umer’s controversial decision to nullify a divestment resolution passed in May 2014. The University Socially Responsible Investment Resolution (USRIR), which calls for the UC to divest from companies “complicit in the severe violation of Palestinian human rights” is in effect as of SUA’s meeting on Nov. 18.

The decision took more than two hours of discussion and presentations from SJP and Slugs for Israel (SFI), including questions from students in the crowd of about 70. The appeal didn’t address opinions about divestment, but solely on due process and whether Umer’s action in 2014 was constitutional. During that meeting, USRIR passed, but under unclear and allegedly illegal suspension of bylaws.

In May 2014, when the resolution was one vote shy of passing the required two-third majority, a member motioned to suspend the bylaw to lower the approval to a simple majority. The motion to lower the threshold passed by exactly a two-thirds majority, allowing the resolution to be voted on again. The resolution, only needing a simple majority in the second vote, passed 22-14-1.

Two days after the resolution supposedly passed, Umer decided to review USRIR and the bylaw’s suspension after objection from pro-Israel student groups. This review carried on for 17 days, and Umer ruled that the incorrect bylaw had been suspended, rendering the resolution’s passage invalid.

SUA follows Robert’s Rules of Order, a notoriously complicated set of governing practices used to make decisions. The legality of motioning to suspend a bylaw and was one point of contest regarding Umer’s decision. SJP maintained that the resolution should be valid, according to the details of the bylaw.

SUA president Julie Foster said she felt both sides had the opportunity to voice their concerns in this week’s meeting, but either might feel like they hadn’t finished expressing their full thoughts.

“That’s the flaw of Robert’s Rules and parliamentary procedure,” Foster said. “They are designed for us to take action and not to have a facilitated discussion. SUA’s responsibility is to take action. People [were able to] voice their concerns at the senate meetings.”

After SJP presented the appeal last week, the decision was tabled to this week’s meeting. In the meantime SUA representatives discussed the appeal in their respective college senate meetings and SJP representatives attended some to answer questions. After the appeal passed, SJP members Camellia Boutros and Melissa Otero said despite people pushing the conversation toward divestment and away from the legality of Umer’s decision, there’s an overwhelming relief after the resolution’s passage.

“It’s really good SUA was so concerned about democratic process, because that’s really important and it’s important to know there is due process at this school,” Boutros said.

Five of the six elected SUA officers voted to pass the appeal.

During heated parts of the discussion, more than 20 students would be on stack to comment but when a motion was made it had to be voted on, and the stack discontinued. “Call to questions” were frequently made to claim repeated back-and-forth argument. SUA’s community agreements allow for “points of privilege” to include allowing people to educate others on using inclusive language or voicing that they were offended by certain arguments. Those take precedent over people on stack, and raise issues regarding personal concerns of members and attendees.

“As for the space, I feel like many students were incredibly silenced throughout the meeting last night, from all sides of the appeal,” said elected Stevenson College representative Daniel Bernstein in an email. “The use of the ‘call to question’ was taken advantage of and utilized as a means to cease conversation on important issues.”

Fellow Stevenson College representative Gema Rodriguez said she believes divestment isn’t even a resolution SUA should consider.

“My understanding of the SUA is that we are a body of students elected to represent our college and eventually the student body as a whole,” Rodriguez said in an email. “I believe that by voting in the matter of divestment we are neglecting and oppressing bodies, because there will never be a situation in which both parties are satisfied when it comes to a yes/no vote.”

In the beginning of its presentation, SFI suggested the idea of a neutral, third-party judiciary committee to review the appeal. Foster said creating the committee would be a long process, since it would require the creation of a new bylaw, but also that even a third-party committee might struggle to remain neutral.

During SFI and SJP’s presentations, both organizations said they would feel unsafe if the vote did not go in their favor. SFI pointed to anti-Semitic incidents on campus and UC-wide, and said at universities where BDS [boycott, divestment and sanction] resolutions have passed, Jewish students have felt more unsafe. SJP discussed incidents at events on campus last year, like its mock Israeli military checkpoints around campus, where they said its members were threatened.

In a letter from Chancellor George Blumenthal dated May 20, 2014, he wrote that USRIR “may create an environment in which some of our Jewish students feel alienated and less welcome on our campus.” The letter, which was part of SFI’s presentation, marked another controversial point of the meeting since some SUA members who were on the assembly two years ago said they had never seen it. Scott Hernandez-Jason, UCSC’s news and media director, confirmed the letter’s validity after the meeting.

During the meeting SJP member Boian Boianov said the reason the appeal is so controversial is because it makes powerful people, like administrators and regents, feel uncomfortable.

“If you would have voted for this appeal if it was anything else besides divestment, you’re doing the same thing [former SUA Chair Shaz Umer] did,” SJP member Katherine Berjikian said in the meeting. “You’re saying that there are two sets of bylaws and two sets of rules — one for controversial things and one for non controversial things. You’re saying that the SUA bylaws exists vaguely and only for things that don’t matter. This really does matter.”

Stevenson College SUA representatives said they will discuss their next steps during their senate meeting this week. Their main option to overturn this decision would be to propose a new resolution that nullifies USRIR, which would have to pass through SUA.

Students for Justice in Palestine at San Jose State University Celebrates Passage of Divestment Resolution

sjsu divest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 18, 2015

San Jose State University Students Pass Resolution to Divest from Corporations that profit from the Israeli Occupation.

On Wednesday November 18, 2015, San Jose State University became the first California State University to pass a student government resolution to divest from companies complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine. This was achieved in a 10-5-0 vote (10 yes, 5 no, 0 abstained)

During the hearing, Students for Justice in Palestine, the Black Student Union, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan), and other student organizations stood in solidarity with the black students of the University of
Missouri by raising their fists in the black power salute during the pledge of allegiance.

The Associated Students resolution calls on the Board of Directors of the Tower Foundation to remove San Jose State University’s holdings from four companies that play an active role in the human rights violations committed by the Israeli Government in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This resolution is endorsed by 28 organizations, the vast majority of which are student organizations of diverse backgrounds. The first corporation mentioned in the resolution, Caterpillar, is responsible for supplying Israel with D9 bulldozers that are used by the governing regime to demolish Palestinian homes and violate human in rights in the occupied Palestinian Territories.

The second corporation mentioned in the resolution, Motorola Solutions, services the “MotoEagle Surveillance System” which is used by Israel to control Palestinian movement in vast “special security zones” which surround illegal Israeli settlements. Israel bans Palestinians from entering these areas, even if Palestinians own them, which in effect, confiscates land from Palestinians. Israel has implemented this system in over 20 illegal Israeli settlements, and has implemented this system at the illegal separation wall.

The third corporation mentioned in the resolution, Hewlett Packard, owns EDS Israel; which is a company that provides the Israeli ministry of defense with the Basel system. The Basel System is an automated biometric access control system, which includes a permit system for Palestinian workers, with hand and facial recognition, installed in checkpoints in the Occupied West Bank.

The fourth corporation mentioned, 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. The checkpoints in Qalandia and Bethlehem help sustain the illegal Israeli Annexation of Jerusalem.

The Associated Students of San Jose State University demands that the Board of Directors of the Tower Foundation end its complicity in human rights violations by divesting from the above companies that are complicit in the Israeli occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories. Students for Justice in Palestine would like to thank interim President Susan Martin and the rest of the San Jose State University administration for acknowledging the concerns of the student body and respecting the student’s right to freedom of speech and the discussion of thought provoking issues on the San Jose State University campus.

Students for Justice in Palestine, San Jose State University

Read the full resolution here.

UC Davis SJP – Statement on May Divestment Victory

On the evening of Thursday May 28th, the Associated Students of the University of California, Davis voted once again to pass a divestment resolution against companies that assist in the ongoing human rights violations in Palestine. Much like the passage of Senate Resolution 9 in January of this year, an overwhelming majority of senators voted ‘yes’ in support of SR 17 with a final vote count of 10-0-2.

Although SR 9 was deemed ‘unconstitutional’ by the UC Davis Campus Court back in February, the Divestment Community views this second victory as further affirmation of student concern in their university’s complicity with the Israeli occupation. The two resolutions are nearly identical with the exception that SR 17 includes direct ties to the resolution’s effects on ‘student welfare,’ which the Court felt was missing in SR 9. The almost undebated passage of SR 17 reflects the progress of student politics and ethics here at UC Davis over the past 3 years, while also keeping alive the tradition of students taking a stance on political issues.

This fight for justice has proved long and challenging as is every important issue. However, the community growth and dialogue that has emerged from recognizing that oppressed communities share the same struggles will always outweigh the adversities we have and will continue to face. Our work is far from complete, but we take this moment to celebrate this monumental step towards ending the University of California’s irresponsible and immoral investments.

We thank you for your unwavering support and your commitment to promoting justice everywhere.

Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Davis

Students call on California community colleges to divest from human rights abuses in Palestine

We, Students for Justice in Palestine, as well as countless individuals from across the California Community College system, have banded together from all walks of life. We are a diverse coalition that consist of all people of every color, nationality, religion, etc. Despite these differences, what brings us together is our common human identity. That’s why we are greatly concerned about the human rights abuses in Palestine, and the thought that our college system could be complicit in such gross violations is unbearable.

For almost half a century, the Palestinian territories have been brutally occupied, which eventually resulted in the subjugation of millions of people, constructed on racial superiority and an illegal colonial network. The occupation, as documented by numerous human rights groups and multinational entities, results in some of the most horrid conditions. Conditions such as, but not limited to: water deprivation, segregation, racially-based legal systems, systematic home demolitions, and the restrictions against the freedom of movement, have resulted in one of the worst cases of systematic oppression gone largely unchecked. This system of abuse, as documented by many reputable organizations, including the United Nations, directly parallels the former South African system of Apartheid. This unjust system of human rights abuses has created an urgency amongst students throughout the community college system to take action in order to hold the Board of Governors accountable for any investments that profit from these abuses.

As a result, we, the students of the California Community College system, call upon the Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC) to stand in solidarity with other California and National Universities by passing a resolution to divest from companies that profit from human rights abuses in Palestine. It is imperative that the college system examine it’s financial holdings to be certain that students aren’t paying their tuition dollars that in turn, is invested into certain companies that directly profit from the abuses in Palestine. Companies such as RE/MAX directly profit from the selling of segregated housing, and these housing units are illegal under international law. Others, such as Veolia, also profit from segregated systems such as roads and bus-lines. Lastly, companies such as Caterpillar Inc. profit from the systematic and discriminatory bulldozing of Palestinian homes, rendering thousands homeless.

As students of the community college system, we have an obligation to stand for justice and make a difference. The issues of the world are our issues, for we are the future leaders of the free world and retain a common human element that’s unlimited. Divestment from companies that profit from human rights abuses is nothing new. It is directly modeled after divestment from companies that profited from apartheid in South Africa, where Blacks fell victim to a system of colonialism, segregation, and White supremacy. Back then, millions of students in the State and across the Nation stood up and deplored investments in companies that profited from such a system. Now, students are rallying once again to ensure that our colleges are not invested into companies that are once again profiting from human rights abuses. We urge that the SSCCC, that has the privilege of representing all 112 of California’s community colleges, to stand on the right side of history by urging divestment from companies that profit from human rights abuses in Palestine—in which our tuition dollars is invested, and to send a message that human rights abuses are unacceptable no matter where they may be.

UC Davis SJP Statement on Judicial Board Divestment Verdict

Dear UC Davis Community members,

A trial by the UC Davis Campus Court was held on 2/18 regarding the legality of Senate Resolution 9 under the constitution of ASUCD. This student court ruled in favor of nullifying the resolution, which was a call for UC Davis to divest from corporations that are complicit with Israel’s human rights violations against the Palestinian people, on the grounds that the resolution didn’t directly affect “student welfare” on campus and was “primarily a political document.”

Yet SR #9, deemed too “political” for the ASUCD to vote on, is similar to past resolutions including the call to divest from Apartheid South Africa and Sudan. Thus this court ruling was highly selective and politically biased in targeting only divestment from Israel. It also suggests that the welfare of UC Davis students who are Palestinian and their families who are displaced from Israel or targeted by Israeli violence and restrictions on freedom of movement, freedom to education, and freedom to live does not matter. Palestinian Lives Matter!

The verdict attempts to silence not only pro-Palestine activists on campus who are personally affected by UC Davis’s complicity with Israeli occupation and apartheid, but also future student activists who organize grassroots movements and participate in ASUCD’s democratic process. It is a tactic of campus ‘lawfare’ similar to that used by national Zionist groups to undermine the BDS movement. But this procedural maneuver cannot change the clear student consensus in favor of divestment for human rights.

Students for Justice in Palestine considers this court ruling invalid because it would infringe on free speech rights to disallow “political” statements and because the ruling attempts to override the democratic process that operates in ASUCD. This discriminatory and repressive verdict will not be accepted by the SJP community, and there will be an organized response to this injustice. The fact is that the divestment movement has won at UC Davis, and we and the Palestinian rights movement stand by this victory.
In solidarity,
SJP