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Representatives from across the UCs Call on Regents to Divest from Human Rights Abuses

March 14, 2018 by sjpwest

For Immediate Release
March 14, 2018

Representatives from UCs Call on Regents to
Divest from Human Rights Abuses

 

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) across the Universities of California (UC) statewide and allies call for Divestment During Today’s Regents meeting at UCLA

Los Angeles, CA — Today, students, campus workers, and allies from across the University of California system are in Los Angeles to call on the UC Regents to listen to student voices and divest university funds from corporations that profit from human rights abuses against the Palestinian people. Following the UC Regents’ signing of the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investments in 2014 and clear votes in support of divestment by the University of California Student Association (UCSA), UC Graduate Student Worker Union (UAW 2865), and Student Governments on eight out of nine UC campuses, students are demanding the UC Regents ensure that the UCs reflect the values we all hold dear: freedom, justice, and equality.  

The UCs are invested in the following corporations profiting from rights abuses, as documented by reputable human rights organizations:  Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Caterpillar, Cemex, HP, General Electric, 3M, Perrigo Company, Atlas Copco, Ford and Hyundai. Lockheed Martin, for example, manufactures Apache helicopters that have killed Palestinian civilians, including children, and Caterpillar supplies bulldozers to the Israeli military to demolish the homes of Palestinian families to make way for illegal Israeli settlements. Instead of investing in corporations that harm communities, universities should be investing in corporations that do business ethically.

Given the current political climate, it is critical that universities do all they can to support students and hear their concerns. Students, university workers, and allies are tired of their voices being ignored, despite widespread calls for action. The fact that eight of the nine UC campuses as well as the Graduate Student Worker Union and University of California Student Association have voted to support this campaign shows that there is overwhelming support for divestment and Palestinian rights at nearly every democratically elected decision-making body of the UC system.

The challenge now is to persuade the unelected body of UC Regents to heed the voices of the UC system and act to support human rights. Our money is our responsibility, and we are liable for the ways in which the UC invests out tuition dollars, especially if these investments impede upon the fundamental human rights of other people, including the families of Palestinian students on campus. If not us, who else will take responsibility for where our money is going and who it is hurting?

On Wednesday, March 14th, we will be delivering our demands directly to the UC Regents, as well as engaging in a day of education and movement building to strengthen the UC wide call for divestment. We will be there, building lines of solidarity and for the future goals of our united communities.

After student pressure, the UC relented to the call for divestment from companies supporting Apartheid South Africa in the 1980s, from companies involved in human rights violations in Sudan in the 2000s, and from some of the worst corporate polluters and destroyers of the environment in the 2010s. We expect that the UC will see the call to respect Palestinian rights in the same terms as those prior calls and cease to invest in corporations whose activity is tied to the violation of human rights in Palestine and around the world. There is no other way to abide by the Principles for Responsible Investments which they signed onto, and no other way to respond to the democratic will of the student governments of the UC system.

We expect the University of California Regents to take action to demonstrate they truly support responsible investment. They have an opportunity to show they value human rights and freedom for all peoples.  

A detailed list of demands is available here.

 

Students for Justice in Palestine is a grassroots student-led organization that advocates for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality.

 

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Posted in: Activism, News Tagged: bds, divestment, regents, uc, ucla

Students for Justice in Palestine Demand that the UC Regents Divest from Corporations Violating Palestinian Human Rights!

March 14, 2018 by sjpwest

Answer the Calls of the UC Students and Student Bodies!

WE DEMAND that the University of California Regents recognize the Human Rights Violations committed by the Israeli state and its contracted corporations, against Palestinian peoples in the forms of military weapons sales (1) and illegal settlement expansion (2).

WE DEMAND that the University of California Regents adhere to the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment, which the Regents adopted in September of 2014. The Principles promote“social responsibility” (3) by demanding that the UC divest from companies that profit from human rights abuses against Palestinians puts forth the following guidelines: “businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.”

WE DEMAND that the University of California Regents recognize the 172 Israeli human rights violations committed against the Palestinian people (4), as reported by the United Nations, Amnesty International (5), and Human Rights Watch (6).

WE DEMAND that the University of California Regents introduce a screening process that can screen and target companies for their potential human rights violations, including human rights violations committed by the Israeli state against the Palestinian people.

WE DEMAND that the University of California Regents implement guidelines to supplement the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment that take into consideration the 172 Humans Rights Violations committed by the Israeli state against the Palestinian people through military and colonial occupation of Palestine.

WE DEMAND that the University of California Regents implement system-wide (and for the regents), guidelines to supplement its divestment criteria to include nations or corporations that are actively committing numerous human rights violations, as documented by the United Nations and the International Community.

WE DEMAND that the UC Regents thus terminate all investments in corporations violating Palestinian Human Rights that exist within the UC Regents’ Investment Funds.


WE DEMAND that the University of California Regents adhere to and enact the decision of the University of California Student Association (UCSA), the “official representation of the student body of the University of California and the various campus student governments to the University of California Office of the President, the University of California Board of Regents, and other University related entities,” in their resolution to “Divest from Corporations Violating Palestinian Human Rights”(7).

WE DEMAND that the University of California Regents adhere to and enact the decisions of the Associated Students leadership at the University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Davis; University of California, Merced; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, Irvine; University of California, Riverside; University of California, San Diego; and University of California, Santa Cruz (8) in their resolutions to disinvest University funds from companies that invest in the occupation of Palestine and in the violation of Palestinian human rights.

WE DEMAND that the University of California Regents adhere to and enact the decisions of the UC Graduate Student Worker Union, UAW 2865, representing over 17,000 teaching assistants, tutors, readers, research assistants, and graduate students at the University of California, in their majority vote to “divest from corporations implicated in the violation of Palestinian Human Rights.”

WE DEMAND that the University of California System disinvest all tuition dollars, investments, and stocks from the following companies that 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 and consequently violate Palestinian human rights (9): Lockheed Martin, United Tech, Boeing, G.E., HP, Caterpillar, Ford, Hyundai , Cemex, Raytheon, 3M, Northrop Grumman, Perrigo Company, and Atlas Copco.

In order to adhere to a more comprehensive and accurate Human Rights Screening Process, WE DEMAND that the University of California divest from the following corporations on the basis that Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations’ have documented and condemned the companies’ participation in Human Rights Violations against Palestinian people, along with their complicity in Operations Cast Lead and Protective Edge. The United Nations has ruled that Israel’s Operation Cast Lead (10) and Operation Protective Edge (11) are in violation of International Human Rights Law.

WE DEMAND that the University of California uphold Afrikan Black Coalition’s demands, and immediately divest from all corporations complicit in and profiting from the violation of Palestinian Human Rights, the prison industrial complex (12), and fossil fuels (13), including the following:

  • WE DEMAND that the University of California divest from Lockheed Martin Corporation (14), which is in violation of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (15), as it has committed human rights violations in its manufacturing of Apache helicopters that targeted and killed 1,394 Palestinian civilians–including minors– in Gaza in 2008-9 during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead (16).
  • WE DEMAND that the University of California divest from HP (17), which is in violation of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (18), as it manages the Israeli government’s population registry and its systems that are used to segregate Palestinian residents of the West Bank, as well as provides all the PCs for the Israeli military since 2009, the year of Israel’s attack on Gaza through Operation Cast Lead.  
  • WE DEMAND that the University of California divest from Caterpillar (19), which is in violation of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (20), as it is a long-standing supplier of the Israeli army, providing Israel with several models of the D9 armored bulldozer used for large-scale home demolitions in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as for land-clearing missions on Palestinian land to expand Israel’s illegal land annexation and settlement expansion (21).
  • WE DEMAND that the University of California divest from Cemex (22), which is in violation of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (23), as it owns, operates, and provides concrete elements for the construction of military and settlement infrastructure across the Occupied West Bank, which has been condemned internationally by the United Nations.
  • WE DEMAND that the University of California divest from 3M (24), which is in violation of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (25), as it is the sole provider of ceramic aircraft armor for Boeing’s AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter, as well as for other military aircrafts in use by the Israeli Air Force that targeted civilians in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead and Operation Protective Edge (28).
  • WE DEMAND that the University of California divest from Northrop Grumman (26), which is in violation of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (27), as is has provided missiles and firing systems used in Israeli airstrikes on densely populated civilian areas in violation of International Law, as well as provided key equipment during the attack on Gaza during Operation Protective Edge (28).

WE DEMAND that the University of California Regents utilize its students’ call to Divest to enact Socially and Ethically responsible investments system-wide, and truly fulfill the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (29).

WE DEMAND that the University of California Regents implement a student oversight-committee to ensure and enforce the University of California’s adherence to the Principles of Responsible Investments (30).

 


  1. http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session22/A-HRC-22-63_en.pdf
  2. https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12657.doc.htm United Nations deem Israeli settlement expansion illegal
  3. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-joins-un-supported-principles-responsible-investment
  4. http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session22/A-HRC-22-63_en.pdf See United Nations Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations
  5. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/06/israel-occupation-50-years-of-dispossession/
  6. https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/04/israel-50-years-occupation-abuses See Human Rights Watch Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations
  7. https://ucsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ResolutionCallingfortheUCRegentstoDivestfromCorporationsViolatingPalestinianHumanRights.-01.2015.pdf See UCSA Resolution to Divest from Corporations Violating Palestinian Human Rights
  8. Comprehensive list of passed UC divestment resolutions: http://sjpwest.org/bds/sjp-west-bds-campaigns/ UC Irvine: http://www.asuci.uci.edu/legislative/legislations/print.php?cnum=r48-15&gov_branch=asuci  UC San Diego: http://as.ucsd.edu/governing_documents/acts.php?show_id=464&session=2012-13  UC Berkeley: http://senator.kleinlieu.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/SB160FinalDraft.pdf  UC Riverside: http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/divestment-passes-university-california-riverside  UC Los Angeles: https://usac.ucla.edu/documents/resolutions/USAC%20Divestment%20Resolution%20(11-13-2014)_no%20sponsors.pdf UC Davis: http://asucd.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/SR.9.Fall_.14.do
  9. https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  10. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf United Nations rules Cast Lead in violation of international human rights law
  11. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/CoIGazaConflict/Pages/ReportCoIGaza.aspx United Nations rules Protective Edge in violation of international human rights law
  12. http://afrikanblackcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Prison-Divestmen-final-resolution.pdf See Afrikan Black Coalition’s Prison Divestment Resolution
  13. https://www.ucop.edu/investment-office/sustainable-investment/ statement-on-fossil-fuels-climate-change-and-ucs-investment-strategy.html See UCOP’s Fossil Fuels and Sustainable Investment Statement
  14. http://investigate.afsc.org/company/lockheed-martin Lockheed Human Rights Violations
  15. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-joins-un-supported-principles-responsible-investment
  16. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/12session/A-HRC-12-48.pdf “UN’s Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict”
  17. http://investigate.afsc.org/company/hp-inc HP Human Rights Violations
  18. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-joins-un-supported-principles-responsible-investment
  19. http://investigate.afsc.org/company/caterpillar-inc Caterpillar Human Rights Violations
  20. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-joins-un-supported-principles-responsible-investment
  21. https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12657.doc.htm United Nations Declares Israel’s Settlement Expansion is Illegal
  22. http://investigate.afsc.org/company/cemex-sab-de-cv Cemex Human Rights Violations
  23. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-joins-un-supported-principles-responsible-investment
  24. http://investigate.afsc.org/company/3m-company 3M Human Rights Violations
  25. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-joins-un-supported-principles-responsible-investment
  26. http://investigate.afsc.org/company/northrop-grumman Northrop Grumman Human Rights Violations
  27. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-joins-un-supported-principles-responsible-investment
  28. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/CoIGazaConflict/Pages/ReportCoIGaza.aspx See UN Report on Operation Protective Edge and Israel’s Human Rights Violations in the Attack on Gaza
  29. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-joins-un-supported-principles-responsible-investment
  30. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-joins-un-supported-principles-responsible-investment

 

Posted in: Activism Tagged: bds, divestment, regents

SJP-West Relieved that UC Regents Affirmed Legitimacy of Anti-Zionism, Looks Forward to Continuing to Grow Movement for Palestinian Rights

March 27, 2016 by sjpwest

Response to UC Regents “Statement of Principles Against Intolerance”

As a result of dedicated activism over the last months,  the University of California Regents have chosen not to issue a blanket condemnation of anti-Zionism, not to adopt the false claim that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitic, and not to adopt a definition of anti-Semitism that included criticism of Israel. This recognition of the inherent legitimacy of our activism was a position endorsed not just by SJP and Jewish Voice for Peace, but also by the Afrikan Black Coalition, legal groups (ACLU, Palestine Legal), unions (UPTE-CWA, UAW 2865), the UC Academic Senate, the LA Times, and individual faculty members from across the political landscape. We thank all of these groups for their efforts to protect our constitutional rights and the legitimacy of our work. 

Nevertheless, we reject the process that has led to this statement, the tokenization of other communities whose concerns were never taken sincerely, and the unsubstantiated efforts by off-campus groups to label our activism as bigoted.

The choice not to label anti-Zionism a form of discrimination means that there will be no enforceable changes to the conditions for campus activists at the UC system. In fact, in rejecting a blanket condemnation of anti-Zionism, the Regents agreed that anti-Zionism in itself is legitimate, as long as it isn’t anti-Semitic. This distinction has always been the position of SJP and we are glad it is being recognized by the Regents. We hope this recognition of the legitimacy of our positions will make it more difficult to censor us in the future.

Going forward, we intend to continue our work educating the campuses about Palestine and pushing for our universities to end their complicity with Israel’s human rights abuses against the Palestinian people. We will be working harder than ever to educate and organize our fellow students.

Although some may still choose to use the vague formulations in Regents’ statement to justify attempts at censorship, we are well prepared to fight for and preserve our First Amendment rights – and we have a long track record of doing just that. Efforts to censor SJP have a long history and we do not anticipate that they will cease anytime soon. But we are confident that our First Amendment right to free speech will allow us to continue making our arguments for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality – arguments that have and will continue to persuade large numbers of students on our campuses to support our positions, join our groups, and support our campaigns. We will continue to struggle until we triumph.

 


 

Q and A:

What is anti-Zionism and why is it a legitimate position, as the Regents now recognize?

Although Zionism is most commonly understood to be support for Israel, it is a term with a more complex history and holds multiple strains of interpretation with highly variant political implications. A worthwhile summary written in the context of these events is located here. Anti-Zionism is a principled anti-racist position that is held by many members of the UC community who are opposed to unjust policies and practices that are associated with the real world actions taken in the name of Zionism – including the expulsion of Palestinians during and after the creation of the state of Israel and the ongoing violent occupation of the Palestinian territories. Palestinian students whose families and communities were and continued to be affected by Israel’s actions have the right to speak out about their experiences, and people of conscience throughout the UC should be able to oppose the actions of the Israeli government without fear of administrative reprisal. Far from having “no place” in the University of California, these narratives and principled political activism are a vital component of UC cultural life that directly affects scores of individuals across the UC system.

 

What was wrong with the process?

As the Regents’ working group openly admits in its contextual statement, the process was largely closed to UC input, besides one listening session at UCLA and an opportunity to send emails about intolerance to campus administrators. Although we raised serious concerns throughout the process, the working group was not constructed in a way that allowed for campus organizations to have meaningful input in the process, and therefore we were consistently left in the dark as to developments, or provided no avenue to articulate our concerns to the working group.

We also note that the choice of “experts” was an all male panel comprised of two off-campus partisans, one faculty member implicated in reducing Black, Latinx and Native enrollment at the UC system as an architect of the disastrous Proposition 209, and one faculty member who admitted to not being an expert on the term Zionism. Although the working group was concerned with issues that directly  concern Palestinians, it conspicuously chose not to consider or hear any Palestinian perspectives, while praising itself for inclusivity and diversity. The categories of experts omitted by the working group is too long to list and certainly indicates a lack of effort to gather a comprehensive understanding of these issues. The Regents’ lack of accountability is part of a pattern experienced by multiple communities on campus.  

 

Why do we say other communities were tokenized?

The working group’s contextual statement is a tacit admission that the inclusion of examples of intolerance towards other groups was not a result of an organically derived interest in their well being, but rather a solution for a stumbling block that occurred when the Regents felt that the statement was too narrowly focused on only one group. This correlates to our experiences with the process as well, and helps explain the sense of tokenization expressed by many groups whose issues were cited to boost the legitimacy of the statement but not engaged with in a meaningful or credible way. See the Afrikan Black Coalition’s statement for examples of their problems with the process and statement, as well as the pushback from many Muslim students in response to language in the document that implicitly frames Islamophobia as a product of terrorism, rather than a form of bigotry – a framing that places blame on victims of racism and fails to live up to the Department of Education’s letter urging serious efforts to protect Arab and Muslims students in the wake of a documented rise in Islamophobia, anti-Arab, and anti-refugee discourse. We have absolutely no confidence that the UC Regents understand or even care about the issues facing other groups, including Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities that the Department of Education has warned are under increased threat on campuses during a period of ongoing hate speech and racist incitement by political figures.

 

What are examples of  off-campus groups  baselessly smearing campus pro-Palestine activism?

Many times during the discussion of these issues, horrifying examples of anti-Semitism were brought forward. These are terrible incidents that we condemn and wish never to see occur on campus. But the perpetrators of these incidents were either not known, or known not to be related to SJP. Nevertheless, partisan groups who have made clear their opposition to SJP’s work repeatedly used these incidents to defame  SJP. Our organizations have a long record of clear opposition to anti-Semitism and internal educational work in our groups to learn about anti-Semitism and how to combat it in our spaces (1). But we are not responsible for acts that are unconnected to us. AMCHA and Brandeis’s strategy of asking the UC administration to censor speech critical of Israel pre-dates also the growth of divestment campaigns on campuses, disproving the assertion that divestment is at fault. Moreover, we don’t even need to speculate on the motives of these off-campus advocacy organizations. The founder of the AMCHA Initiative, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, made clear that she seeks to classify BDS and many other forms of pro-Palestinian activism as anti-Semitism.

 

What other reservations do we still hold about the amended version of the statement?

Originally in the statement, the working group claimed that “anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and other forms of discrimination have no place at the University of California.” On Wednesday, the UC Regents board approved and adopted an amended version of the statement that read instead that “anti-Semitism, anti-Semitic forms of anti-Zionism and other forms of discrimination have no place at the University of California.”

While SJP West supports the move away from condemning anti-Zionism as a form of discrimination and the embrace of academic freedom, we still have concerns regarding the amended version and its implication that anti-Zionist action and expression is  more prone to anti-Semitism. Students for Justice in Palestine groups are secular organizations committed to opposing racism in all its forms, which include both anti-Semitism and the policies of the Israeli government, and supporting democratic principles of self-determination for all peoples. By its very definition, Students for Justice in Palestine opposes anti-Semitism in all its forms, and has continuously expressed this commitment in both statement and record. Hence, the specific attention focused on anti-Zionism as opposed to a blanket condemnation of all forms of anti-Semitism plays into unfair and unfounded assumptions about SJP and the students involved in it, perceived primarily as Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim.

UC Berkeley professor Judith Butler addresses this problem by asking, “If we think that we solve the problem by distinguishing forms of anti-Semitic anti-Zionism, then we are left with the question of who identifies such a position, and what are their operative definitions?  These terms are vague and overbroad and run the risk of suppressing speech and violating principles of academic freedom. There already exists University policy and state and federal law, developed over many years that provide an effective framework for resolving these issues. If we start to associate anti-Semitism with specific political positions, then perhaps we should include forms of anti-Semitism that are associated with, say, the Republican Party, Christian evangelicals, right wing Catholicism, various forms of nationalism and fundamentalism, versions of anti-capitalism as well as versions of anti-communism.  The list would be long, so why stay focused on anti-Zionism […] The abuse of the allegation of anti-Semitism deprives it of its power and meaning. It ought not to be exploited for political purposes.”

 

(1) See for example, UCLA SJP Article Responding to Anti-Semitic Incident, UCSC statement regarding Anti-Semitic incident, UC Berkeley SJP Guiding Principles, UCLA SJP Constitution. More examples are available upon request.

Posted in: News Tagged: anti-semitism, anti-zionism, regents, zionism

Interview with Tallie Ben-Daniel regarding dangers to speech and activism posed by UC Regents’ “Statement of Principles Against Intolerance”

January 11, 2016 by sjpwest

 

In this half-hour interview on KPFK Radio, hosts Estee Chandler and Nagwa Ibrahim talk to JVP Academic Advisory Council head Tallie Ben-Daniel about the UC Regents proposed, “Statement of Principles Against Intolerance,” the issues of transparency surrounding its writing, the problematic list of experts that have been consulted, and the problematic definition of anti-Semitism being considered. The interview also discusses the effect of speech policing on scholarship and activism at the UC, and explains the difference between principled criticism of Israeli state policies and anti-Semitism.

For more, please see the UC SJP position paper on this issue.

Posted in: Activism Tagged: anti-semitism, intolerance, jvp, regents

UC SJPs Issue Position Paper on UC Regents’ Proposed “Statement of Principles Against Intolerance”

December 5, 2015 by sjpwest

UC SJP Position Paper on Regents’ Statement of Principles Against Intolerance

Posted in: News Tagged: anti-semitism, intolerance, racism, regents, statement

SJP-West Welcomes University of California Regents’ Decision to Not Consider Harmful Re-Definition of Anti-Semitism

July 22, 2015 by sjpwest

For Immediate Release

SJP-West Welcomes University of California Regents’ Decision to Not Consider Harmful Re-Definition of Anti-Semitism

Wednesday July 22, 2015

Contact: west.sjp@gmail.com

The UC Regents will not be considering adoption of the State Department definition of anti-Semitism at its meeting today, after an outcry from students, graduate student workers, Jewish community members, and civil rights organizations. The UC Office of the President (UCOP) announced instead that, “…the Board of Regents will consider at its September meeting a statement of principles against intolerance, including, but not limited to, anti-Semitism and other types of intolerance.”

As SJP-West illustrated in its June letter to UC President Janet Napolitano, the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism dangerously conflates anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of Israeli policy, mis-representing an issue of human rights as an ethno-religious matter. The Los Angeles Times recently editorialized in agreement with this position, highlighting the ways in which the State Department’s “overly broad and constitutionally dubious” definition would lead to confusion and conflation of pro-Palestinian speech with bigotry. While we reiterate our opposition to anti-Semitism as well as all forms of racism and bigotry, we believe that the State Department’s definition, if adopted, would ultimately harm not just efforts to advocate for Palestinian rights but also efforts to oppose anti-Semitism.

In addition to petitions and legal letters sent by SJP-West and other organizations, on July 7, 2015 SJP West, UAW-2865 (the labor union for Graduate Students and Workers of the UC schools), Jewish Voice for Peace, and various civil rights organizations along with UC students, faculty, and staff gathered in Oakland to protest outside the UC Office of the President. These groups asserted their disapproval of the possible adoption of the State Department definition of anti-Semitism at today’s meeting.

Robert Gardner, a current student at UCLA, expresses extreme relief at the fact that the UC Regents will not adopt this definition – for now. He explains, “Students shouldn’t be stigmatized as bigots because we oppose well documented abuses practiced against Palestinians by the Israeli government. This decision to drop consideration of the State Department definition is an important step because it shows that the Regents understand that our First Amendment right to engage in debate on campus is imperative to the integrity of the UC system. Moreover, it proves that when students come together and make their voices heard, we are able to overcome the pressures of powerful outside forces who seek to stifle and censor criticism of the Israeli government.”

Students report that administrators who fear controversy over Israel and Palestine try to restrict their activity. In the first four months of 2015 alone, Palestine Legal documented 60 cases of false accusations of anti-Semitism that were in fact incidents where students or faculty criticized policies of Israel. Statements made to the Jewish Daily Forward by one of the principal advocates of the State Department’s re-definition indicates that the definition is seen by some pro-Israel advocates as applying to nearly all forms of pro-Palestinian student speech that take place on UC campuses today.

Sophia Shalabi, a student at UC Irvine, notes that, “…refraining from the implementation of a definition that is strategically meant to silence Pro-Palestinian activists will allow students to continue advocating for the Palestinian voice that has been ignored by our administration.” Gardner predicted, “As we move forward within the upcoming academic year, Palestinian rights activists hope to engage in critical debate and continue to educate our fellow students about the Palestinian plight. This will now be a little bit easier.”

SJP-West is a coalition of Students for Justice in Palestine chapters across California. Find more at www.sjpwest.org.

 

Posted in: News Tagged: anti-semitism, free speech, regents

Students ask Janet Napolitano not to endorse conflation of anti-Semitism with critique of Israel

June 29, 2015 by sjpwest

Posted in: Activism Tagged: anti-semitism, napolitano, regents, state department

On to the Regents: In Historic Vote, UC Student Association Endorses Call for Divestment in Support of Palestinian Rights

February 9, 2015 by sjp-west

For Immediate Release:

On to the Regents: In Historic Vote, UC Student Association Endorses Call for Divestment in Support of Palestinian Rights

Contact: Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, sjpucla1@gmail.com
(SJP at UCLA can coordinate contacts with other student organizations)

On the morning of February 8, 2015, hundreds of students gathered in Tom Bradley International Hall at UCLA as the UC Student Association (UCSA) deliberated motions in support of divestment from companies engaged in the systematic violation of Palestinian rights in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Students from across California arrived to speak in favor of divestment, and to highlight the nearly 90 student organizations across the state which joined the call for the UCSA to endorse divestment. The historic vote passed in an overwhelming majority of 9-1 with 6 abstentions (click here to read the full text of the divestment motion).

The UC Student Association is the official voice of the student body of the University of California, and represents hundreds of thousands of undergraduate and graduate students across the UC system. Today it became the first multi-campus student association to vote in favor of divestment. This landmark vote is undoubtedly the largest victory thus far in the campus divestment movement in the United States.

Since 2012, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, UC Riverside, UC Los Angeles, and UC Davis have passed resolutions through their campus undergraduate student governments calling on the UC Regents to divest endowment and pension funds from companies such as Raytheon, Hewlett-Packard, Caterpillar, and Cemex, which facilitate and profit from Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, its construction of settlements in contravention of international law, its violent bombing campaigns in Gaza, and its construction of checkpoints and walls throughout the West Bank. In addition, the statewide union representing teaching assistants, tutors, and readers – UAW 2865 – recently held a statewide membership vote which resulted in nearly 2/3rds support for divestment.

Students for Justice in Palestine chapters and their many allies across the UC applaud and celebrate the UCSA’s decision to affirm student activism, endorse the divestment call, and carry it forth to the UC Regents.

Quotes regarding the divestment victory:

UC Berkeley External Vice President Caitlin Quinn commented on the nature of this victory and UCSA’s relationship to the student body: “I’m so proud that we passed it, and thankful for and humbled by the years of organizing that went into this. The work is far from over, but finally UCSA has taken the progressive stance many students have been waiting for.”

The External Vice President’s office at UC Riverside addressed the issue of accountability, stating: “We are aware of the unfortunate reality of a Board of Regents that has a very poor record of accomplishment of respecting democratic calls by the student body of the University of California…As firm believers in backing up words with action, we look forward to ensuring that the UCSA remains devoted to the follow-up work critical to an effective campaign.”

UCLA Student Safwan Ibrahim commented on the meaning of divestment to Palestinians at the UC: “As a Palestinian student in the UC system, it’s incredible to see the amount of intersectional solidarity across campuses, and to witness the shift in conversation regarding support of Palestinian human rights. It is especially inspiring to see the UCSA representatives take up the responsibility of carrying our voices to the Regents.”

UC Irvine SJP issued a statement, emphasizing the relationship between the student movement and the call from Palestinian civil society: “As privileged students living in this state, it is our obligation to obey the Palestinians’ call for BDS and push divestment from corporations that profit from and participate in the violation of Palestinian human rights…we hope to see a liberated Palestine in our lifetimes.”

UC Santa Cruz Committee for Justice in Palestine issued a statement, writing “This vote was a product of a monumental struggle that has spanned decades. It is a victory that has opened new fronts for the struggle for justice in Palestine. We would like to especially thank all of our allies, without whom we could have never gotten this far.”

UAW-2865 member Alex Holmstrom-Smith commented on the meaning of this vote to graduate students and student-workers: “I am happy that the UCSA has also listened to the voice of graduate students and student-workers, who earlier this year voted by an overwhelming margin to support BDS and the Palestinian call for justice.”

Students from earlier divestment campaigns also shared their feelings about the historic nature of this accomplishment. UC Berkeley graduate Emiliano Huet-Vaughn reflected: “When we put forward the initial divestment bill at Berkeley in 2010 we knew the pro-divestment position would eventually become the consensus. It is remarkable that student activists across the UC have made that day happen so quickly. The Regents should note this moment as one in a proud tradition of UC student activism, and, seriously consider whether they want the current generation of UC students, also tomorrow’s leaders, to remember them as supporters of – or as impediments to – justice.”

Posted in: Activism, Solidarity Tagged: bds, divestment, regents, ucsa

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