Activism

Initiatives by SJP West and member groups

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

 

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.

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.

Claremont SJP overcomes censorship attempts to display mock wall on campus

“Student activists at Pitzer College in southern California are risking administration sanctions this week to bring attention to Israel’s violations of the rights of Palestinians.

Members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) had constructed a mock wall on campus on Tuesday as part of their actions marking Israeli Apartheid Week — a global series of events intended to spark discussions on campuses about Israel’s occupation in Palestine and the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

On 27 March, the Pitzer administration warned SJP that their plans to construct the mock wall would be “in blatant defiance” of college policy. The mock wall is a colorful, sixty-foot-long replica of Israel’s wall in the occupied West Bank, emblazoned with artwork, facts and statistics highlighting Israel’s violations of human rights.

By going forward with their creative direct action, Pitzer SJP could face punishment by the administration.

“Not surprising”

The administration seems to have come under pressure by on-campus Israel-aligned students who reportedly sent a letter of complaint in February to the Pitzer College Aesthetics Committee.

The group “anticipat[ed] SJP’s proposal to display the mock separation wall and claim[ed] that the wall is anti-Semitic and would make Jewish students on campus uncomfortable,” according to a letter to Pitzer’s administration sent by Palestine Solidarity Legal Support this week.

Noah Latkin, a member of SJP at Pitzer, told The Electronic Intifada on Tuesday that “it wasn’t necessarily surprising” that the group has been singled out for scrutiny by the university.

“There was opposition to us even becoming a club,” he said. “People in the student senate labeled us as inherently anti-Semitic. We had to meet with the president of the student senate who asked us ‘how can we make sure you don’t offend people on campus?’”

Smears and attacks against Palestinian students and members of SJP are not new to students of the Claremont College consortium, which includes Pitzer.

In 2013, a professor at Pitzer’s sister campus Claremont McKenna College called a Palestinian student “a cockroach” during a mock checkpoint action on campus as part of Israeli Apartheid Week. The student, Najib Hamideh, attended Pitzer College and was a member of Students for Justice in Palestine. The professor, Yaron Raviv, is an Israeli citizen.”

 

Read more at The Electronic Intifada

Below is a letter drafted by several SJPs around the State of California in support of Claremont SJP’s right to display their wall:

To the University Administration:

SJP West, a coalition of Students for Justice in Palestine chapters across the West Coast, wishes to express its deep concern regarding the recent decision of Pitzer College’s Campus Aesthetics Committee to prohibit the display of a pro-Palestinian exhibit on campus. As part of its annual Israeli Apartheid Week activities, Pitzer College’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine planned to display a mock apartheid wall, similar to the one illegally constructed by the Israeli occupation on Palestinian land. The display of the mock wall is intended to raise awareness of the plight of Palestinians who suffer a brutal occupation, which is partially funded by our American tax dollars. The students were not provided with any official justification for the college’s decision but there is ample evidence that the college prefers to suppress SJP’s message because it would make some students uncomfortable.

Banning the display is nothing short of censorship and constitutes a clear infringement on the First Amendment rights of Pitzer students, protected by California law and Pitzer’s own policies. In fact, the presence of a Campus Aesthetics Committee with an authority to disapprove certain forms of free speech on campus in itself raises serious questions about the openness of the campus to harboring a marketplace for the free exchange of ideas. Moreover, students have voiced concern that the display was possibly banned due to its content and after external political pressure. Such concerns are very alarming, providing further evidence for the presence of a chilling effect consequential to such actions, which can suppress the students’ legitimate, constitutionally protected exercise of free speech.

Similar mock walls are routinely displayed on campuses in California and across the nation without incident. We urge you to promptly resolve this matter and affirm the students’ right to display the mock wall. We will continue to work with Students for Justice in Palestine at Pitzer College to ensure that the rights of consciousness students advocating for human rights and social justice are not infringed upon on campus. We look forward to working with you to reach a remedy.

Sincerely the undersigned,

Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Riverside

Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Berkeley

Students for Justice in Palestine at LAVC

Students for Justice in Palestine at Occidental College

Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Santa Cruz

Students for Justice in Palestine at UC San Diego

Students for Justice in Palestine at Stanford University

Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Irvine

 

Stanford Student Senate Votes to Divest from Occupation of Palestine

For Immediate Release
February 18, 2015

Press Contacts: EKela Autry eautry@stanford.edu; Sherif Ibrahim sherif10@stanford.edu

STANFORD, Calif. – On February 17, the Undergraduate Senate of Stanford University voted 10-1-4 to pass a resolution to divest from the occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The resolution, entitled A Resolution to Divest from Companies Violating Human Rights in Occupied Palestine, calls on Stanford to stop investing in multinational corporations facilitating human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The Senate Chair and Senate Deputy Chair motioned to reconsider the resolution after it was narrowly defeated by one vote last week (9 for, 1 abstention, 5 against). The senators stated that the hostile environment opponents of divestment created at last week’s hearing impeded their ability to vote with clarity and requested the opportunity to align their votes with their true opinions. In the original vote, the two senators had respectively abstained and voted no. After their motion to reconsider passed in Tuesday’s hearing, they changed their votes to a ‘yes’ and ‘abstain.’ The re-vote followed a two hour-long hearing and ended in a historic vote in favor of divestment with 10 senators voting in support, one abstention, and 4 against.

Organizers of the campaign were surprised that the Senate decided to vote on the resolution again and expressed excitement about the Senate vote.

“After months of hard work, it is gratifying to witness the Senate answer our call and affirm our efforts towards divestment.” said sophomore Ramah Awad. “Our next step is to pressure the Board of Trustees to follow through. We ask the Board and President Hennessy directly: ‘Are you going to listen to the student voice?’”

Another student expressed support for the senators who decided to reconsider their vote.

“Students from the campaign against divestment have written us acknowledging their ‘hateful and spiteful’ behavior during last week’s hearing,” said senior Manny Thompson. “We appreciate that the Chair and Deputy Chair spoke up about how they felt intimidated to vote their conscience and that the Senate ultimately reaffirmed its majority support for divestment.”

The resolution focuses on multinational corporations and identifies multiple actors as being complicit in the violations against Palestinians living under occupation, including the governments of Israel, Egypt, Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority. The resolution states that the Undergraduate Senate is not connected to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and affirms both Israelis and Palestinians’ rights to life, safety, and self-determination.

The resolution was brought forth by the Stanford Out of Occupied Palestine (SOOP) coalition. The diverse coalition consists of 19 student groups including the Black Student Union, MEChA, and Stanford Students for Queer Liberation. The resolution called on the University to evaluate its investments and divest from companies fitting the following criteria:

  1. Maintaining the illegal infrastructure of the Israeli occupation, in particular settlements and separation wall.
  2. Facilitating Israel and Egypt’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians.
  3. Facilitating state repression against Palestinians by Israeli, Egyptian or Palestinian Authority security forces.

Stanford Out of Occupied Palestine came together in pursuit of selective divestment as a response to the call from Palestinian civil society to exert economic pressure to end to the violations of their basic human rights.  Over the course of seven weeks SOOP’s campaign gathered immense student support; over 1,600 Stanford students signed SOOP’s petition.

With tonight’s vote, Stanford joins a growing number of student governments–most notably the University of California Student Association–in responding to a call from Palestinian society for divestment. After this vote, SOOP will work with Senators to pressure the Board of Trustees to divest from the violation of Palestinian human rights.

“As a student in the movement, I look forward to continuously engaging the campus in this conversation,” said junior Natasha Patel, “We are not done uplifting the call of Palestinian peoples nor are we finished pushing our University to conduct an ethical review of its investments.”