March 5, 2013

Dear ASSU Undergraduate Senators,

As a coalition of more than 400 organizations around the United States advocating for an end to U.S. political and institutional support for the Israeli occupation, we wholeheartedly endorse the proposed Stanford University Undergraduate Senate Resolution: “Ensuring Investment Responsibility and Protecting Human Rights in Israel/Palestine.” Passage of this resolution would honor and continue Stanford’s proud history of divestment from companies that profit from violent, oppressive, and discriminatory practices.

Every day, Palestinians suffer ongoing displacement, discrimination, and exile as a consequence of Israel’s abusive policies, which are abetted by companies including those listed in this resolution. Struggling for their most basic rights to freedom, justice and equality, Palestinians are asking people of conscience to stop profiting from Palestinian suffering. We join them in this principled call. After all, we cannot talk about peace while simultaneously investing in violence.

Groups around the country are cheering you on, Senators. Campuses have been at the forefront of social justice struggles throughout recent history, even when doing so was unpopular. We cannot celebrate this legacy and simultaneously shy away from taking a stand on issues of today. It’s time to stand on the right side of history again by voting for this important resolution today, urging the Board of Trustees to review Stanford’s endowment and divest from companies unwilling to end their involvement in the brutal and ongoing violation of Palestinians’ basic rights.

With great anticipation,

US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation

P.O. Box 21539, Washington, D.C. 20009

202-332-0994

www.endtheoccupation.org

uscampaign@endtheoccupation.org

A national coalition of more than 400 groups–including 64 in California–the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation works to end U.S. support for Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. They support a U.S. policy that upholds freedom, justice and equality.

As a group of Israeli citizens, we call on Stanford University to stand with human rights, and divest from companies making direct profit from the Israeli occupation, and ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people.

At Stanford, you face a major choice today. You can choose to take a clear stand against apartheid buses and apartheid roads, different laws for different people, separation and segregation, or you can stand for it. You can choose to support a country in which the abduction of children from their bed at the late hours of the night is a routine, or you can choose to oppose it. You can choose whether to stand with the oppressor, or to side with the oppressed. Whose side are you on Stanford? Tonight you choose.

We hope with all our hearts that you would choose to say no to apartheid, no to 64 years of land grab and oppression, no to military occupation. We hope that you would support freedom, justice and equality for all. We hope you will say yes to divestment.

Sincerely
Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within (Boycott from Within)

March 5, 2013

From their website: “We, Palestinians, Jews, citizens of Israel, join the Palestinian call for a BDS campaign against Israel, inspired by the struggle of South Africans against apartheid. We also call on others to do the same.
We are devoted to the promotion of just peace and true democracy in this region. We are particularly opposed to Western governments’ decision to boycott the Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, most especially in besieged Gaza. This is particularly outrageous given the same Western governments’ prolonged support of Israel’s apartheid and other daily violations of international law.”

Dear all,

Tonight, you are faced with a very difficult decision–your vote on UGS-W2013-6.

As a representative of the ASSU, it can be crippling when you are faced with this type of resolution. You do as much research and outreach as you can, but at the end of the day, it is you and your vote on the line. I urge you to not think of the repercussions on yourself, but the legacy of which you are a part.

As young adults, this platform–the Stanford Student Senate–is one of the most powerful to which you have access. Buried in the minutia of Appropriations policy and elections drama, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that you are awarded consistent and meaningful press coverage–both Stanford-specific and national.

In 1976 and 1987, the ASSU took a stand against South African apartheid (http://csre.stanford.edu/theses/11_DErvin.pdf). Their actions helped lead the South African University Divestment movement; our alumni helped to bring apartheid to its knees.

Last year, I was faced with a very similar decision as the one before you tonight–whether to sign my support to the SPER petition on selective divestment. I conducted my research and I did what needed to be done–stand up and say that, for once, the ASSU would stand for something. I supported and support Israeli, Palestinian, and all human rights. (www.stanforddaily.com/2012/05/04/op-ed-why-i-support-israel-palestine-and-divestment/).

I urge you to use your voice to support rights Israeli, Palestinian, and human rights. I urge you to join the long legacy of strong ASSU advocacy. I urge you to make the brave choice and vote in favor of the bill.

Sincerely,

Michael Cruz

ASSU President || 2011 – 2012

B.A. History | Class of 2012 | Stanford University

ASSU Vice President || 2011

ASSU Chair of the Undergraduate Senate || 2010 – 2011

ASSU Undergraduate Senator || 2009 – 2011

To the ASSU Undergraduate Senate:

The Stanford bill in support of selective divestment is a powerful example of the critical role that students play in efforts to build a more humane world.

The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network strongly supports the efforts of Stanford’s student body to hold companies accountable for their complicity in violence committed against the Palestinian people. Israel’s ongoing occupation not only violates international law, but is immoral. We join the call for the Stanford Student Senate to pass the divestment resolution.

As Jews, we have learned from a history of oppression that safety and liberation only comes from working together for the collective liberation of all people. Standing against the violation of the rights and freedom of the Palestinian people is not an act against Jews; on the contrary, it is an act that supports the freedom and well-being of all of us. To imagine that all Jews are united with Israel, even as Israel blatantly and flagrantly continues to violate decency and human rights, flies in the face of Jewish histories of resisting oppression and disregards the growing movement of Jewish people who stand for justice for Palestine

We cannot fail to act because some people will be upset.  The injustice of the status quo forces each of us to make a decision about where we stand and about which side of history we will be on. Efforts to end segregation in the U.S. South and efforts to put an end to the Vietnam War were seen as divisive, but there is no question about their necessity. Remaining complicit in the face of injustice does not create unity, it fails humanity.

Some portray the histories of Israel and Palestine as so complicated, that moral clarity is impossible to discern.

This is simply an attempt to obscure the bottom line: collective punishment, discrimination, illegally annexing and settling land, and building the separation wall violate international law, and are clearly immoral. There is no justification possible for such injustice and violence.

Stanford has an opportunity to lead with moral courage, and we hope that the Student Senate will take this opportunity.

Signed,

The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network

March 5, 2013

IJAN is an international network of Jews who are uncompromisingly committed to struggles for human emancipation, of which the liberation of the Palestinian people and land is an indispensable part.

5 March 2013

The CfP South Africa supports the divestment bill at Stanford University

The Coalition for a Free Palestine (CfP) supports the Students for Palestinian Equal Rights bill for selective divestment by Stanford University. The bill which will be voted on by the undergraduate senate represents an important step in the global campaign for justice and equality for the Palestinian people.

Stanford University has an illustrious history of mobilising against apartheid. In 1977, after sit-ins and actions by students, the university adopted a South Africa- related ethical investment policy. In 1985, Stanford adopted a selected divestment policy towards apartheid South Africa. International solidarity was one of the pillars of the South African struggle and it is through the principled decision by this university and hundreds like it, that South Africa is free today.

The recent decision to create separate bus lines for Palestinians is a microcosm of the larger injustices Palestinians face on a daily basis. Unequal access to land, water, education and a discriminatory legal system are horrifyingly reminiscent of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

The African National Congress (ANC) which called for a global boycott of apartheid South Africa has called for the South African people to support campaigns which “seek to put pressure on Israel to engage with the Palestinian people to reach a just solution”. We have confidence that Stanford University will remain principled in its stance to oppose apartheid and injustice, one again, by adopting this bill.

*The Coalition for a Free Palestine is the largest South African Palestine solidarity umbrella body, which includes youth groups, trade unions, human rights organizations, faith based groups, artists collectives, student organizations and political parties. Some member organizations include the South African Council of Churches, Congress of South African Trade Unions, African National Congress, South African Communist Party, Muslim Judicial Council, Muslim Students Association, Palestine Solidarity Alliance, Palestine Solidarity Committee, Palestine Solidarity Group, Media Review Network, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions in SA , StopTheJNF South Africa, Open Shuhadah Street and the student society.

END 

For further details contact Tahir Sema on 082 9403 403 or tsema@cfpsa.co.za 

Or Tehillah Niselow on 072 252 6054 or tniselow@cfpsa.co.za