Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions Conference taking place in Montreal from
October 22nd
-24th, 2010
Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement (BDS)
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
http://www.pacbi.org/index.php
Israeli BDS organization
http://www.boycottisrael.info/
Hampshire College: (Feb 2009 Divestment policy based initially on Israel-Palestine issue.)
Hampshire College Student Divestment criteria and
profiles
of companies that fit the criteria:
http://www.hsjp.org/divestment/
This College
undertook a divestment (February 2009) that was at least
in part motivated by a motion by this group
http://www.hsjp.org/divestment/. This motion states that ‘As
an
institution Hampshire College will not support, invest, or finance any
individual, group or institution that directly profits from the
occupation of Palestine.’ An elaboration and clarification states
“Investments should not be made in any company that provides products
or services, including financial services, to Israeli governmental or
military bodies that are used to facilitate or undertake violent acts
against civilians or violations of international law, or to Israeli or
Palestinian organizations or groups that are used to facilitate or
undertake violent acts against civilians or violations of international
law. For the purposes of this investment screen this would include
companies that:
1. Provide products or services that contribute to the maintenance of
the Israeli military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including
East Jerusalem;
2. Provide products or services that contribute to the maintenance and
expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian
territories;
3. Establish facilities or operations in Israeli settlements in the
occupied Palestinian territories;
4. Provide products or services that contribute to the maintenance and
construction of the Separation Wall;
5. Provide products or services that contribute to violent acts that
target either Israeli or Palestinian civilians.
University of Michigan - Dearborn
Student Government General Assembly Resolution #
2010-003
passed Thursday, 25 February 2010.
http://info.umdunderground.org/
University of California (Associated Students of the University of
California, Berkeley)
http://www.asuc.org/documentation/view.php?type=bills&id=2017
This Association (ASUC) is considering (March 10, 2010) a ‘Bill In Support Of ASUC Divestment From War Crimes’ resolving that “the ASUC will examine its assets and UC assets for funds being invested in companies that a) provide military support for or weaponry to support the occupation of the Palestinian territories or b) facilitate the building or maintenance of the illegal wall or the demolition of Palestinian homes, or c) facilitate the building, maintenance, or economic development of illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territories” and advocate that the UC divests, all stocks, securities, or other obligations from such sources with the goal of maintaining the divestment, in the case of said companies, until they cease such practices if it is found that ASUC and/or the UC funds are being invested in any of the abovementioned ways.”
Stanford
University (Students Confronting Apartheid by Israel)
This group presented a Petition to the Board of Trustees of Stanford
University http://www.stanford.edu/group/scai/petition.html
It states: “We, the undersigned, call upon Stanford to take the proper
steps to ensure that the university does not invest in companies that
violate international law, abuse human rights and support
apartheid.
In particular, we petition the Board of Trustees to ensure investment
responsibility by divesting from companies that fit one or more of the
following criteria:
1. Provide military support or weaponry to support
Israel’s
occupation forces in the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights, Sheeba Farms,
and East Jerusalem in violation of United Nations Resolution 242 that
notes “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war” and
which calls for “the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from occupied
territories.”
2. Support the building or maintenance of the
‘separation barrier’
that Israel has built in the West Bank, which was deemed illegal by the
International Court of Justice (the highest legal body in the world,
whose statute all UN members are parties to
3. Operate on illegally occupied land and within
Jewish-only
settlements in contravention of Article 49, paragraph 6 of the Fourth
Geneva Convention which states that the “occupying power shall not
deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into
territories it occupies.”
4. Facilitate home demolition, land confiscation, or
other acts of
collective punishment, as documented by Amnesty International and the
International Committee of the Red Cross.
5. Engage in practices that institutionally
discriminate against people of a specific race, religion, or ethnicity.”
Carleton
University (Ottawa) Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA)
http://www.carleton.saia.ca/pension-divestment-campaign
SAIA noted that the Carleton University Pension
Fund was invested in
five companies that are complicit in human rights violations and crimes
under international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories -
Motorola, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, L-3 Communications, and Tesco
supermarkets - SAIA is calling upon Carleton University to divest from
these companies, and implement a Socially Responsible Investment (SRI)
policy.
Their Campaign Recommends:
1. That the Carleton University Board of Governors, via the
Pension
Fund Committee, immediately divest of its stock in BAE Systems, L-3
Communications, Motorola, Northrop Grumman, and Tesco
2. That Carleton University refrain from investing in other companies
involved in violations of international law.
3. That Carleton University work with the entire university community
to develop, adopt, and implement a broader policy of Socially
Responsible Investment (SRI) for its Pension Fund and other
investments, through a transparent and effective process.
Article at web site of Electronic Intifada, http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11047.shtml
includes details of companies and text of student
group’s
recommendations with full text at:
http://www.electronicintifada.net/downloads/pdf/100201-carleton-SAIS.pdf
The Evergreen State College (alma mater of Rachel Corrie)
Arizona
http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/679
University of Arizona (UA) Health for Human Rights, 30 March 2010 - The following press release was issued on 30 March 2010 by UA Health for Human Rights, an ad hoc group formed by the broader University Community for Human Rights, a student-led board leading divestment initiatives at the University of Arizona:
http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/campaigns/tiaa-cref-divest-occupation
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/tiaa-cref-confirms-africa-israel-divestment-1.7994
http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/674:
31 March 2010 - The biggest
Swedish pension fund Foersta AP-Fonden barred Israeli arms
maker Elbit Systems from its investment portfolios on ethical grounds
(March 2010). Following the lead of Norway's state oil fund, Foersta
AP-Fonden said it had banned investment in Elbit because it had built
and was operating a surveillance system for a controversial barrier
between Israel and the West Bank, an 'Israeli company can be linked to
violations of fundamental conventions and norms,' according to the
fund's Ethical Council.
See http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3869862,00.html
Scandinavian funds divest from companies involved in occupation of Palestinian land
http://www.imemc.org/article/60005
Other Divestment and
Sanctions initiatives
UK government's
policy that UK arms exports to Israel should not be used in the
occupied
territories.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8594402.stm
Governments
UK government has a policy that UK arms exports to Israel should not be
used in the occupied territories.
See
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8594402.stm
List of Companies Supporting the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Land
http://www.interfaithpeaceinitiative.com/profiting.pdf from http://www.interfaithpeaceinitiative.com/
New England
Conference of The United Methodist Church - Divestment Task Force
This group has prepared a report identifying companies that is widely used to identify specific companies,
http://www.neumc.org/console/files/oFiles_Library_XZXLCZ/NEUMC_Divestment_Report_-FINAL_060407-img_PM2YX4SR.pdf
Presbyterian Church (San Francisco motion, not approved by General Assembly?)
http://www.pc-biz.org/Explorer.aspx?id=1733
Presbyterian logic for Motorola/Caterpillar divestment: http://www.presbyteriandivestment.org/?page_id=13
Presbyterian Church’s “Phased selective divestment” policy: http://www.pcusa.org/mrti/whatisdivestment.htm
Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel:
http://www.vtjp.org
This website is a phenomenal resource!
Monthly meetings (Monday evening) at the Peace
& Justice
Center's new location, 60 Lake Street, Burlington, VT.
UVM Socially Responsiible Investment Working Group
http://www.uvm.edu/trustees/?Page=other_com/socially_res/content.html&SM=submenu2.html
Alice Rothchild MD:
Recently in Vermont. I recommend her audio/video tab at her web
page:
UVM Divestment Proposal:
http://www.uvm.edu/~istokes/divestment-proposal.pdf
South Africa
-
Apartheid
Maybe we can learn from history. Many comparisons have been
made between Apartheid in South Africa and the situation in Israel
and
Israeli-occupied territories.
The end of South African Apartheid probably was precipitated by
divestment. The movement to divest struggled worldwide for many years,
but when it
took off in the United States, everything changed.
The Wikipedia version:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinvestment_from_South_Africa
UVM Apartheid Divestment, Part II (video put on YouTube by Prof Nancy
Welsh of UVM):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gv_zg-M-GA&feature=related
UN Humans Rights report in Flotilla raid:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/15session/A.HRC.15.21_en.pdf
United Nations Fact
Finding Mission on the
Gaza Conflict (‘Goldstone’ report)
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/FactFindingMission.htm
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights - Buffer Zone in the Gaza
Strip (October 2010 Update)
If American Knew (Understanding the Crisis in Gaza - Important Facts
and Context about the Recent Violence)
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/gazafactsheet.html
pdf file: http://www.ifamericansknew.org/download/GazaDec08.pdf
The Russell Tribunal on Palestine
http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/
Legal and other
information about Israeli occupation
International Court
of Justice:
9 July 2004 General
List Case No. 131: “Legal Consequences Of The Construction Of A Wall In
The
Occupied Palestinian Territory”
http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?pr=71&code=mwp&p1=3&p2=4&p3=6&case=131&k=5a
United Nations:
United Nations
Security Council Resolution
242 http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/un/un242.htm
List of other
United Nations resolutions
concerning Israel and Palestine:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_UN_resolutions_concerning_Israel_and_Palestine
4th Geneva
Conventions:
http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/genevaconventions
South Affican academic study by the Human Services Research Council (HSRC, South Africa) finds that Israel is practicing apartheid and colonialism in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
http://www.hsrc.ac.za/Media_Release-378.phtml