USPCN Stands with Students for Justice in Palestine and #UMDivest

Today marks the sixth consecutive day of the sit-in led by the University of Michigan’s (U of M’s) Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), which is the campus organization affiliated with  National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) stands by both SAFE’s demand for U of M to divest from the occupation, and its five “calls for accountability” to student government and university administration.

Sit-in to demand divestment and an end to the silencing of students. (Photo: SAFE)

On March 19, 2014, over 200 students at the U of M gathered to watch as SAFE presented a bill calling for divestment from companies that are complicit in Israeli human rights abuses. The resolution asks the university to divest its shares from Caterpillar, General Electric, Heidelberg Cement, United Technologies, “and all other companies that explicitly profit from and facilitate the Israeli occupation and siege of Palestinian land.” However, before it could even be presented, the student government voted to indefinitely postpone discussion of the bill. Students began to protest, continuously chanting “divest” until the student government meeting was forced to adjourn.  The students have since occupied the Central Student Government Chambers, with between 70-100 students returning each morning to re-occupy the chambers until 2:00 AM, when the building closes.

USPCN stands with SAFE and all other student allies currently participating in the sit-in, and urges the student government and university administration to heed SAFE’s five demands for accountability. The student government’s decision to postpone discussion of the bill is a blatant act of disregard towards the interests of the student body, as evidenced by the continued occupation of the Central Student Government Chambers, and the outpouring of student support for the bill.  We insist that the student government at the University of Michigan give a fair hearing to the bill at tonight’s meeting and put it to a vote, as it should have last week.  Watch the hearing live tonight, March 25, at 7:30 PM EST, and also participate live on twitter by following and using #UMDivest.

In addition, we declare our unequivocal support for the bill itself. The call for divestment from Israel and its ongoing violence, racism, and occupation in Palestine is a call for all of us to take a stand on one of the foremost human rights struggles of our time. As a network that represents and advocates for displaced Palestinians across the United States, we support those who struggle alongside us in the fight for Palestinian self-determination, including SJP at Northeastern University in Boston and SJP at Loyola University in Chicago, and continue to stand against policy-makers who attempt to criminalize our people and our movement. The call for divestment is a part of the global call to participate in Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), which was issued by Palestinian Civil Society in 2005. To engage in divestment is to honor the call of our people living directly under Israel’s brutal occupation.

We urge the University of Michigan and its student government to listen to their constituents, and to honor the demands of the students, who have steadfastly occupied the chambers for nearly a week. Neglecting to do so would not only be a failure to stand on the side of justice and human rights, but also a failure to meet the needs and interests of the students they purport to represent.