Note: As of March 24, 2010 ASUC President Will Smelko vetoed the divestment bill. This veto can be overturned by a 2/3 vote of the Student Senate in the same semester (requiring 14 votes.) Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Berkeley has issued a statement noting that “Such a decision, however, does not change the fact that 16 out of 20 student representatives voted on the side of divestment, doing so after careful consideration of the facts and a 6 hour student debate with overflow capacity – a debate the ASUC President chose to miss while justifying his veto by claiming a lack of sufficient debate on the topic.” Furthermore, SJP provides plans for future action:
“At UC Berkeley’s campus, there will be a senate vote to override the President’s veto, to be held in the following weeks. We expect to win this vote, as only 14 votes are needed to override a veto and already 16 senators have stood against war crimes, Israel’s or otherwise. You can help prevent them from bowing to the pressure of the Israel lobby, which has been fierce and deceitful in its characterization of this bill, by
1) coming to the meeting to override Smelko’s veto (the date will be either April 7 or a following Wednesday – for updates see ://calsjp.org)
2) bringing your supportive friends and student group members
3) writing personal or organizational letters to senators (to [email protected], including [email protected] in the bcc) when asked to do so in the weeks to come about why you support divestment as a tactic in general and in the case of Israel specifically (at this point, angry letters to the president do little and are discouraged).
Beyond this there is much to do in the broader public. This movement is not just about a victory for divestment at UC Berkeley. Rather it is more fundamentally about spreading divestment and the notion that all nations and corporations, including sacred cows like Israel, must be held to account for their gross violations of human rights, and that all people, Palestinians included, are deserving of basic human rights such as rights to life, property, freedom of movement, and a right to an education. Spread divestment to your church, your synagogue, your mosque, to other schools, to other institutions. And speak up in the press. Write a letter to the editor or an op-ed. Make the media know about the success at Berkeley and the successes to come. We’ll be in touch with next steps in the near future. Thank you so much for your solidarity.”
The US Palestinian Community Network commends the students at Berkeley for their ongoing struggle and pledges all support to them in the future.
The US Palestinian Community Network congratulates the students of the University of California at Berkeley for the courageous and principled vote of the Associated Students of UC-Berkeley, the elected representatives of the student body, calling upon the University of California to divest from its investments in corporations involved in Israeli war crimes, specifically General Electric and United Technologies.
The landslide 16-4 vote, which took place on March 18, 2010, is an achievement for the students of the University of California at Berkeley – where students, particularly from Students for Justice in Palestine, have been advocating for divestment from Israel since 2000. It follows on the historic accomplishments of students at Hampshire College and the University of Michigan – Dearborn in securing votes favoring divestment. It is a watershed accomplishment of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement at U.S. universities and should be emulated by students around the world.
Please join the US Palestinian Community Network to SEND LETTERS OF SUPPORT to the senate as well as President Will Smelko. Let the senators know that we are incredibly thankful for the 16-4 vote. Let President Smelko know that there are many people on Cal’s campus, as well as the broader community, who support this bill and ask him to NOT veto it.
The senate’s email is: [email protected]
The president’s email is: [email protected]
USPCN sent the following letter to President Will Smelko:
“Dear President Smelko;
The US Palestinian Community Network has learned of the important vote for accountability and divestment that took place at the Associated Students of the University of California – Berkeley, from our student members who were directly involved in the effort and other members of our community who participated in efforts to support this bill. The landslide support it received, with a vote tally of 16-4, indicates the strong support of ASUC and the community for this bill holding corporations and governments accountable for war crimes.
We urge you to recognize and support the strong majority of ASUC that voted for justice, and voted for divestment, and to reject any and all calls to veto this bill. This bill is an important step in the U.S. student movement’s work to ensure that U.S. universities are not complicit in war crimes.
We hope that you will act today to support this bill and the strong majority that passed it, and reject any pressure or calls to veto this bill.
Best,
US Palestinian Community Network”
sooo proudddd!