The Big Split

SJSU called to divest from companies "profiting" from Israeli occupation

The Associated Students Board of Directors officially signed the resolution calling for divestment from several companies accused of profiting from Israeli occupation of Palestine on Friday.

The passing of the resolution was announced on Nov. 18 and while A.S. voted in favor of divestment, it would still need to be approved by the SJSU Tower Foundation board of directors to actually go into effect.

Divestment is the reduction of some kind of asset for financial, ethical or political objectives.

According to Abid El-Miaari, president of Students for Justice in Palestine, the resolution was initially pitched on Oct. 21, and that many student groups were involved including the Black Student Union and MEChA.

“We first went around to student organizations and explained the situation in Palestine, and why we wanted to pass such a resolution,” El-Miaari said via email.

Palestine and Israel have long been embroiled in a conflict over land, but Israel has also been accused of human rights violations and racism against Palestinians as its territory expanded over time.

Once Students for Justice in Palestine gained support through student groups, the resolution was submitted to student government. Not all students are in favor of the resolution, and some view it as anti-Semitic for targeting Israel specifically.

“It’s anti-Semitic because it’s written about Israel and it’s written in a way that demonizes Israel,” said Dana Margittai, president of Spartans for Israel. “We did not want this resolution to pass because it was worded in a way that demonized Israel and when I spoke in front of A.S. Board I said it makes no sense why A.S. would want to divest from companies such as HP (Hewlett_packard Co.) or Caterpillar when HP hires Palestinians,”

The resolution listed the companies that were going to be divested including Caterpillar Inc., Motorola Solutions and G4S Secure Solutions.

“They want to divest from HP because the technology that they use for the checkpoints saves lives at the end of the day, it saves Israeli lives and Palestinian lives, so it doesn't make sense to me why we should divest from that,” Margittai said.

Margittai said she does not think that A.S. took time to research the situation and there is a reason the checkpoints are there.

“Yes it is really harsh, but there is a reason they are there and it’s because Israel wants to defend itself against terror which comes from the West Bank all the time,” Margittai said.

Margittai said she believes the resolution was unfair because students in the group were allowed to vote. On other campuses where divestment has passed, students involved in the Jewish community were not allowed to participate.

“I really do think the Palestinians need justice, but the way that this resolution was passed, I’m not really sure that it was fair,” Margittai said.

There is also a worry that the divestment could lead to violence and anti-Semitism as it has been trending in reaction to the passing of resolutions across other universities.

Margittai said some of the students who spoke in front of A.S. last week talked about how divestment movements have affected their friends on campuses where movements have passed.

As a result of the divestments, Margittai said actions have been taken against Jewish fraternities on other campuses that include the writing of swastikas on the walls of their houses.

But El-Miaari disagrees with the idea that the resolution is anti-Semitic.

“I think this is an unfair judgement. We had many Jews on the pro divestment coalition, such as the Jewish Voice for Peace,” El-Miaari said, pointing out that the adviser of Students for Justice in Palestine is an Israeli Jew.

He also wrote that it is unfair to link anti-Semitism to divesting from companies that profit off of human rights violations.

“We hope that this will bring more awareness to the struggles that Palestinians face every day.” El-Miaari said. “Hopefully we, as a country, can spend more money on peaceful initiatives such as helping refugees, and less money on killing innocent Palestinians.”