In the United States, the people’s peace process has secured its first victory, with Hampshire College officially becoming the first American university to divest its funds from the Israeli occupation. Specifically, the culprits named are Caterpillar, United Technologies, General Electric, ITT Corporation, Motorola, and Terex for their material support of the Israeli Death Forces.
Hampshire Students for Justice in Palestine writes,
“As well as voicing our opposition to the illegal occupation and the consistent human rights violations of the Palestinian people, we as members of an institute of higher education see it as our moral responsibility to express our solidarity with Palestinian students whose access to education is severely inhibited by the Israeli occupation.”
Since every American president has failed to end the United States’ addiction to Israeli violence, and since every Israeli Prime Minister in history has proved utterly unwilling to recognize the equal rights of Palestinians, it is up to us as ordinary people and activists in the United States to apply the only power we have to ending the occupation: economic power.
Congratulations to Hampshire SJP for their excellent work. According to a new release, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, known for his unrelenting and unquestioning support for virtually every Israeli policy and action in history, has raised the stakes and threatened to start a divestment campaign against Hampshire. Suggested course of action for Hampshire? Give Dersh the middle finger.
Update Feb 13, 2009: After reports circulated in the Jerusalem Post and by the Hampshire Administration distancing the divestment move from the Israeli occupation, Hampshire SJP has released a statement explaining their role in the decision for divestment.
Related posts:
- Life Under Israeli Military Occupation
- Israeli Apartheid Week
- Israeli Public Swings
- Jewish and Israeli Groups Back Divestment
- LSE Students’ Union Rocks!
Well, here is a link to this “alternative” college. I had to look it up, because I’ve never heard of it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampshire_College
Now, can you provide a link to the actual news story? Or a press release? I’m unable to find it.
Posted by programmer craig | February 12, 2009, 4:33 pmhttp://www.hampshire.edu/news/11271.htm
Statement of Clarification Regarding Trustees’ Actions on College Investments
Statement of Clarification from Sigmund Roos (73F), chair of the board of trustees, Ralph Hexter, president, and Aaron Berman, vice president and dean of faculty, regarding trustees’ actions on college investments
We write to correct numerous reports circulating about actions taken by the Hampshire College board of trustees on February 7, 2009. The facts are as follows:
* On February 7, 2009, the Hampshire College board of trustees accepted the report of its investment committee, which earlier had voted, without reference to any country or political movement, to transfer assets held in a State Street fund to another fund.
* Based on a comprehensive review of the fund by the trustee investment committee, administrators and an outside consultant, the college found that this fund held stocks in well over 200 companies engaged in business practices that violate the college’s policy on socially responsible investments. These violations include: unfair labor practices, environmental abuse, military weapons manufacturing, and unsafe workplace settings.
* The review also led the board of trustees to vote to revise its 1994 socially responsible investment policy to bring it up-to-date with current standards and practices, and, pending revision, to suspend that policy.
* The review of the State Street fund was undertaken at the request of a sub-committee of the investment committee, to address a petition from a student group, Students for Justice in Palestine. The investment committee’s decision, however, was based on the consultant’s finding that the State Street fund included 200-plus companies engaged in multiple violations of the college’s investment policy; the decision expressly did not pertain to a political movement or single out businesses active in a specific region or country.
* No other report or interpretation of the actions of February 7, 2009 by the Hampshire College board of trustees is accurate.
They backpedaling? Either way, yaman, that last clause there is calling you a liar
Posted by programmer craig | February 12, 2009, 4:44 pmBy the way, this university seems to survive largely through private contributions. They probably wouldn’t approve of you characterizing them in such a politically unpopular (in the US) and offensive manner. Just saying.
Posted by programmer craig | February 12, 2009, 4:47 pmhttp://www.masslive.com/localbuzz/index.ssf/2008/08/is_hampshire_college_the_bigge.html
If college is an investment, Hampshire is a commemorative pewter tankard from the Franklin Mint. Based on Radar’s assessment of overall value–weighing tuition, admission standards, student evaluations, and general quality of academics–Hampshire just might be the biggest fleece job in post-secondary education.
For just $47,190 a year, you get not only a school ranked second-to-last on U.S. News’ list of liberal arts institutions, but also the prestige associated with being the Princeton Review’s number one choice for “Birkenstock-wearing, tree-hugging, clove-smoking vegetarians.”
I guess that’s what happens when schools use “alternative education” methods, in which students don’t even recieve grades, eh? That must be the number one choice for parents whose kids are too stupid to attend regular colleges, eh? I mean, even George Bush managed to get through Yale, so think how dumb Hampshire College kids must be?
On the bright side… wait… there is no bright side. Unless you count being over-run with crazy Palestinian students a bright side…
Posted by programmer craig | February 12, 2009, 4:56 pmIn other news, Zionuts were divested from my mouth, i’m upset.
Anyway, I hate Palestinians, kill them all. Who wants to read more raps by me? If the public wants them, i’ll give them more…
MC PC (juggling balls in my mouth since ’78)
Posted by programmer craig | February 12, 2009, 5:00 pmOn the brighter side…wait less balls in my mouth? No brighter side, i guess. I hate Palestinian men, their balls are too big for my mouth.
Posted by programmer craig | February 12, 2009, 5:01 pmIs that what yo momma said, Yasser? Dunno… her mouth looks pretty big in that one video. Still waiting for at least one person to say they wanna see it before I inflict so much trauma on the readers. Yo momma is ass ugly, man. And the hijab don’t help a bit.
Posted by programmer craig | February 12, 2009, 5:14 pmCan you not be racist for one minute PC.
Posted by Arayus | February 12, 2009, 5:50 pmRacist? Do you even understand the concept, Arayus? Or is that just one of the epithets you’ve learned to throw at people you don’t like?
Posted by programmer craig | February 12, 2009, 5:53 pmNo, that’s what you are PC.
Posted by Anonymous | February 12, 2009, 7:08 pmOh, it hurts me so much to be called a bigot on KABOBfest… what shall I do?
Posted by programmer craig | February 12, 2009, 7:53 pmOh it hurts so much to have zionuts in my mouth…what shall i do? :0
Posted by programmer craig | February 13, 2009, 8:45 amRacist? Do you even understand the concept, Arayus? Just because I hate Palestinians and think they should be kicked out of their homes, imprisoned and have their children killed, because they are not Jewish?
Oh yeah…hey hey hey heyyyy….suck…..balls, everyday.
Posted by programmer craig | February 13, 2009, 8:46 amPC, you are an absolute ASSET to truth!
Your comments have utterly destroyed this post, and the credibility of Yaman.
Kabobers have sunk to new pathetic lows. Now you are just inventing propaganda stories, instead of reporting them.
And then you attack PC, instead of thanking him for correcting your deformed understanding of the real world.
Posted by Anonymous | February 13, 2009, 10:28 amPC is partially right. The original release from HSJP was somewhat misleading. The board did not decide to do a blanket divestment from the Israeli occupation, as HSJP’s release suggests.
However, it seems to have divested from those six companies on the grounds of their involvement in the occupation, at the prompting of HSJP.
There is a tacit agreement in the board’s decision that the activities of those companies in connection with the Israeli occupation poses ethical problems.
Sorry PC. You’re right to correct HSJP’s misleading statement, but you’re wrong to suggest that Hampshire has not decided to pull out unethical investments in occupation companies.
Posted by Yaman | February 13, 2009, 11:00 amHey Folks ::
The administration doesn’t speak for the student movement that has won this divestment.
http://www.hsjp.org/voices-of-divestment/
http://voicesofdivestment.wordpress.com/
Posted by Anonymous | February 13, 2009, 11:14 amThanks Anon 10:28,
I’m also an asset to sucking zionuts, have you heard of my skills?
Posted by programmer craig | February 13, 2009, 11:28 amSorry PC. You’re right to correct HSJP’s misleading statement, but you’re wrong to suggest that Hampshire has not decided to pull out unethical investments in occupation companies.
Thanks for going that far, Yaman
From what I read about that school, it has a policy going back to its founding in 1970 (which was the height of the Vietnam anti-war movement in the US) of not making any war-related investments. Their decision seems to be in compliance with that 40 year old policy, and shouldn’t be interpreted (even according to them!) as a political statement.
Posted by programmer craig | February 13, 2009, 12:32 pmAnonymous 10:28, thanks
Posted by programmer craig | February 13, 2009, 12:33 pmYaman, I appreciate you partially retracting your earlier remarks. This is further than most Kabobers would ever go once proven incorrect.
I would just like to point out that prior to Yaman retracting his remarks, PC was savaged in the comments, called a racist, disparaged in the most obscene language for nothing more than reporting the truth.
Arayus, particularly, your comments are going way down in quality and credibility.
Posted by Anonymous | February 13, 2009, 1:17 pmFor PC and all else: don’t take my retraction as a victory. I’m only interested in making sure the story is correct.
That said, I should clarify that I made my remark before reading HSJP’s response to Hampshire administration’s clarifications, which offers some convincing contextualization regarding their campaign and the divestment decision.
I’m going to stay out of the circle of those drawing judgment of what actually happened, since I’m nowhere near Amherst. But, in the interest of clarity and transparency, here is HSJP’s statement:
http://www.hsjp.org/2009/02/13/sjp’s-official-response-to-the-administrative-statement-regarding-divestment-from-the-occupation-of-palestine-021309/
Posted by Yaman | February 13, 2009, 1:21 pmAs a link: http://www.hsjp.org/2009/02/13/sjp’s-official-response-to-the-administrative-statement-regarding-divestment-from-the-occupation-of-palestine-021309/
Posted by Yaman | February 13, 2009, 1:22 pm