Statement of Solidarity: Divestment, Anti-Semitism, and Columbia’s SJP and JVP
(Image credit: Columbia University Apartheid Divest)
On September 22-25, 2020, the Columbia College Student Council will finally hold an undergraduate referendum on whether to divest from companies that profit from, finance, or directly participate in/contribute to Israeli apartheid, military occupation, and human rights violations against Palestinians. For over four years, students across Columbia - namely the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition - have been calling on the University to divest its stocks, funds, and endowments from a particular subset of companies. This vote comes as a part of a crucial and long awaited step along the path toward justice and peace - after two prior attempts in 2017 and 2019.
Since its inception, the state of Israel has occupied and colonized Palestinian land, killed and exiled more than half of the indegenous people who used to live there, relegated the remaining Palestinians living in Israel to second-class status, and denied Palestinian refugees the right of return to their homes since their violent expulsion in 1948 (the Nakba). Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is, first and foremost, a peaceful Palestinian NGO-led movement aimed at achieving freedom, justice, and equality for Palestinians who are entitled to the universal human rights. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the BDS movement urges grassroots action to call on Israel to comply with international law, end the occupation, and treat Palestinians with dignity. Today, it is a far-reaching, international movement, that invites unions, academic associations, and grassroots movements of all backgrounds, religions, and voices.
The SIPA Palestine Working Group stands in solidarity with undergraduate student groups like Columbia’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), as well as faculty members who have spearheaded the campaign for Palestinian rights and justice in the face of Israeli oppression. We fiercely and unequivocally condemn any acts of anti-Semitism - alongside SJP and JVP - we also condemn attempts to discredit or disparage BDS or student activists by dangerously equating divestment with anti-Semitism. Divestment is a peaceful tactic used to exert economic, political, and social pressure on the Israeli government and military to end its dehumanizing practices and policies, ranging from home demolitions to the expansion of illegal settlements. It targets the unjust policies of a powerful state and does not target a people, and members of CUAD also discuss why BDS is not inherently anti-Semitic.
Given its position as a global policy school, we call upon SIPA to offer courses on advocacy tactics such as boycott, divestment, and sanctions as they become increasingly crucial in affecting policy and change in and across social justice movements, ranging from Palestine to Black Lives Matter to labor rights and environmental rights. Regardless of the results of the upcoming referendum, the shifting discourse on Palestine and Palestinian rights at Columbia University and across the country is cause for optimism, and reminds us of the need for continued education and engagement with nonviolent tactics, such as boycott, divestment, and sanctions, as well as calls for accountability for violations of international law.
In solidarity,
