Some thoughts on divestment and the Berkeley Jewish community

The Discomfort Zone

BDS

Editor’s note: Noah Kulwin is a member of J Street U at UC Berkeley. As word broke yesterday that ASUC President Connor Landgraf would not veto SB 160,  the divestment bill targeting companies involved in Israeli human rights violations, which passed in the ASUC last week, I was not sure Read More…

assault.charlotte

Keeping prejudice under control

The Jewish people deserve the security of a homeland

I come from a family of refugees. My mother was younger than I am now when she was forced to flee for her life from the Islamic Revolution of Iran. My mother recalls being forced to sit in the back of her classroom along with a group of young Jewish Read More…

Coming together for campus justice

Students for Justice in Palestine member discusses Birgeneau’s response to student assault

What does the marginalization of a large and diverse coalition of students look like? It looks something like Chancellor Robert Birgeneau’s statement that was recently released in response to SB 160, the ASUC bill that calls for targeted divestment from companies complicit in Israeli apartheid and illegal settlement. Birgeneau explained Read More…

Palestinians deserve an open discussion

Forget Chancellor Birgeneau’s platitudes, we need open debate

As Students For Justice in Palestine activists and a Berkeley attorney working with the SJP and Cal alumni, we feel compelled to respond to the chancellor’s criticism of the recent ASUC vote to divest from companies that profit from Israel’s human rights violations in Palestine. The chancellor’s concern about the Read More…

Jason.Willick

After divestment

The Devil's Advocate

The ASUC Senate’s deeply misguided vote to divest UC funds from companies affiliated with the Israeli military is, in one sense, utterly irrelevant. Despite its best efforts, the coterie of far-left activists that dominates student politics rarely influences university policy — Chancellor Birgeneau helpfully reminded us that the regents’ investment portfolio will Read More…

palestine.jacob_wilson

Divestment debate: Echoes of Apartheid

Perspectives on Israel-related divestment as the ASUC Senate considers bills connected to the topic

Last Monday, after much dialogue and debate, the Organization of African Students unanimously decided to support the ASUC bill that calls for divestment from companies profiting from, or investing in, the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The decision to support divestment is a result Read More…

lu_han

Divestment debate: Support peace instead

Perspectives on Israel-related divestment as the ASUC Senate considers bills connected to the topic

On Wednesday, the ASUC Senate will likely consider either to divest from companies that do business with Israel or to instead invest peacemaking initiatives that bring Israelis and Palestinians together. As a freshman, I experienced the divestment effort of spring 2010. From dusk to dawn on three Wednesday nights through Read More…