To The Associated Students of the University of California,Berkeley,
Throughout US history, campuses and students have beencentral to movements for justice. The ASUC vote for divestment from United Technologiesand General Electric, two companies that directly benefit from Israel'swell-documented war crimes in Palestine, was a moving example of the criticalrole that students play in standing against injustice.
The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN)proudly adds its voice to the growing chorus of international support for theUC Berkeley students who are working to overturn the veto of the divestmentbill.
We reject the claims that Jewish voices are silenced bythis bill. There are tens of thousands of Jews around the world who areheartened by the bill and by the voice it brings to the call for justice andhumanity. On the contrary, the blunt threatsof the well-financed American-Israel Public Affairs Committee to simply "takeover the student government" as a means of killing the studentgovernment-approved resolution, are intended as efforts to silence the bill.But this bill has been brought before you precisely because the voices ofPalestinian people, including Palestinian students at your university, whosefamilies and communities have endured brutal war crimes and an inhumaneapartheid system, have not been silenced, and insist on being heard.
Having heard those voices, we say, "never again -for anyone." Never again to Israel's Apache Assault Helicopters - powered byGE's propulsion system - killing Palestinian civilians. Never again to UnitedTechnologies-supplied Blackhawk helicopters, F-15 and F-16 bombers destroyinghomes and schools in the Gaza strip. Never again to forced removals of entirepopulations in violation of international law. Never again to laws thatsystematically discriminate against whole classes of people. Never again totorture - for anyone. Never again to asystem which Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa - a victim and witness ofapartheid himself - agrees is an apartheid one.Tutu, recognized as a moral compass around the world, supports this bill.
Nonation, no matter what its premise, or in whose name it professes to speak, hasthe right to displace an indigenous people and create a state for the exclusivebenefit of another people.
This is an historic moment, and the Berkeley Student Senatehas a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a positive difference in our world. Thework against apartheid structures in this country and in South Africa came fromdecades of political organizing, intellectual bravery, and moral searching. And those who were at the fore of those movements were attacked, but standingtall in the face of that pressure is what we remember today. It is whatmoral and intellectually honest people around the world respect today.
