This week, University of California Davis student Senate voted on a targeted divestment resolution. The vote was 5 for the resolution, 5 against, with 2 senators abstaining. Though the resolution did not pass, the UC Davis Divestment Campaign was successful in shifting the debate on campus away from the terms set by the opposition, and the fact that the student senate vote resulted in a tie is indicative of the growing momentum and support behind the BDS Movement on campuses. IJAN organizers attended the UC Davis Finance and Business subcommittee hearing earlier in the week (where the resolution did pass)., and it was clear that the room was largely in support of divestment.
From Northeastern University to San Francisco State University to New York University, IJAN has been involved in organizing local, statewide and national defense against campus backlash. We are outraged by the misuse of anti-Semitism and the struggle for civil rights to repress freedom of speech, academic freedom and anti-racist organizing and to protect the ongoing ... Defending and Strengthening Campus Organizing
Letter in Support of NYU Students for Justice in Palestine
It is disturbing but unsurprising that as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters continue to lead the way in championing the Palestinian cause on college campuses and indeed across the nation, yet another SJP – in this case, at New York University – is accused of antisemitism for its defense of Palestinian rights. In this case, as with all false claims of antisemitism, the International Jewish anti-Zionist Network stands with NYU SJP in rejecting such charges.
The facts speak for themselves, and show a consistent pattern of pro-Israel supporters exploiting and misusing the history of anti-Jewish persecution in an attempt to stop criticism of Israel, and to attack Palestinians organizing for their rights, as well as those who support them in that work.
On the morning of April 24, NYU SJP distributed eviction notices to over 2000 students “at large” living in two student residence halls. The notices ordered them to leave their dorm rooms, noting that they would be demolished within three days. At the bottom of the fliers was a clear advisory, stating, “This is not a real eviction notice.” Such fliers are a widely-used tactic, meant to raise awareness of the home demolitions that the Israeli Occupying Forces carry out constantly in the occupied West Bank –189 homes in 2012 alone.
by Selma James and Sara Kershnar Published in Jacobin Campaigns against Rabab Abdulhadi and other activists are calls for state-sponsored political harassment. In the United States, it’s on campuses that the push against Israeli colonialism is having its greatest success. Despite attempts to quash faculty and student speech, the movement continues to surge. Professors worldwide rallied ... A New War on Speech