This spring has seen a flurry of divestment activity on campuses across the country. In late February the Student Senate at the University of Michigan – Dearborn passed a resolution calling for the university administration to appoint a committee to investigate the human rights implications of university investments. In March the Associated Students of the University of California, Berkeley voted 16-4 to divest their own funds from two occupation profiteers and to endorse divestment at the University of California level.

After the students at UC Berkeley voted for divestment, the student government president vetoed the resolution! Now you can take action to support these students by sending an email to the Associated Students of the University of California. Take inspiration for your email from the following message from Cal Students for Justice in Palestine:

Now is a time to recognize [this] movement, a movement not just at UC Berkeley but at schools and institutions around the country and the world, and to redouble our efforts to end the Israeli occupation and reassert the need for an ethical investment policy.

This movement is not just about a victory for divestment at UC Berkeley. Rather it is more fundamentally about spreading divestment and the notion that all nations and corporations, including sacred cows like Israel, must be held to account for their gross violations of human rights, and that all people, Palestinians included, are deserving of basic human rights such as rights to life, property, freedom of movement, and a right to an education. Spread divestment to your church, your synagogue, your mosque, to other schools, to other institutions. And speak up in the press. Write a letter to the editor or an op-ed. Make the media know about the success at Berkeley and the successes to come. We know we are not alone and are grateful to the nearly 1,000 email messages sent to President Smelko urging him to sign the bill. Thank you so much for your solidarity. Keep your eyes peeled, will be in touch with next steps in the near future.

Undaunted,
Cal Students for Justice in Palestine

Read the resolution your self by clicking here or use our talking points about the resolution to write a short message to the UC Berkeley student senators, then fill in the fields with red asterisks next to them, then click “send your message.”

Subject:
Your Letter: Write your message here
Student Senators
Associated Students of the University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA
US
Students for Justice in Palestine
University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA
US