Occupied Palestine, 14 April 2010 – The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) wishes to express its full and unreserved praise for the principled actions of students at University of California Berkeley that led to the passing of the divestment bill on March 18th. Following the veto of the bill by the President of the Senate six days after, the BNC encourages the University of California Berkeley Student Senate (ASUC) to once again take a stand for justice by re-passing the bill to divest from General Electric and United Technologies, two companies providing material and military support for the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory [1].
Today, all eyes are on UC Berkeley as the AUSC votes on bill 118A, “a bill in support of UC divestment from war crimes”. If passed, the divestment bill will be a landmark achievement in the history of student activism in the face of pervasive injustice and a milestone in the development of divestment campaigns as an effective tool to hold states and corporate actors accountable for their violations of basic human rights.
Palestinian civil society, represented by the BNC, calls on the AUSC to vote for the divestment bill, as Desmond Tutu, Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Richard Folk, Jewish Voices for Peace, and others have encouraged. We urge AUSC to withdraw support from the two companies complicit in grave violations of international law. The world is watching; will you stand on the right side of history? We sincerely hope you shall do the right thing and divest from war crimes.
[1] http://blogs.asuc.org/2010/03/18/announcements/sb-118-amended-passed/
