As you may or may not have heard, we here at UC San Diego have launched a divestment campaign and resolution to be voted on THIS Wednesday 4/28 on our campus. The opposition have already started in mass mobilizing emails, letter of opposition, petitions, and propaganda campaigns against what we are doing. In order to counter this and move forward in our progress, we’re requesting your help in:
1. Signing this Petition- SPREAD WIDELY! http://www.PetitionOnline.com/sddivest/petition.html
2. WRITING SUPPORT LETTERS TO ALL OF OUR ASUCSD Council Members: http://as.ucsd.edu/council/roster.php?class=council
3. Reading our Resolution: http://oeoj.ucsd.edu/Divestment_Resolution.pdf
4. Attending our big event at this location: UCSD Price Center East, Fourth Floor in the Forum.
Address: 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093
5. Changing your Profile Picture to the attached file: just until Wednesday after the vote 🙂
6. Spread the word and this email widely!!
7. VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION, NEWS ARTICLES, AND SAMPLE LETTER TEMPLATES AT: www.ucsddivestforpeace.org
THANK YOU!
Dear Council Member, (try to personalize the name)
Throughout history, American Universities have stood on the vanguard of global human rights advocacy, social justice, and equality. The principles of respect, human rights, and equality for all people regardless of race, gender, and sexuality is an integral part of a university”s role in a society and community. As members of a student government whose overarching goal is to best represent the student body which it was designed to serve, the Associated Students of UCSD (ASUCSD) plays an integral role in facilitating an environment which upholds the principles outlined above.
As members of the student body, we stand in solidarity with these principles and with non-violent means of accomplishing these goals.
We call on you, as members of ASUCSD, to join us in declaring a stance of peace and neutrality by upholding the Resolution to Divest from U.S. Corporations Profiting from Occupation. This resolution is part and parcel of the historic movement for peace and human rights advocacy, particularly in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank, besieged Gaza, and annexed East Jerusalem. We write to you to emphasize the political neutrality of this resolution– it in no way advocates the targeting or blame of a specific person or group in relation to conflict, but rather promotes neutrality through the withdrawal of any one-sided support from corporations involved in perpetuating the conflict. These entities include General Electric and United Technologies.
As organizations founded upon the ideals of equality and respect, we stand by our duty as global citizens to take part in the first non-violent movement towards conflict resolution and an end to military occupation. By withdrawing financial and moral support from corporations that fund conflict, we stand in solidarity with the ideals of universal human rights and non-violence. We firmly believe that student fees should not be used to fund U.S. corporations which, directly or indirectly, support the continuation of armed conflict.
Historically speaking, where there exists a system of oppression and injustice, there will be resistance. In the historical development of this particular conflict, violent resistance has been the norm. This Resolution is the first non-violent solution to be proposed to the conflict. As an incredibly diverse group of organizations, we support this Resolution because as a neutral document, it does not target a specific person or group, but instead seeks to address an unjust system of governmental policies that perpetuate injustice.
Sincerely,
(Your name, affiliation, university..etc)
