Divestment is biting at the University of Arizona. Several articles about the campaign in the student newspaper. Here’s the lead:
UA administrators are resisting a recommendation by UA students to terminate the university’s contract with the Motorola Corporation. Students say the company is complicit in human rights violations because of contracts they have with the Israeli government, which is militarily occupying Palestinian lands.
And this piece, Dial D for Death– Motorola. And some important history:
Following waves of anti-apartheid activism led by students and community around the UA and ASU pressuring the Arizona Board of Regents to divest, on Monday Sept. 9, 1985, the Daily Wildcat reported that, at its meeting on Sept. 6, ABOR ordered both universities “to divest their holdings in companies doing business in South Africa,” some $3.4 million.
And this reference to Rachel Corrie in a piece by Gabriel Schivone (who wrote the last two links, too) dedicated to the memory of Howard Zinn:
Ironically, 2004 is the year during which global outcry against the company, led by the world’s most prominent human rights organizations, dramatically increased. Among the concerned groups, the United Nations wrote to Caterpillar, which it has done more than once, pleading with the company to recognize and respond to the horrendous use of its products by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that include massive home demolitions, property destruction, crop devastation and unlawful killings of Palestinian civilians — as well as the death of American college student Rachel Corrie, who was crushed by a Caterpillar bulldozer during peacekeeping activities in the Gaza Strip in March 2003. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have also written letters urging the company to respect not only international law but Caterpillar’s own internal code of conduct.
Such credible pleas seem to consistently have fallen on deaf ears.
If memory serves, the Corrie family case against Caterpillar was avoided by the US Supreme Court under the jurisdictional Political Question doctrine (based on the constitutional separation of powers). The tenuous fact supporting this decision was that the US government pays for Israel’s bulldozers. (Don’t even think about the further irony
that Israel’s settlements are against US official policy, or that Israel’s restricted use of US foreign aid violates US legislation).
Pingback: Divestment campaign gains traction at U of Arizona « U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel
Pingback: Shout Out to the Socially Responsible U of A « بنسبة لنا
i tried to post a comment on that site w/no luck. the hasbara in the comment section is overwhelming.
Info on israeli use of the D-9 (scroll down to Military applications)
link to indopedia.org
What’s Motorola’s specific contribution to human rights abuses? I know Caterpillar’s bulldozers do a lot of damage (and killed people including Rachel) but the article only mentions Motorola’s involvement in Gaza without specifics.
Bomb fuses. Motorola makes them.
“Bomb fuses. Motorola makes them”
Too lazy to check, but I’m pretty sure that MOT sold that biz. In any case, I think it’s the least of the company’s contributions to the apartheid state (ultimately, the other tech. causes far more damage than a bomb). But then I also believe that *anything* that aids Israel ought to be included in the boycott (including far-reaching Zio-prop like the NYT).
Indeed. Thanks for the heads up.
link to electronicintifada.net
RE: “What’s Motorola’s specific contribution to human rights abuses?” – Donald
SEE: Hang Up on Motorola – link to endtheoccupation.org
Join thousands of other human rights advocates demanding accountability from Motorola for its support of Israeli human rights violations. There are several ways that Motorola and their wholy owned subsidiary, Motorola-Israel, profit directly from violations of international law:
• Motorola has the exclusive contract to provide the Israeli military with encrypted mobile phone technology. This means that every Israeli boarder guard manning a checkpoint inside of Palestinian territory and every Israeli soldier committing war crimes in the assault on the Gaza Strip takes their orders through a Motorola device.
• Motorola “virtual fences” and surveillance systems are used at dozens of illegal Israeli settlements built on Palestinian land. These Jewish-only settlements are a potent symbol Israeli apartheid and are illegal under several international laws, including the 4th Geneva Convention. Settlements use high-tech Motorola equipment to ghettoize Palestinian communities as confiscate their land.
• Motorola’s subsidiary, MIRS communications has mobile phones and service plans exclusively for the use of Jewish settlers. These discriminatory practices are despicable, but even worse MIRS service towers are often built on stolen Palestinian land.
• Motorola also has close ties with Aeronautics Defense Systems (ADS), which makes drone aircraft that the Israeli military used during Operation Cast Lead (the most recent assault on the Gaza Strip). Last April Motorola sold their bomb fuze division to ADS, just after Human Rights Watch reported finding debris from Motorola bomb components in the rubble of civilian buildings in the Gaza Strip.
• Take Action
Send a message to Motorola management, sign our boycott pledge, and get the latest action-updates. – link to endtheoccupation.org
Thanks. That was very informative.
I find the encryption bit a little questionable since Tadiran, the Israeli company, usually provides the army with its encrypted radio needs.
Having said that, it doesn’t change the fact that Motorola aids in the occupation one way or another.
By the way,
Motorola’s subsidiary, MIRS communications has mobile phones and service plans exclusively for the use of Jewish settlers. These discriminatory practices are despicable, but even worse MIRS service towers are often built on stolen Palestinian land.
The army relies heavily on the MIRS system these days. It’s similar in concept to Nextel (Now Sprint) in the US.
Pingback: Updated: Reed Business Sells Four U.S. Trade Mags To Canon … | Control Engineering Addict
OT:
from Shahar Ilan / Ultra-Orthodox parties are Judaism’s greatest enemies (Haaretz)
“The groundless belief of the ultra-Orthodox that Judaism is theirs and no one else’s is so powerful that they expect statements like those made by Porush and Deri to be accepted as a matter of course, without any response. This contributes to the ongoing delegitimization of the secular center and left in the eyes of a large portion of the Israeli population. It also contributes heavily to making a large section of the public sick of Judaism.
And it is not only Judaism that the left and the center are being asked to give up, but also Zionism. In recent decades, the right has monopolized the use of the word “Zionism,” while the center and the left have simply ceased referring to it. This is one of the primary reasons it’s so easy for Israeli Arabs to disseminate the specious Nakba narrative. Everyone who cherishes Zionism, particularly the Zionist right, should aspire to ensure that Zionism cease being a right-wing term. “
Here is a site I have found very useful –
WHO PROFITS FROM THE OCCUPATION?
It breaks it down to minute detail in three categories – Settlement Industry, Economic Exploitation, Control Of Population.
It’s important to focus on the major “players”. If too much information is put out, people who have good intentions, who want to Boycott and Divest, may end up having information overload.
Great link too.
Pingback: Like Kind Exchanges, Taxes and Real Estate: Arizona introduces … | Arizona Real Estate
Pingback: Like Kind Exchanges, Taxes and Real Estate: Arizona introduces … | Arizona Real Estate
I wrote about this earlier
link to notesfromamedinah.wordpress.com
The link includes a video by the University of Carleton’s (Canada) boycott and divestment movement. The video is worth checking out.