Students for Justice in Palestine members at the University of California, Berkeley during Israeli Apartheid Week last year (Photo: CalSJP.org)
A coalition of student groups has strongly criticized a letter from California state legislators opposing the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement on college campuses.
Over 30 student groups in California, ranging from Latino groups to Students for Justice in Palestine chapters to peace and justice organizations, sent their own letter to the University of California (UC) Board of Regents, which controls UC’s investment portfolio. The student letter is in response to a missive signed by over 30 state officials in California that denounced divestment resolutions on UC campuses. The legislators said that the resolutions help create an “antagonistic environment for students who support Israel.”
A number of UC campus student governments passed resolutions over the past academic year urging the UC Regents to divest from companies linked to the Israeli military.
The student coalition states that the legislators’ letter was an attempt “to silence student democracy.”
Here’s the letter in full, printed on Scribd:
Have to do something to deserve that campaign money, don’t they?
Nobody cares.
“The legislators said that the resolutions help create an “antagonistic environment for students who support Israel.””
Has anyone asked whether these (30) bozos realize that ALL political activism (e.g., pro and anti abortion, pro and anti guns, pro and anti taxes) creates an antagoniztic environment for students who support he opposing tendency? What’s so special about students who “support” Israel?
And has anyone consdered that these 30 have implied heartlessness on the part of all the other Calif state legislators who DID NOT condemn the BDS activism on campuses?
Perhaps you don’t Oleg, but a lot of folks do, in fact, care– including Israelis.
Thanks for you input, though.