University of California's policy makes no sense
Jewish Voice for Peace is puzzled by University of
California President Mark Yudof's statement on the recent divestment
efforts at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego.
President Yudof has either not read the text of the bills or
is choosing to misinterpret them, as neither bill called on "divestment
from companies that are doing business with Israel." Rather, the bills
called for divestment from companies that,
"a) provide military support for or
weaponry to support the occupation of the Palestinian territories or b)
facilitate the building or maintenance of the illegal wall or the
demolition of Palestinian homes, or c) facilitate the building,
maintenance, or economic development of illegal Israeli settlements on
occupied Palestinian territories."
President Yudof further states that the UC Regents will only "divest
from a foreign government or companies doing business with a foreign
government only when the United States government declares that a
foreign regime is committing acts of genocide."
This policy is doubly wrong.
First, because we believe
divestment should not wait until a situation has reached the
point of genocide.
Second, because the very reason that divesting
from the Israeli occupation is so urgent is because the United States
government has failed so far to pressure Israel to end its occupation
and bring its action in accordance to international human rights
standards.
If one were to follow Mr. Yudof's standard, the University of
California would not have been able to divest from Nazi Germany before
the outbreak of Second World War. This makes no sense.
For further reading:
Yaman Salahi: The Yudof Doctrine: No divestment from Israel until genocide
Mohammad Talaat: Open letter to UC President