HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE DIVESTS FROM ISRAEL
COMMENTARY ARCHIVES, 17 Feb 2009
On Feb 7 the board of trustees of Hampshire College in Massachusetts approved a proposal that would divest school assets from an investment fund that includes companies that violate the college’s standards of social responsibility. Violations cited include unfair labor practices, environmental abuse, military weapons manufacturing and unsafe workplaces.
The proposal resulted from a review of the college’s investments by Students for Justice in Palestine. A spokesperson for the campus group said more than 800 students, professors, and alumni signed a petition calling for the divestment, which was presented to trustees.
University officials say that the decision to divest from the fund was made "without reference to any country or political movement".
However the SJP group released a statement that heralded the move as "the first of any college or university in the U.S. to divest from companies on the grounds of their involvement in the Israeli occupation of Palestine." They also named six companies on the list complicit in the occupation. They are Caterpillar, United Technologies, General Electric, ITT Corp., Motorola and Terex.
Hampshire was the first college to divest from the South African apartheid system in the 1970’s. As with S. Africa back in the day, a broad movement has been taking shape on college campuses protesting Israeli policies toward Palestinians and calling for divestment.
Students at Hampshire who led the campaign drew negative attention from none other than Zionist apologist Alan Dershowitz. You would think Dershowitz would have more to do with his time than harass students, but apparently not.
The divestment has so far been endorsed by Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Rashid Khalidi, Vice President of the EU Parliament Luisa Morganitini, Cynthia McKinney, former member of the African National Congress Ronnie Kasrils, Mustafa Barghouti, Israeli historian Ilan Pappe, John Berger, Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire, and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, among others.
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