I received this today

This article warms my heart because I went to college in Amherst and lived in an artist commune where half of my roomates were Hampshire College Students. I hope that more companies and universities divest. It may only be symbolic but its a step towards peace:
Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, has become 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.


This landmark move is a direct result of a two-year intensive campaign by the
campus group, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The group pressured
Hampshire College’s Board of Trustees to divest from six specific companies due to
human rights concerns in occupied Palestine. Over 800 students, professors, and
alumni have signed SJP’s “institutional statement” calling for the divestment.
The proposal put forth by SJP was approved on Saturday, 7 Feb 2009 by the Board.
By divesting from these companies, SJP believes that Hampshire has distanced
itself from complicity in the illegal occupation and war crimes of Israel.


Meeting minutes from a committee of Hampshire’s Board of Trustees confirm that
“President Hexter acknowledged that it was the good work of SJP that brought this
issue to the attention of the committee.” This groundbreaking decision follows in
Hampshire’s history of being the first college in the country to divest from
apartheid South Africa thirty-two years ago, a decision based on similar human
rights concerns. This divestment was also a direct result of student pressure.
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.


The six corporations, all of which provide the Israeli military with equipment and
services in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza are: Caterpillar, United Technologies,
General Electric, ITT Corporation, Motorola, and Terex (see attached info sheet for
more information on these corporations.) Furthermore, our policy prevents the
reinvestment in any company involved in the illegal occupation.


SJP is responding to a call from Palestinian civil society for Boycott, Divestment,
and Sanctions (BDS) as a way of bringing non-violent pressure to bear on the state of
Israel to end its violations of international law. SJP is following in the footsteps of
many noted groups and institutions such as the National Association of Teachers in
Further and Higher Education in the UK, the Israeli group Gush Shalom, the
Congress of South African Trade Unions, the Canadian Union of Public Employees,
and the American Friends Service Committee.


As well as voicing our opposition to the illegal occupation and the consistent human
rights violations of the Palestinian people, we as members of an institute of higher
education see it as our moral responsibility to express our solidarity with
Palestinian students whose access to education is severely inhibited by the Israeli
occupation.


SJP has proven that student groups can organize, rally and pressure their schools to
divest from the illegal occupation. The group hopes that this decision will pave the
way for other institutions of higher learning in the U.S. to take similar stands.


Please email hampshiresjp@mail.com to schedule a phone interview.

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~