[Peace-discuss] Daily Illini items re Israel

[David Green]

As mentioned on today's News from Neptune:


DI blurb on referendum:

The only referendum that failed 3,133 to 1,700 readsas follows: Shall the University divest, or withdraw investments, fromspecified companies in the University’s BlackRock portfolio that activelynormalize, engage in, or fund human rights violations as defined by the UnitedNation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

 

DI Letter from Cary Nelson et al.:

Last month student senators listened attentively to two hours ofpublic comment from UIUC students and faculty. The topic: should there be yetanother referendum on this spring’s ballot about whether the university shoulddivest from companies doing business in Israel? That issue was widely debatedon campus last year, and the referendum was soundly defeated.

Although people spoke on both sides of the issue, on one pointspeakers from both sides agreed. Jewish and Palestinian students aliketestified that they felt harassed and threatened by the hate speech the campusdebate generated. Campus discussion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict canbe civil, but contests to win a forthcoming vote often are not. Competitionaimed at obtaining a victory involves passions of a different character.

At the student government meeting, referendum advocates made theirstrategy clear: they were going to reintroduce the referendum year after year.A clear expression of student opinion opposing it in a democratic vote didn’tmatter. They were not giving up.

That strategy has already been followed on other campuses,sometimes with annual votes taking place for a decade. Arguing over adivestment resolution as a result crowds out every other topic — from tuitionlevels, to class size, to loan programs — that students care about and wheretheir advocacy can make a difference.

On divestment, a campus vote amounts to empty symbolism. No Boardof Trustees is going to let students, faculty, or staff decide investmentpolicy. Investment policy is a Board fiduciary responsibility. A broad brushcondemnation of a series of companies, moreover, simply invites Boarddismissal.

Divestment is actually a complex subject that gets confused andfalsified by the resulting tweets and posters and slogans. Some companies thatdo business on the West Bank actually make Palestinians’ lives easier, but theyare nonetheless targeted for protests. A number of companies do not sell directlyto Israel. They sell to the US Defense Department, where Israel makes approvedpurchases, drawing on funds appropriated by the US Congress. What would happento a US company that told the Pentagon it would have to approve the DefenseDepartment’s customer list? Many targeted US corporations have offices andheadquarters in Illinois. They offer internships to UI students. They hirestudents’ parents and relatives. Such companies have reason to expect fair andspecific engagement from UI groups, not uniformed condemnation.

Yet at the campus student government debate last month, companiesin all these categories were basically accused of war crimes. That is not acarefully reasoned position. National BDS web sites target any company, amongothers, that sells to the Israeli army, including companies that sell shoes andbinoculars, even when the same models are marketed to civilian consumers hereand abroad.

The University has important research collaborations with Israelifaculty members and their institutions. It has study abroad programs forstudents. Academic freedom provides that students and faculty have the right topursue those options. The same Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)movement that promotes divestment urges universities to eliminate all thoserelationships. It even says faculty members should refuse to write letters ofrecommendation for students wanting to study in Israel. The local and nationalgroups that endorse divestment endorse those demands as well.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is among the important topicsthat should be studied and discussed on campus. But a divestment debate is nota good way to do so. There are courses offered in our institution thatencourage a critical approach to studying Israel and Palestine. These engage innuance and context, providing students the opportunity to learn in detail. Bycontrast the rhetoric surrounding the divestment debate can be shallow,informed by simplistic slogans.

We do not need another acrimonious divestment debate at UIUC.

Faculty Signatories:

Brian F. Allan, Entomology

Ilana Redstone Akresh, Sociology

Richard S. Akresh, Economics

May Berenbaum, Entomology

Jeffrey R. Brown, Dean, College of Business

Nigel D. Goldenfeld, Physics

Diane Gottheil, Medicine

Rachel S. Harris, Comparative Literature

Richard Herman, Chancellor emeritus

Richard L. Kaplan, Law

Deborah Katz-Downie, Plant Biology

Michael H. Leroy, Labor & Industrial Relations

Cary Nelson, English

Gene E. Robinson, Entomology

Jacqueline Ross, Law

Richard J. Ross, Law

Paula A. Treichler, Media & Cinema

Paul M. Weichsel, Mathematics

Reprinted from The Daily Illini, with additional names added.

 

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