Divestment from Israel/Palestine
This web page contains all
relevant
files regarding an inquiry into divestment from the situation in
Israel/Palestine. See the appropriate link to the right (under 'Pages')
to
access files.
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UPDATE (December 15, 2006): Additional signatories.
Latest count: 1270 names,
including 99 faculty
and 113 current staff.
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UPDATE (October 15, 2006): Additional signatories added.
Latest count: 1255 names,
including 97 faculty,
111 current staff, and
358 students. Click on "SIGN HERE" to add your name.
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At present, we have 1074 signatures, including 83 faculty (current and retired, all campuses), and 96 current staff members; individual names are posted under "Signatories", at right. A student rally yesterday in Dearborn, and a renewed Student Government resolution, add further weight to this effort. All interested parties are invited to send a short email indicating their support of the call for an investigative committee. Click on "Sign Here", at right.
The divestment letter was originally presented to Mary Sue Coleman and the Regents, in person, at the March 16, 2006 meeting in Ann Arbor. To date there has been no response from anyone in the administration. But as the number of names continues to grow, the call will be harder to ignore.
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BRIEF OVERVIEW:
An ad hoc group of faculty members have drafted a Letter of Support,
calling on
the University administration, NOT to divest from Israel/Palestine, but
simply
to establish an advisory committee (as per U policy) and investigate
if
divestment is warranted.
The Letter of Support (see
"Divestment Letter" under 'Pages', at right) represents a minimal
first step toward taking positive action. University policy, as
established by
the Regents in 1978, states that we must formally investigate any
investments
that raise "serious moral or ethical questions". The 38-year Israeli
presence in Palestine is undoubtedly a serious moral issue, and is
costing
lives on both sides. It has been condemned by Human Rights Watch,
Amnesty
International, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The U
ought
not be party to this action, which, by most measures, is illegal and
immoral.
If our divestment from US corporations can, in any small way, hasten
its end, then
divestment ought to be investigated.
The U has twice before
investigated
its own finances: in 1978 with respect to South Africa, and in 2000
with
tobacco stocks. In both cases the U divested, so there is a
clearly-established
precedent for taking such action. The situation in Israel/Palestine is
at least
as serious as South African apartheid, and at least as serious as the
moral
dilemma posed by owning tobacco stocks. Certainly it merits inquiry.
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If you are faculty, staff, or
student of the University of Michigan (any campus) and wish to add your
name to the list of
supporters, please reply to:
skrbina@umd.umich.edu
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