Divestment

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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UPDATE (September 27, 2006):  The call for a divestment committee continues to grow louder, especially after the horrendous events this past summer in southern Lebanon, and northern Israel.

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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