tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84956649409176475362024-02-07T02:27:48.316-08:00TESC Divest! @ The Evergreen State CollegeTESC Divest! : Ending Evergreen's Complicity in OccupationTESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-46294763413275384632014-06-14T15:59:00.002-07:002014-06-14T16:02:04.664-07:00Evergreen State College graduates renew call for CAT-free campus during commencement ceremony<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJH9R1IXxGIKEq86cLmBKv_yzHqPjyLuNX4HFHqyxk0sT4XuRU2dfyDJesVanSUt6iNkmKs7BfO9PSd-siZderNxqOTExaE3jH_hvBXIJyNu59zNRcXqmHuNrA7Et8RKaQLLjZgJ9tR0HC/s1600/10295263_10202859937913269_5317528410192297736_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJH9R1IXxGIKEq86cLmBKv_yzHqPjyLuNX4HFHqyxk0sT4XuRU2dfyDJesVanSUt6iNkmKs7BfO9PSd-siZderNxqOTExaE3jH_hvBXIJyNu59zNRcXqmHuNrA7Et8RKaQLLjZgJ9tR0HC/s1600/10295263_10202859937913269_5317528410192297736_o.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE STUDENTS LAUNCH NEW CAMPAIGN TO HONOR STUDENT VOTES</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Campaign demands Evergreen administration implement overwhelming student votes to ban Caterpillar, Inc products and divest from companies involved in Israeli occupation</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On June 13th, 2014, members of TESC DIVEST! at The Evergreen State College launched a new campaign at their school’s graduation ceremony. A banner was dropped and graduates held up signs calling for Evergreen to ban Caterpillar, Inc. products because of their use in violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by the Israeli military. The demand to ban Caterpillar was the focus of one of two resolutions students and student government overwhelmingly supported in 2010, but that the administration has refused to implement since. The other resolution demanded that Evergreen no longer invest money in companies profiting from the illegal occupation, either from its own endowment or from the private endowment established by the college.</span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJH9R1IXxGIKEq86cLmBKv_yzHqPjyLuNX4HFHqyxk0sT4XuRU2dfyDJesVanSUt6iNkmKs7BfO9PSd-siZderNxqOTExaE3jH_hvBXIJyNu59zNRcXqmHuNrA7Et8RKaQLLjZgJ9tR0HC/s1600/10295263_10202859937913269_5317528410192297736_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><br /></a>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlphPb9QWOfN7H8ePwTMJGiIzIh_vrzJ1pz9pKq9a_-rw4QQZbCfx7hmsVvtFVnAv7RyET9iYjlP0VRDb_prNoWY2vfpNh2pGuP-A7Su9abusxG04rboExmpeR9F__UWu4Y7zTx0Kz56-G/s1600/10377435_444196595717810_4034224816557958837_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlphPb9QWOfN7H8ePwTMJGiIzIh_vrzJ1pz9pKq9a_-rw4QQZbCfx7hmsVvtFVnAv7RyET9iYjlP0VRDb_prNoWY2vfpNh2pGuP-A7Su9abusxG04rboExmpeR9F__UWu4Y7zTx0Kz56-G/s1600/10377435_444196595717810_4034224816557958837_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banner text:<br />
"Evergreen, it's time, CAT out of Palestine,<br />
#CATfreecampus"</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The graduation action marks a renewed call for the college administration to honor the student body’s call to ban Caterpillar and divest from the occupation. While the administration has found numerous obstacles to place in the path of students looking to stand for human rights, students still have several avenues open to them. First, investment decisions about the portion of Evergreen’s endowment held by the college itself are open to student pressure. In an attempt to mollify students in 2011, the administration put this endowment in the control of a “socially responsible” investment fund and allowed for some student participation in decision making. While this socially responsible fund continues to invest in occupation-related companies, and students have been discouraged from participating, the administration’s decision has still given students a valuable tool which they intend to pursue.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With these clear objectives in mind, students have launched this energetic new campaign to hold the administration accountable to the values of Evergreen’s students.</span></div>
TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-74020843110612335952014-06-08T14:06:00.000-07:002014-06-08T14:06:19.805-07:00Divestment Resolution at University of Washington<div>
Last month, UW's Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER) brought a divestment resolution to the floor of their university's student senate. While the resolution did not pass, it was the beginning of an open discussion on the campus. Below is UWSUPER's statement following the vote as well as letters of support written by TESC students and faculty. </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Press Release: UW-Seattle Students Bring Divestment from Israeli Occupation to a Vote</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">via <a href="http://superuw.org/press-advisory-uw-seattle-students-bring-divestment-from-israeli-occupation-to-a-vote/" target="_blank">superuw.org</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">UW-Seattle Students bring Divestment from Israeli Occupation
to a Vote<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Ten UW Student groups introduce student senate Resolution to
divest UW’s endowment of companies profiting from Israel’s occupation of
Palestine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The student senate at the University of Washington-Seattle
joins more than a dozen student bodies to formally consider recommending the
university divest from companies profiting from the Israeli occupation of
Palestine. The bill did not pass despite broad student support and a nationwide
trend of student senatesacross the country calling on their universities to
divest. The final vote of 8 to 59 included 11 abstentions and a number of
senators who expressed interest in learning more about the occupation of
Palestine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The bill, which focused on a number of companies directly
profiting from occupation and the human rights abuses it entails, urged the
University to “divest from those companies meeting such criteria within the
bounds of their fiduciary duties until such companies cease the practices
identified in this Resolution.” Students have already begun conversations with
the UW treasury department and hope to continue to work together moving forward.
According to the treasury department, as of April 22nd 2014, the UW was
invested in four of the companies specifically identified in the resolution,
collectively totaling nearly $6 million.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The bill was widely supported by student groups, including
the Disability Advocacy Student Association, Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de
Atzlan, and UW Black Student Union as well as by faculty, alumni, and notable
figures such as Cindy and Craig Corrie – parents of Washington State student
Rachel Corriewho was killed in 2003 when a militarized Caterpillar Bulldozer
operated by an Israeli soldier ran her over while she attempted to protect a
Palestinian home from illegal demolition. Other supporters included Miko Peled,
son of a prominent Israeli general, Jewish Voice for Peace, International
Committee of the National Lawyers Guild, and organizations in Israel,
Palestine, and South Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">UW student Peter Brannan, who presented the resolution,
said, “This process has been about renewing the belief that students can make a
difference not only on their campus but in the world.” Members of SUPER
expressed resolve and excitement about the future direction of student
solidarity with Palestinian equal rights: “We are moved by the flood of student
support for this resolution. We are only more determined to build community on
campus for this struggle. Other campuses show that important struggles take
time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights is a registered
student organization at the University of Washington dedicated to equal rights
and justice for the Palestinian people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">TESC Student Letter of Support</span></span></h2>
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Dear Associated Students of the University of Washington, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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In the spring of 2010, the student body of the Evergreen
State College passed two resolutions, one calling for divestment from companies
profiting off of Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and the other for the creation of a
CAT Free Zone, prohibiting the use of Caterpillar Inc. equipment on campus.
The result of the vote, the first student-wide one of its kind, was a resounding
victory for both resolutions, passing with 79.5% and 71.8% respectively.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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The voter turnout set a record at Evergreen, and was more
than double the average turnout in student elections nationwide. Following the vote,
the Geoduck Student Union unanimously passed resolutions supporting the student
vote and directing the Board of Trustees to respond in a timely manner to the
request of the student body. The Board of Trustees refused to publicly discuss the
resolutions, the reason given being that Evergreen’s endowment holdings are directly tied
to the UW Consolidated Endowment Fund. Consequentially, Evergreen’s ability to
respect the voice of the student body and divest has been made contingent upon the
University of Washington.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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In 2005, 170 Palestinian civil society groups issued a call
for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel and institutions complicit
in and profiting from the occupation of Palestinian land. BDS is a non-violent challenge
to a conflict which is militarily one-sided. BDS was instrumental in ending the
Apartheid regime in South Africa, and, like with the Palestinian call for action,
campuses and students are on the forefront of social justice.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Refusing to divest is not a neutral position; refusing to
divest puts us on the side of military occupation and makes us complicit in human rights
abuses. Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands has been found, by the
United Nations and the International Court of Justice, to be in violation of International
Law. A divestment resolution may be criticized as divisive; however, like in all
matters of social justice, there is no position that is not.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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As well as being one of the defining human rights struggles
of our time, the abuses of Israel’s occupation have direct ties to students in the
Washington state. In 2003, Evergreen student and lifelong Olympia resident Rachel
Corrie was killed by a Caterpillar bulldozer, designed specifically for the Israeli
Defence Forces, while defending a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip from illegal
demolition. In honoring this legacy, the 2005 call by Palestinian civil society, and
Evergreen’s 2010 student body vote to divest from the occupation, we urge the
University of Washington to stand on the right side of history and to pass this resolution
to divest from companies profiting from violations of international law and human
rights.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Sincerely, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The Evergreen State College’s Students for Justice in
Palestine<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Native Student Alliance (NSA) at Evergreen <o:p></o:p></div>
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Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA) de
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">TESC Faculty Letter of Support</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We, the undersigned members of the faculty at The Evergreen State College, affirm our </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">support for ASUW Resolution 20-39, “A Resolution to Divest from Companies Profiting </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">from Violations of International Law and Human Rights.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We applaud students at the University of Washington for taking this important step, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">which seeks to protect the human rights of Palestinians subject to Israel’s illegal </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">occupation of their territories. We fully endorse the well-documented and well-reasoned </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">statement they prepared in support of their demands.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Evergreen State College has a history of engagement with this issue. We have held </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">many public fora, and the complexities of the problem have been dissected in our </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">classrooms. As the UW students noted, one of our own students, Rachel Corrie, was </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">killed by an Israeli soldier as she nonviolently attempted to defend a Palestinian home </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">from demolition. In 2010, our student body voted by a 78% margin in favor of having </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">the college divest from companies that profit from the illegal occupation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As the ASUW resolution makes clear, Evergreen cannot fully implement its divestment </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">from companies complicit in these human rights abuses until the University of </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Washington also acts. Solidarity between TESC students and faculty and UW students </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">and faculty can be an impetus for real change on both campuses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We express our support for the students at Evergreen and UW who have taken the lead in </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">putting their institutions on the side of legality, human rights, justice and peace.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Therese Saliba, Ph.D., English and International Feminism</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Greg Mullins, Ph.D., American Studies </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anthony Zaragoza, Ph.D., American Studies and Political Economy </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Savvina Chowdhury, Ph.D., Feminist Political Economy </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Naima Lowe, MFA, Experimental Media </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jose Gomez, J.D., Constitutional Law </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Michael Vavrus, Ph.D., Education and Political Economy </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lin Nelson, Ph.D., Social Science </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Larry Mosqueda, Ph.D., Political Science </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jeanne Hahn, Ph.D., Political Economy </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anne Fischel, Ph.D., Documentary Media and Community Studies </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Peter Bohmer, Ph.D., Economics </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Arun Chandra, DMA, Music Composition and Performance </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alice Nelson, Ph.D., Latin American Studies </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Zoltan Grossman, Ph.D., Geography </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amjad Faur, MFA, Photography </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sarah Williams, Ph.D., Feminist Theory </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Paul McMillin, MA, Sociology, MLIS </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Miranda Mellis, MFA, Literary Arts </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lori Blewett, Ph.D., Communications Studies </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Zahid Shariff, DPA, Political Theory </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0The Evergreen State College, 2700 Evergreen Parkway Northwest, Olympia, WA 98505, USA47.0718574 -122.9766427000000147.0610429 -122.9968127 47.0826719 -122.95647270000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-78818012631365722682012-12-04T20:09:00.000-08:002012-12-04T20:09:15.174-08:00Greeners in Palestine: Elissa Goss on Israel/Palestine<br />
Evergreen State College Senior and TESC Divest! member Elissa Goss recently returned from a delegation with <a href="http://www.ifpb.org/" target="_blank">Interfaith Peacebuilders</a> to Israel/Palestine led by Cindy Corrie in which she assisted Palestinians with the Fall olive harvest. The following article will be published in Evergreen's campus newspaper <a href="http://cooperpointjournal.com/" target="_blank">The Cooper Point Journal</a> in the coming weeks. Read more of Elissa's thoughts at her blog <a href="http://actsofcommonhumanity.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Acts of Humanity</a>. If you’d like to hear more first hand accounts, check out the blog of Evergreen alum <a href="http://jardingardin.tumbler.com/" target="_blank">Maya Amber Harris</a> <wbr></wbr>who was on the same delegation, as well as alum <a href="http://memoryagainstforgetfulness.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">David Langstaff's</a> blog, both of whom are continuing their time in Israel/Palestine.<br />
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Elissa is eager to keep giving presentations about the delegation and can be reached at <a href="mailto:elissagoss8@gmail.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">elissagoss8@gmail.com</a> if you would like to get together and chat or set-up a presentation with a group or program.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Continuing Thoughts on Israel/Palestine</span></i></b></blockquote>
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By Elissa Goss </blockquote>
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I was asked to write some final thoughts after my trip to the West Bank and Israel, to round out the blog posts that were printed the past few issues. I realized however, that I don’t have “final” thoughts. The occupation is still happening, and now that I understand better U.S. complicity in human rights abuses in the region, I can’t stop thinking about it….and trying to do what I can here in the U.S. and more importantly, here on campus and in the community.<br />
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So what’s the best thing I could say at this moment? I feel that it is this: supporting Palestinians rights to self-determination doesn't mean you are signing yourself up on a list for the destruction of Israel and greater harm to Israelis. What was deeply moving about our time in the West Bank, was witnessing the majority of Palestinians engaged in non-violence through demonstrations, legal battles, and resistance through existence. The fault of media is to only draw our attention to external forms of violence and ignore the structural violence that is afflicted on Palestinians on a daily basis in the occupation.<br />
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What does this structural violence look like? Imagine you are a farmer. You had a profitable olive orchard, but the separation wall built in 2003 cut your land in half and now you are barely able to keep food on the table. Settler children from a nearby settlement ( mini-neighborhoods ranging from a couple hundred to a couple thousands Israeli citizens illegally on Palestinian land) throw rocks at your and your family when you are trying to harvest what is left of your land. The Israeli court struck down your appeal for a permit to access your olive orchard on the other side of the wall. You are not allowed to build on your property, because of “security measures” and the majority of your money goes to buying water from the Israeli water company because Israel controls all of the aquifers. You have to pass through a military checkpoint to get to next major urban area and you are delayed about 2-5 hours each time because of long lines. No one in your area is involved in violent protests. You or your family have never fought back yet you find yourself subjected to humiliation from soldiers and neighbors, who never once stop to consider your own humanity. Your partner wants you to move, they is tired of the harassment, but you cannot afford the trip and this land has been in your family since the late 1800s. It is your home, these olive trees are like children, and you want your children to inherit this. You want to live in peace.<br />
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Structural violence means that every part of your life is impacted by a barrier of some sort: denied equal access to education, land, water, food, political representation, cultural expression….it creates a life struggling to survive in a cage.<br />
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I ask that we continue to search for facts on the ground. That we listen to those struggling to have their voices heard because Palestinians are systematically shut-out and forced to subject themselves to U.S./Israel conditions for “peace”. What makes Palestinians needs for peace and justice any less important than Israel’s?<br />
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Israel inflicts a violent occupation that seeps through Palestinian life like a virus, killing them one by one, sometimes in small groups, sometimes in large bombs. It kills them through shooting at protests when children throw rocks, when farmers try and harvest their recently confiscated fields, kills their children’s ability to graduate into a thriving economy by crushing Palestinians ability to even build one, it kills them through covering their dreams of ever being able to go to the ocean, telling children and their families that they are threats before they are 5. The occupation kills by preventing access and control of important resources like water and farmland. The occupation essentially silently suffocates daily Palestinian life and growth.<br />
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Israel has an imbalance of economical, political and military power in the region and has the responsibility to end the occupation if peace can ever be possible. But it is daily and it is constant. We must recognize the human rights abuses and as a U.S. citizen, I must recognize, speak out and try to end the financial support we provide for these daily, silent attacks.<br />
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I also must connect their struggle for self-determination with voices for justice such as Jewish Voices for Peace, working to end the occupation and follow the threads of power. I must connect their struggle with the struggle of self-determination for people all over the word, resisting against white supremacy, imperialism, aggressive capitalism and other systems that dehumanize people and erases their history. I must connect their struggle with home. I must, and we must, not only look outside our border at injustice, but work to end injustice here. We must work together to understand the connections all of our struggles, find the axes of accumulated power and transform them.<br />
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I honored and humble from witnessing such strength to just survive….both there, and here in the U.S. This experience has shown me that injustice is never too complicated to understand, and justice is not impossible achieve. I understand that I have a responsibility to be apart of dismantling systems of power that favors some over others because I have had the privilege to be on the receiving end of a world superpower…at the expense of millions around the world. I am also understanding that with this responsibility, comes great joy as well, the joy of being fully human by being apart of making justice happen.<br />
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On one of the days in the delegation, we tackled a field of olive trees trying to help finish the harvest with our host families but were unable to finish. I felt embarrassed and ashamed that we were leaving so soon. One of the aunts saw that I had gotten very quiet and after I replied to her question as to why I was upset, she smiled and told me, “ Oh, we will get the harvest done. It takes all of us, but we will do it. And it will take all of you, doing the work you’re doing, to truly help us.”<br />
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She is right. Justice will take all of us if we want peace to be more than lip-service and if there is a community that I trust to do that with, it is ours here at Evergreen.</blockquote>
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TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-42430912659542295232012-12-02T10:56:00.000-08:002012-12-02T10:56:17.887-08:00Elissa Goss: Israel/Palestine & the Question of the West Bank<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Student Reportback: Israel/Palestine and the Question of the West bank</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Tuesday, Dec. 4th</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">12pm-1pm</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;" /><br />
<div class="fbPlaceFlyoutEllipsis fsl fwb fcb" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; width: 260px;">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheEvergreenStateCollege" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer;">The Evergreen State College</a></div>
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<span class="visible" style="margin-right: 10px;"><span class="fsm fwn fcg">2700 Evergreen Pkwy NW</span>, <span class="fsm fwn fcg">Olympia, Washington</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">CAB Conference Room (3rd floor of the CAB)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Please join Evergreen Senior Elissa Goss as she shares what she learned while over in Israel and the West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territory this fall as part of an Independent Learning Contract looking at the economics and ideology of the occupation. This will be an informative and inspiring presentation focusing on key findings, how we frame the narrative of the conflict, and what the next steps are as part of the international movement to end the occupation. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Sponsored by Mid-East Solidarity Project and TESCDivest!</span><br />
<br />TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-2631148261549828862012-11-17T12:00:00.001-08:002012-11-17T12:00:28.676-08:00Solidarity with Gaza in Olympia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
In response to Israel's bombing attacks on civilians in Gaza, Olympians gathered in the streets to protest and to show solidarity with Gazans.</div>
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Pictures via The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyuaLO5h26CFrzOONFPR_SToDkoh-jWzMFZ9N4kLcDzepkj7-5kKnzjJrUEU4ttBEG9hFa-tBYRYwn9gqBVUtsVWCxG5bxKs5g3bUWf1tYuvNQRYTzL625B8fxQ-1I8Rel42B6-G9YoTOY/s1600/001_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyuaLO5h26CFrzOONFPR_SToDkoh-jWzMFZ9N4kLcDzepkj7-5kKnzjJrUEU4ttBEG9hFa-tBYRYwn9gqBVUtsVWCxG5bxKs5g3bUWf1tYuvNQRYTzL625B8fxQ-1I8Rel42B6-G9YoTOY/s320/001_s.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-23878371791258788262012-09-13T12:23:00.004-07:002012-09-13T12:23:56.115-07:00Earlham College Ends Sales of Sabra Hummus!Yet another campus BDS victory!<br />
<br />
On September 13th, BDS Earlham, a BDS organization at the Quaker-affiliated Earlham College, announced that Earlham's Dining Services would cease sales of Sabra Hummus after BDS proponents brought to light Sabra's complicity in Israel's human rights violations against Palestinians. Sabra Dipping Company is a subsidary of Strauss Group LTD.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://bdsearlham.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/in-response-to-student-and-faculty-concerns-earlham-colleges-dining-services-decides-to-stop-selling-sabra-products/" target="_blank">BDS Earlham:</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
The decision comes after a group of concerned students and faculty approached Earlham’s dining services requesting the removal of the product from the college’s facilities.<br />Strauss Group Ltd. provides financial support and supplies to the Golani and Givati brigades of the Israeli army, which is responsible for enforcing Israel’s illegal, 45-year-old military occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands, and other grave and systematic human rights abuses.</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
“We applaud Earlham College’s dining service for taking this principled stand and refusing to do business with Sabra Dipping Company,” said Basil Farraj, of BDS Earlham. “Earlham students will no longer be unwittingly supporting Israeli abuses of Palestinian human rights when they purchase hummus and other products on campus.”</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
Earlham College’s dining services has promised to provide an alternative for the removed product, and were quick to note that they take student concerns seriously and follow through with immediate action.</blockquote>
<br />
TESC Divest! applauds Earlham College and congratulates BDS Earlham on this amazing victory.<br />
<br />
Earlham's successful boycott of Sabra Hummus follows a victory at The Evergreen State College this past spring when Evergreen's student-run cafe, The Flaming Eggplant, <a href="http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/blog/2012/06/05/student-run-cafe-at-tesc-to-boycott-israeli-products" target="_blank">announced that it would boycott Israeli products</a> in solidarity with the 2005 Palestinian civil society call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.<br />
<br />
BDS Earlham is in the midst of a campaign to encourage Earlham to divest from companies materially supporting or profiting from Israeli violations of International law and the universal principles of Human Rights.<br />
TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-4154003653336786692012-07-09T05:00:00.000-07:002012-08-05T09:30:15.508-07:00Support the Olympia Food Co-op in the latest hearing of the Anti-BDS Lawsuit!<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.2533681088047147" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Support the Olympia Food Co-op at the latest hearing in the anti-BDS lawsuit</span></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9862323292897892" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Come
out and show your support for the Olympia Food Co-op at the latest hearing regarding
the fees and fines from the lawsuit filed this past year in an
unsuccessful attempt to force the store to rescind its historic boycott
of Israeli goods. Supporters of the co-op call for a show of community
solidarity at the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thurston County Superior Court</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> this </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Thursday, July 12th </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">at</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> 8:30 AM.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite
the fact that their anti-BDS lawsuit was thrown out and declared an <a href="http://mondoweiss.net/2012/02/judge-strikes-down-lawsuit-against-olympia-co-op-boycott-of-israeli-goods.html" target="_blank">illegal attempt to stifle free speech</a>, the plaintiffs in the anti-BDS
lawsuit contend that as members of the food co-op, they sued on behalf
of the store, and therefore all financial penalties that they accrued in
their lawsuit <a href="http://www.olympiabds.org/2012/lawsuit-plaintiffs-continue-attacks-against-olympia-food-co-op.html" target="_blank">should be paid by the co-op itself</a>. In addition, the
plaintiff’s lawyer has promised to appeal, in an attempt to draw the
co-op into a long, drawn out, legal battle that could last years.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
lawsuit against the co-op in Olympia, <a href="http://mondoweiss.net/2012/02/whos-who-behind-the-olympia-food-co-op-lawsuit-2.html" target="_blank">backed in part</a> by Stand With Us, a
national far-right pro-Israel group, and the Israeli Consulate of the
Pacific Northwest, is part of a larger campaign to silence debate about
Israel’s occupation of Palestine.</span> <br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Please
join us to demonstrate our community’s overwhelming support for the
co-op’s brave stand for Palestinian human rights and freedom of speech! </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Additional information regarding the lawsuit can be found at</span><a href="http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/davis-v-cox"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/davis-v-cox</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and </span><a href="http://www.olympiabds.org/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.olympiabds.org/.</span></a></span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.olympiabds.org/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></a></span>TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-21130795171211269092012-06-21T11:28:00.000-07:002012-08-05T09:31:33.388-07:00BDS Victory: TIAA-CREF Removes CAT from their SRI Fund!This is a major victory! From our partners at <a href="http://wedivest.org/2012/06/catremovedpressrelease/" target="_blank">WE DIVEST</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Caterpillar Removed from TIAA-CREF’s Social Choice Funds</b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Victory for Pro-divestment Advocates</b></div>
<b><br />June 21, 2012-</b> Pension fund giant TIAA-CREF has
removed <a href="http://tescdivest.blogspot.com/p/caterpillar.html" target="_blank">Caterpillar, Inc</a>. from its Social Choice Funds portfolio. As of
May 1, 2012, financial data posted on TIAA-CREF’s website valued Social
Choice Funds shares in Caterpillar at $72,943,861. Today it is zero.<br />
<br />
“We applaud this decision,” said Rabbi Alissa Wise, Director of
Campaigns at Jewish Voice for Peace and National Coordinator of the We
Divest Campaign (<a href="http://www.wedivest.org/">www.wedivest.org</a>).
“It’s long past time that TIAA-CREF began living up to its motto of
‘Financial Services for the Greater Good’ when it comes to the people of
Israel and Palestine.”<br />
<br />
Since 2010, We Divest has been urging TIAA-CREF to drop Caterpillar
and other companies profiting from and facilitating Israel’s 45-year-old
military occupation and colonization of the Palestinian West Bank, East
Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip.<br />
<br />
“By selling weaponized bulldozers to Israel, Caterpillar is complicit
in Israel’s systematic violations of Palestinian human rights,” said
Rabbi Wise. “We’re glad to see that the socially responsible investment
community appears to be recognizing this and is starting to take
appropriate action.”<br />
<br />
Caterpillar has come under increasing criticism from human rights
organizations in recent years for continuing to supply bulldozers to
Israel, which uses them to demolish Palestinian civilian homes and
destroy crops and agricultural land in the occupied territories, and to
build illegal, Jewish-only settlements on Palestinian land.<br />
<br />
In the coming weeks, many will be watching the Presbyterian Church
(USA) General Assembly taking place in Pittsburgh, where church
commissioners will vote on a motion to divest from Caterpillar and two
other companies, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett-Packard, that remain in
TIAA-CREF’s Social Choice Funds.<br />
<br />
Last month, Friends Fiduciary, a Quaker institution, divested
$900,000 worth of shares in Caterpillar stating: “We are uncomfortable
defending our position on this stock.”<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br />What Others are Saying</b></div>
Omar Barghouti, Palestinian human rights activist and founding member
of the BDS movement said, “CAT is out of the bag of TIAA-CREF’s
socially responsible companies thanks to the inspiring campaign waged by
JVP and its partners, with vision, persistence and tactical
skillfulness. Palestinian civil society, represented by the BDS National
Committee (BNC), deeply appreciates these efforts and believes that
more pressure will ultimately convince TIAA-CREF to fulfill its basic
moral obligation to finally divest from CAT and all other corporations
that are complicit in Israel’s grave and escalating violations of
international law and human rights.”<br />
<br />
Cindy and Craig Corrie, <a href="http://tescdivest.blogspot.com/p/rachel-corrie.html" target="_blank">Rachel Corrie’s</a> parents said, “For nearly a
decade, we have witnessed human rights abuses committed with Caterpillar
equipment in the West Bank and Gaza and have joined thousands who have
asked the company to stop supporting these actions. We are hugely
gratified that TIAA-CREF has taken this step. When governments and
corporations avoid responsibility, we must refuse to profit from their
abuses. Our family salutes and thanks TIAA-CREF for this decision that
moves all of us closer to accountability.”</blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Student groups at Evergreen have endorsed a CAT-boycott on campus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This is a significant victory for Evergreen State College where there has been a campaign to boycott and divest from Caterpillar for several years. Evergreen student <a href="http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/rachel" target="_blank">Rachel Corrie</a>
was crushed to death by a Caterpillar D9 weaponized bulldozer in Rafah,
Gaza Strip, as she attempted to prevent the illegal demolition of a
Palestinian family's home in 2003. Up until today, Evergreen State College faculty whose retirement funds are administered by TIAA-CREF, including many of Rachel's teachers and friends, had no investment options that excluded the corporation that was complicit in her death. <br />
<br />
In 2010, the Evergreen student body <a href="http://tescdivest.blogspot.com/p/resolutions.html" target="_blank">voted in a landslide victory</a> (71.8%) to declare Evergreen a CAT-Free zone and to endorsed a boycott of Caterpillar Inc. products on campus.TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-15381897745615938332012-06-04T04:30:00.000-07:002012-08-05T09:19:17.994-07:00Student-run cafe at Evergreen State College boycotts Israeli products over human rights abuses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://p.twimg.com/AkMPfpXCQAE_aeZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Student-Run Cafe at The Evergreen State College Announces Boycott of Israeli Products</b><i><br />The Flaming Eggplant Café joins the global movement for Palestinian Human Rights </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Olympia, WA</i> -- On Monday June 4, 2012 The Flaming Eggplant Café, a student worker collective at The Evergreen State College (TESC), formally announced its decision to boycott Israeli goods, becoming the most recent business to join the growing international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />According to the Flaming Eggplant’s mission statement, one of the cafe’s goals is to “nourish the local food system by making delicious, healthy, ecologically and socially just food accessible to all.” In its statement of principles, the collective also expresses its commitment to “supporting political participation and direct action to create a just and egalitarian society.” Office Coordinator Cris Papaiacovou said, “We came to a consensus as a collective to support the Palestinian civil society call for BDS because it is directly in line with our mission and statement of principles.” He added, “We are proud to join this non-violent movement to pressure Israel until it ends its human rights violations against Palestinians.”<br /><br />The BDS movement began in 2005, when over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations issued a call for widespread BDS campaigns against Israel until the country abides by international law and human rights standards. The BDS call has become an international movement, endorsed by renowned figures such as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpTqj5r1MT0&feature=player_detailpage" target="_blank">Desmond Tutu</a>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alice-walker/supporting-bds-boycott-di_b_603840.html" target="_blank">Alice Walker</a>, and <a href="http://tescdivest.blogspot.com/2012/02/tesc-commencement-speaker-angela-davis.html" target="_blank">Angela Davis</a>.<br /><br />The café’s support of the boycott becomes the latest victory in ongoing student-led activism for Palestinian human rights at TESC. In the Spring of 2010, the student body <a href="http://tescdivest.blogspot.com/p/resolutions.html" target="_blank">voted overwhelmingly</a> to support two resolutions, one calling for divestment from companies profiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and the other prohibiting the use of Caterpillar Inc. equipment on campus. <a href="http://tescdivest.blogspot.com/p/rachel-corrie.html" target="_blank">Rachel Corrie</a>, an Evergreen student, was killed in 2003 by a weaponized Caterpillar bulldozer operated by the Israeli military as she attempted to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family’s home in the Gaza Strip.<br /><br />“We are incredibly proud of the Flaming Eggplant for taking this stand,” said Elizabeth Moore, a student and TESC Divest! organizer. “Due to the absence of accountability shown by our administration, we as students will continue to take the initiative in promoting a just peace in Palestine and Israel.”<br /><br />TESC Divest! is a student-led organization in Olympia, Washington working to end Evergreen State College’s complicity in Israel’s abuses of Palestinian human rights through the non-violent tactic of divestment. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />The Statement released by the Eggplant collective below:</span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Statement on Boycott of Israeli Products From The Flaming Eggplant</span></u></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We, The Flaming Eggplant Cafe, have decided to join the call from Palestinian civil society to boycott Israeli products. "These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall; </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194." (from the <a href="http://www.bdsmovement.net/call#.T8x0b1I9KSo" target="_blank">Palestinian Civil Society call for BDS</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our Mission Statement outlines a commitment to serving socially just food. Israel’s policy of illegal land seizure and destruction on Palestinian lands means purchasing items from Israel is in conflict with our mission.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As a student-run collective with the stated principle of supporting direct action for a just and egalitarian society, and as a café representing the student body at large, we feel it is important to uphold the desire for boycott and divestment as voted for by the students at The Evergreen State College. "</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Update</i> : June 5<br />
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Wanna learn more about the work and vision of The Flaming Eggplant Cafe? Check out this documentary!</span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.comOlympia, WA, USA47.0378741 -122.900695146.9945881 -122.97965909999999 47.081160100000005 -122.8217311tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-83239310560906694852012-05-16T19:08:00.000-07:002012-08-05T09:19:54.317-07:00Al-Nakba Commemoration on Red Square at Evergreen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span class="fbPhotoCaptionText">On Wednesday, May 15 2012, Evergreen students
continued their custom of commemorating Al-Nakba by setting up a
display on Red Square of placards with the names of Palestinian villages
ethnically cleansed in 1948 upon the establishment of the state of
Israel. Members of TESC Divest! handed out </span><a href="https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/images/Nakbafactsheet1.pdf">fact sheets</a> about the Nakba by Jewish Voice for Peace and spoke with
students, faculty, and staff who wanted to learn more about this
historic injustice. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRmAAtBiX2vkybrn7EO2QpuVQLUxGiUsUawqvLvQ4iwH79h5Y0uC2H371UP4S-IYieXYhhyphenhyphenLoHVbNawn5mQ63GgkJl8JRB1OXHLRXthbc0jSVdg96mQs-KfGarMss7fekDygg_2y8gGI7h/s1600/nakba.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"> </span></a><br />
<span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"> In addition, a Nakba memorial developed by
the Israeli NGO Zochrot ("Remembering") was displayed in the library,
displaying the names of destroyed villages as well as an account of the
violent police repression and violence suffered by Israeli Jews who dare
to publicly memorialize the Palestinian Nakba in Israel. For more
information about Zochrot, visit </span><a href="http://www.zochrot.org/en" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.zochrot.org/en</a></div>
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<span class="fbPhotoCaptionText"><br /></span>TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-84723344260727364102012-05-08T22:16:00.000-07:002012-08-05T09:20:11.948-07:0005/15/12: Bekah Wolf - "Living Under Apartheid" at Evergreen<span style="font-size: large;">Bekah Wolf of the Palestine Solidarity Project - "Living Under Apartheid"</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Tuesday, May 15, 2012<span class="fcb"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="fcb">12:00pm</span> until <span class="fcb">1:30pm</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Evergreen State College</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="visible"><span class="fsm fwn fcg">2700 Evergreen Parkway NW</span>, <span class="fsm fwn fcg">Olympia, WA 98505</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="visible"><span class="fsm fwn fcg">Lecture Hall 5 </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Join us to hear Israeli Palestine Solidarity Activist Bekah Wolf speak about her family's experience in the
occupied West Bank, and about the ongoing struggle to free Palestinian
political prisoners! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Bekah Wolf is a Jewish-American originally from Santa Fe, NM who was
an active member of her local synagogue growing up and first visited
Palestine as part of a Zionist youth trip in 1998. She became active
around Arab, Muslim, and South Asian immigrant rights in New York City
particularly in the direct aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. As part of a
delegation of Jews Against the Occupation, Bekah returned to
Palestine as an volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement from
2003-2004.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the summer of 2006 she and her now-husband, former political prisoner Mousa Abu Maria, began the <a class="ext" href="http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/" target="_blank">Palestine Solidarity Project</a><span class="ext"></span>. Bekah has been arrested over a dozen times in Palestine, lived
through the administrative detention of her fiance (whom she married
while he was in jail), and has witnessed much of the ongoing military
and settler activity throughout the southern West Bank for the last 5
years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In 2010 Bekah gave birth to her daughter, Rafeef Abu Maria, who
travels with her on most speaking events. Although Bekah has Israeli
citizenship, because of Israel's laws against Family Reunification
Bekah's husband is not allowed to live with his family inside Israel.
Since the birth of Rafeef, Bekah splits her time between the United
States and Palestine.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /> This event will be held in Lecture Hall 5, at 12pm on Tuesday, May 15th. It is sponsored by the Mideast Soli<span class="text_exposed_show">darity Project, TESC Divest!, the Reinterpreting Liberation program, and the Resistance and Social Change program. </span></span><span class="visible"><span class="fsm fwn fcg"><br /></span></span></div>
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</ul>TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-8077639828661640832012-04-23T23:19:00.000-07:002012-08-05T09:20:42.041-07:00PNW MEChA Conference Endorses BDS<span id="internal-source-marker_0.21629631324020426" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">M.E.Ch.A. de Evergreen Press Contact: </span><a href="mailto:tescmecha@yahoo.com"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">tescmecha@yahoo.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TESC Divest! Press Contact: </span><a href="mailto:info@tescdivest.org"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">info@tescdivest.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pacific Northwest MEChA Regional Conference Endorses Palestinian BDS Call</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />Olympia, WA - April 23, 2012 - At the 2012 Pacific Northwest </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
(MEChA) Regional Conference, chapter leaders voted to endorse the
Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions aimed at forcing
Israel to meet its obligations under international law. The Pacific
Northwest MEChA Conference’s endorsement follows an endorsement made at
the 2012 National MEChA Conference held in Phoenix, Arizona. This
announcement came on a day that commemorated Cesar Chavez Day and
Palestinian Land Day, linking the two liberation struggles against
discrimination and oppression.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />The
Regional Conference was hosted by the Evergreen State College MEChA
chapter. Evergreen State College has recently been an epicenter of
Palestine solidarity. In 2010, students voted overwhelmingly for
divestment from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation, such
as Caterpillar, Inc. Caterpillar has been the focus of calls for boycott
at Evergreen since the death of Evergreen student Rachel Corrie in
Gaza. Corrie was crushed under a Caterpillar D9 weaponized bulldozer
operated by the Israeli military as she attempted to non-violently
prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home. More recently TESC Divest!
launched the We Divest! campaign to pressure investment giant TIAA-CREF
to divest from companies profiting from the Israeli occupation,
including Caterpillar and Elbit Systems.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MEChA
de Evergreen stated that “As a chapter, we endorse and support the
global call for BDS... We recognize that our peoples’ historical and
present struggles - against deportation, occupation, exploitation, and
dehumanization - in Arizona, in the border, and in the United States -
not only coincide, but are also connected to Palestinians’ struggle
against Israeli military occupation and settlement of Palestine. Elbit,
the company that provides surveillance equipment on Israel’s illegal
apartheid wall in the West Bank, was also contracted by the U.S.
government to perform the same services for the 700-mile militarized
Mexico-U.S. border. This is why we believe it is important to build
cross-movements between all indigenous peoples’ historical and
continuing struggles against colonization, dehumanization, and cultural
imperialism.” </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TESC
Divest! member Austin Nolen also drew a parallel between the
Palestinian struggle and indigenous struggles in the Americas, noting
that “Companies that TIAA-CREF invests in, like Elbit Systems, profit
from the annexation of indigenous lands not only in Palestine, but here
as well. TIAA-CREF, which handles the retirement funds of Evergreen
faculty, should not force educators to build their futures upon these
oppressive structures.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MEChA
de Evergreen members expressed hope that their chapter and Palestine
solidarity groups could work closely on future campaigns. MEChA chapter
members were present at the national conference’s BDS endorsement, which
led them to engage in actions at a local level as well. MEChA de
Evergreen invited TESC Divest! members to take part in a teach-in
connecting the BDS movement to the struggle against the ethnic studies
ban in Tucson, AZ and to the labor struggles of Darigold workers at Ruby
Ridge farm in Eastern Washington. MEChA de Evergreen took the
initiative as a chapter to support BDS as a region and urge their fellow
MEChistas across the nation to do the same. </span><br />
<hr />
<br />
MEChA de Evergreen (<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> is a student organization that strives to expand the definition of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Chicanismo</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> to encompass the struggle of not only Mexican- Americans but of those who relate to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">la causa</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> regardless of nationality. For more information, email </span><a href="mailto:tescmecha@yahoo.com"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">tescmecha@yahoo.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TESC
Divest! is a student-led organization in Olympia, Washington working to
end Evergreen State College’s complicity in Israel’s abuses of
Palestinian human rights through the non-violent tactic of divestment.
For more information about TESC Divest!, visit </span><a href="http://www.tescdivest.blogspot.com/"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">www.tescdivest.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> or email </span><a href="mailto:info@tescdivest.org"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">info@tescdivest.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span>TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-87472130286516197882012-03-23T11:37:00.001-07:002012-03-23T11:49:45.409-07:00Graduate Students at Carleton University Vote to Divest from Occupation!Amazing, Amazing to hear this.<br />
<br />
Carleton is the second university in the world, after The Evergreen State College, to have a student body-wide resolution for divestment pass by a landslide!<br />
<br />
We at TESC Divest! are excited to welcome Carleton to the growing club of campuses whose student body are saying NO! to subsidizing occupation and apartheid!<br />
<br />
From <a href="http://mim.io/3da172">Students Against Israeli Apartheid - Carleton</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h2>
Grad Students Vote to Divest from Israeli Occupation</h2>
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On
March 21st and 22nd, graduate students at Carleton University
overwhelmingly voiced their support for the Palestinian people, by
voting for the university’s pension fund to divest from four companies
that are complicit in the occupation of Palestine. With the vote taking
place through a referendum question, all graduate students had the power
to make their voices heard, and in the end, over 72% took a principled
stance, by voting for Carleton to stand on the side of justice,
equality, and accountability.</div>
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The referendum question asked students to support Carleton adopting a
binding Socially Responsible Investment policy that would require the
university to divest from companies complicit in illegal military
occupations and other violations of international law, including, but
not limited to: BAE Systems, Motorola, Northrop-Grumman, and Tesco
Supermarkets. These companies are directly engaged in the subjugation of
the indigenous peoples of Palestine, complicit in an illegal military
occupation and an apartheid system that operates contrary to the letter
and spirit of international law.</div>
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In 2008, Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA), the group that
spearheaded the referendum campaign, was formed at Carleton University.
SAIA came together in response to the July 2005 Palestinian civil
society call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel until
it complies with international law and recognizes the indigenous
Palestinian people's inalienable right to self determination.</div>
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The idea of international human rights was a Western-liberal project
launched following the atrocities of World War II; the advancement and
defense of it has historically been contingent on social and political
movements, particularly the anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggles
that liberated millions from dire and oppressive conditions in the
twentieth century. Where nation states have stood by, idle, mute, and
therefore complicit, civil society has stepped into the void, and has
spoken strongly in favour of the
<br />
oppressed.</div>
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Now, graduate students at Carleton have voted yes to divestment, and
in through this referendum victory – which needs to be formally ratified
by the Graduate Student Association council in April – they have said
no to lending their tuition and image, as an academic body, to the
normalization of military occupation, further entrenched via abhorrent
systematic discrimination and other violations of international law.<br />
This marks the first time in the world that a referendum question on
divestment has passed on a university campus, and it is one of many
results of nearly four years of intensive campaigning by SAIA. The
graduate students' will to divest adds further strength to SAIA's
growing divestment campaign, which consists of 2500+ petition
signatories and the endorsements of over 25 student clubs, academic
workers’ unions, and university service centres in an expanding student
movement across campus.</div>
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Although Carleton's administration has shown little interest in
divesting from the aforementioned companies or in adopting a binding
mechanism to prevent unethical investments in companies that violate
international law, students have spoken out and grad students have voted
explicitly in favor of divestment.</div>
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A university is an academic institution comprised of a student body;
its financial structure is rooted in enrollment and tuition fees. As
such, this administration is accountable to the student body, and we do
not support profiting at the blatant expense of human rights.<br />
In 1988, the Carleton Anti-Apartheid Action Group forced the
university to divest from South African apartheid. We did not stand for
South Africa's apartheid system back then; we will not stand for
Israel's now. We salute Carleton’s grad students for once again standing
on the rights side of history!</div>
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<br />
<a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/world-first-carleton-university-students-pass-israel-occupation-divestment">The Electronic Intifada</a> notes:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) at Carleton University hailed the result as a major milestone for their campaign in a <a href="http://mim.io/3da172">statement posted online</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
it is one of many results of nearly four years of intensive
campaigning by SAIA. The graduate students’ will to divest adds further
strength to SAIA’s growing divestment campaign, which consists of 2500+
petition signatories and the endorsements of over 25 student clubs,
academic workers’ unions, and university service centres in an expanding
student movement across campus.<br />
</blockquote>
The statement also said it was a world first however that distinction
belongs to Evergreen State College, whose students passed divestment
resolutions in a <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/content/evergreen-state-students-overwhelmingly-pass-divestment-votes/1067">June 2010 referendum</a>. Nonetheless, the Carleton vote is almost certainly the first such result in Canada.<br /><br />
The statement noted that SAIA was formed in 2008 in response to the
Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions
against Israel. SAIA is working to get the Carleton University
administration to divest the institution’s pension funds from firms
complicit in Israeli occupation and human rights abuses.<br />
<br />The Carleton vote is a another milestone in divestment activist in Canada. In February the <a href="http://reginasolidaritygroup.com/news/saia-response-to-agm/">University of Regina Student Union passed a resolution supporting divestment</a><br /><br />.. . .<br />
<br />
A <a href="http://youtu.be/xke7SiXjFP4">video released by Carleton SAIA</a>
campaigning for divestment explains that an ethical divestment policy
will be beneficial not only for Palestinians, but to oppose other human
rights abuses around the world.<br />
<br />However, the SAIA statement, noted:<br />
<blockquote>
Although Carleton’s administration has shown little interest in
divesting from the aforementioned companies or in adopting a binding
mechanism to prevent unethical investments in companies that violate
international law, students have spoken out and grad students have voted
explicitly in favor of divestment.<br />
</blockquote>
In 1988, according to the statement, “the Carleton Anti-Apartheid
Action Group forced the university to divest from South African
apartheid.”<br />
</blockquote>TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-23458157910898035012012-03-17T11:18:00.001-07:002012-03-17T11:18:35.549-07:00Seattle LGBT Commission Cancels Pinkwashing Event<span id="internal-source-marker_0.4512662535846932" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Seattle LGBT Commission Cancels “Pinkwashing” Event Sponsored by Israeli Consulate – Events in Olympia and Tacoma Also Canceled</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />[16
March 2012] The Seattle LGBT Commission has voted to cancel an upcoming
event being sponsored by the Israeli Consulate and right-wing Israel
advocacy group Stand With Us. The event, scheduled for March 16th at
Seattle City Hall, is part of a west coast tour designed to build ties
between the Israeli government and LGBT communities. These connections
are forged largely in an attempt to distract from Israel’s ongoing
illegal occupation of Palestine. The practice is otherwise known as
“Pinkwashing.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />According
to Nada Elia of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott
of Israel, “Pinkwashing is part of ‘Brand Israel,’ an Israeli
governmental public relations campaign. This initiative seeks to
distract from Israel’s violations of international law and the
inalienable human rights of the Palestinians by touting itself as a
haven of human rights for LGBTQ people.” </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />The
decision to cancel the event was reached after testimony presented by
Palestinian and Jewish LGBTQ community members who were concerned that
the Commission chose to align itself with the Israeli government. "The
city of Seattle prides itself as holding anti-racism and social justice
principles in its mission, and tonight the commission affirmed those
values," said Selma al Aswad, a Palestinian-American and LGBTQ rights
activist. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />The
LGBT Commission joins the Oasis and Rainbow Centers of Tacoma and
Kitzel’s Delicatessen in Olympia in canceling events scheduled for this
week. The events were co-sponsored by Stand With Us, a right-wing Israel
advocacy group that is often criticized for anti-Arab and Islamophobic
sentiments within its official publications and outreach material. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />Elizabeth
Moore, member of the Olympia chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, stated,
“Stand With Us has been behind many attacks within our community,
including aiding in the lawsuit against the Olympia Food Co-op. We will
not allow them to continue to intimidate and divide our community, and
we will not support events that aim to normalize Israel’s occupation of
Palestine.” </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />The
organizing around these events was led by a broad array of local
activists and organizations throughout the Puget Sound, including local
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) chapters. JVP is the largest national
Jewish organization that provides a voice for Jews and allies who
believe that peace in the Middle East will be achieved through justice
and full equality for both Palestinians and Israelis. With offices in
New York and California, 100,000 online activists, chapters across the
country and an Advisory Board comprised of numerous prominent Jewish
thinkers and artists, JVP supports nonviolent efforts here and in
Israel-Palestine to end Israel’s Occupation, expand human and civil
rights, and implement a US policy based on international law and
democracy. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">#####</span>TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-6732181711098593692012-03-16T22:58:00.002-07:002012-08-05T09:21:16.167-07:00GazaOnMyMind and Introducing TESC Divest! T-Shirts!Tonight was the The Rachel Corrie Foundation's Gaza On My Mind event to honor the life, work, and memory of Rachel on the date of her murder in 2003. TESC Divest! was proud to sponsor the event alongside other amazing organizations <a href="http://www.spsccbrick.org/index.php">BRICK</a>, <a href="http://www.kaosradio.org/">KAOS</a>, <a href="http://directory.ic.org/23313/">and Shangri-La Intentional Community</a>.<br />
<br />
Speakers included Craig and Cindy Corrie, Emmet Whitaker of Corvallis, Oregon, member of Gaza Exchange, Kit Kittredge, passenger on the most recent Free Gaza Flotilla, and musical performances by Richard Lopez.<br />
<br />
TESC Divest! also used the occaision to debut our new shirts!<br />
<br />
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It was an amazing night full of dancing, amazing food, camaraderie, and incredible sense of excitement and solidarity! <br />
<br />TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-19701521828455514912012-03-10T12:29:00.003-08:002012-03-10T12:29:55.988-08:00SUPER brings Israeli Apartheid Week to UW!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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During the week of February 26-March 3, Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER) stood in solidarity with Israeli Apartheid Week. SUPER is a new Registered Student Group at the University of Washington dedicated to raising awareness of Israeli human rights abuses committed against Palestinians and the unequal distribution of rights, resources and and material conditions under which Palestinians suffer.<br />
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Members of SUPER tabled through most of the week, educating students and faculty about the Israeli Occupation and US and international corporations who profit from it. They highlighted companies such as Hewlett-Packard which produces products that service illegal checkpoints in the West Bank, Caterpillar whose D9 Weaponized Bulldozers demolish the homes of Palestinian civilians and uproot countless olive groves, and Veolia which will contract to operate a segregated Jewish-Only light rail system connecting annexed East Jerusalem with illegal settlements through a network of Apartheid roads.</div>
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They tabling was often accompanied by a Radical Marching Band which provided entertain and levity to the campus and drew in students and other passers-by. </div>
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The week ended with a talk by Alice Rothschild, author of <span style="font-size: small;">“Broken Promises, Broken Dreams” Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience" and a founder of </span>American Jews for a Just Peace – Boston. <br />
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TESC Divest! looks forward to the exciting events being planned by SUPER-UW and we look forward to working closely with our counterparts in Seattle!</div>
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<br /></div>TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-7343052041538565712012-03-08T22:18:00.005-08:002012-03-08T22:18:46.359-08:00The Rachel Corrie Foundation Presents Gaza on my Mind<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Via <a href="http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/">The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice</a>:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Join Us to Celebrate the Ninth Anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s Stand for Human Rights in Gaza!<br /> <br /> Community Potluck, Featured Speakers, Music and Dancing<br /> <br /> Friday, March 16, join other community members at “Gaza on My Mind” to mark the ninth anniversary of Rachel Corrie's <span class="text_exposed_hide"></span><span class="text_exposed_show">stand
for human rights in Rafah, Gaza. The commemorative event, an annual
project of the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, will
begin at 6:00 p.m. Location: The Eagles Ballroom, 805 4th Avenue E. in
downtown Olympia, WA.<br /> <br /> Bring a potluck dish to share.<br /> Beverages and Arab sweets for dessert will be provided!<br /> This event is free to the public. Donations are welcome.<br /> <br /> Speakers:<br /><b>
Emmet Whitaker</b> of Corvallis, Oregon, member of Gaza Exchange, will
speak of his experiences teaching art in Gaza in 2011, and about the
children’s art that has been exchanged between children in Gaza and
Corvallis.<br /> <br /><b> Kit Kittredge</b>, Washington state resident, will
share her experience on the most recent flotilla to Gaza. In a Democracy
Now! interview, Kit noted, “I’ve been to Gaza five times in the last
three years. ...and the Palestinian people got to my heart...they were
basically saying, 'Tell the world what’s going on. The world doesn’t
know. We want peace.' And truly, in my five returns there, that is what
I’ve seen them working for.”<br /> <br /> Rachel Corrie wrote in 2003, "...
This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop
everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don't think it's
an extremist thing to do anymore. I still really want to dance around to
Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my coworkers. But I
also want this to stop."<br /> <br /><b> Richard Lopez</b> will play a short live
performance and, inspired by Rachel, the evening will close with music
and dancing hosted by KAOS Radio’s DJ Sy, host of the “Junglee Hour”
Saturdays on KAOS.<br /> <br /> The event is co-sponsored by Coffee Strong, BRICK, and Shangri-La Intentional Community.</span><span class="text_exposed_hide"><span class="text_exposed_link"><a href=""></a></span></span></blockquote>
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RSVP for the event <a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/309540162442046/">here</a> !TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-57528484469653592062012-02-29T17:33:00.001-08:002012-08-05T09:22:06.707-07:00IAW@Evergreen: Students Call for TIAA-CREF to Divest from Occupation!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On Wednesday, February 29th, students at The Evergreen State College stood in unity with <a href="http://apartheidweek.org/">Israeli Apartheid Week 2012.</a><br />
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Students stood on Red Square during the lunch hour, holding books about the the Occupied Territories and Palestinian history, blindfolded by the images of the US and Israeli flags. The vigil was called to symbolize the obstacles to education faced by Palestinian students because of the US-funded Israeli military occupation of Palestine. <br />
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Greeners also worked to bring attention to the complicity of investment firm TIAA-CREF in human rights abuses committed against Palestinians. Using the vigil as a launching pad, students affiliated with TESC Divest! collected signatures on a petition <a href="http://wedivest.org/learn-more/">calling on TIAA-CREF to divest</a> from companies that profit from the occupation. </div>
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The students were "branded" with the logos of war-profiteers that TIAA-CREF invests in, such as <a href="http://wedivest.org/learn-more/elbit/">Elbit</a> Systems which maintains surveillance systems along the Apartheid wall, <a href="http://wedivest.org/learn-more/motorola/">Motorola</a> which maintains checkpoints, and <a href="http://wedivest.org/learn-more/northropgrumman/">Northrop Grumman</a> whose missles were used to attack civilians during Operation Cast Lead, Israelis 2008-09 military offensive in Gaza which left 1,400 non-combatants dead, and <a href="http://wedivest.org/learn-more/caterpillar/">Caterpillar</a>, whose D9 weaponized bulldozers are used to demolish Palestinian homes and were used in the 2003 murder of Evergreen senior <a href="http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/rachel">Rachel Corrie</a>. </div>
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TIAA-CREF, which handles the retirement funds for thousands of teachers and college professors across the country, also handles the pension funds for Evergreen faculty. Evergreen professor Larry Mosqueda, a former teacher of Rachel Corrie's, has noted in a TESC Divest video that "Just as South Africa was an apartheid state, Israel is an apartheid state and the people of Palestine shouldn't be exploited anymore." Faculty like Mosqueda, however, are not permitted to invest their pensions in Occupation-free accounts through TIAA-CREF--even through so-called "Socially Responsible" accounts.<br />
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The protestors also advertised a screening of "Slingshot Hip Hop", to be <a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/335569066486132/?ref=ts">screened on campus</a> tomorrow, Thursday, March 1st as part of Israeli Apartheid Week at Evergreen. The documentary is advertised as "the acclaimed film about several Palestinian rap groups in Israel and
the Occupied Territories, which follows the struggles these young people
face in connecting with each other across Israel<span class="text_exposed_show">'s apartheid wall in the West Bank and siege of the Gaza Strip."</span></div>
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More pictures at the TESC Divest! <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/evergreendivest/">flickr</a>TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-31726789919787396422012-02-27T16:31:00.001-08:002012-02-28T15:18:18.838-08:00Olympia Food Co-op wins it's battle for the Right to Boycott!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://electronicintifada.net/sites/electronicintifada.net/files/styles/large/public/2012-2-27-olympia-hearing.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://electronicintifada.net/sites/electronicintifada.net/files/styles/large/public/2012-2-27-olympia-hearing.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OFC Supporters standing outside the courtroom. (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/evergreendivest/">Via TESC Divest flickr</a>)</td></tr>
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Today at the Thurston County Superior Court, the Olympia Food Co-op won the legal battle to continue it's boycott of Israeli goods as part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement! 16 board members of the co-op had been sued by five current and former members of the co-op who attempted to use litigation to force the board to rescind the boycott.<br />
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<a href="http://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/judge-dismisses-lawsuit-filed-over-boycott-of-israeli-goods">According to a Press Release from the Center for Constitutional Rights, which helped in the OFC's defense:</a><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div align="left">
"In a court hearing last Thursday, lawyers from
the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
argued that the court should grant the defendants’ Special Motion to
Strike and dismiss the case because it targeted the constitutional
rights of free speech and petition in connection with an issue of public
concern. </div>
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“We are pleased the Court found this case to be
what it is – an attempt to chill free speech on a matter of public
concern. This sends a message to those trying to silence support of
Palestinian human rights to think twice before they bring a lawsuit,”
said Maria LaHood, a senior staff attorney with the Center for
Constitutional Rights."</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Co-op Suppoters rallying in support of OFC</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Members of Olympia BDS also released<a href="http://www.olympiabds.org/2012/lawsuit-against-olympia-food-co-op-declared-illegal-lawsuit-against-public-participation.html#more-804"> a press release in response to the dismissal of the SLAPP suit:</a><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including several failed candidates for
the board of directors, wrote that the coming suit was intended to
hamper the Co-op’s ability to participate in the boycott of Israeli
goods. The letter, dated May 31, 2011, states in part that “we will
bring legal action against you,” and that the execution of the boycott
would become “complicated, burdensome, and expensive.” In response, the
board of directors reiterated that the proper process for overturning a
boycott is a “member-initiated ballot”, and that the opponents of the
boycott could put it to a vote of the membership, and Judge McPhee noted
that the plaintiffs offered no evidence that they exhausted all manner
of challenging boycott.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“<b>The opponents of this boycott have had every opportunity to
rescind the boycott using the fair and democratic process laid out in
the Co-op bylaws,” says Johan Genberg, a longtime co-op member, adding
“[The plaintiffs] wanted to punish the store for speaking out for social
justice, but isn’t that exactly what makes the Olympia Food Co-op
unique? The store reflects the values of this community</b>.” </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Farihan Bushnaq, a Co-op member since 1983 adds “<b>as a
Palestinian refugee and a member of the Olympia Co-op I wholeheartedly
support the boycott, as a way to save Israel from its own excesses, and
to end the continued dehumanization of the Palestinian people under
Israeli control</b>.”"</blockquote>
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Activists with the Palestine Freedom Project and TESC Divest! who livetweeted during the hearing were present when Judge Thomas McPhee affirmed that in his view the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement indeed constituted a "national movement," regardless of the fact that OFC was the first grocery store in the country to adopt the boycott of Israeli goods. <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/judge-throws-out-israel-backed-lawsuit-against-olympia-food-co-op-upholds-right">(Electronic Intifada)</a>.<br />
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According to <a href="http://www.theolympian.com/2012/02/27/2007774/judge-tosses-lawsuit-that-sought.html">The Olympian,</a> the attorney to the Plaintiff's, who may have to pay up to $10,000 SLAPP suit penalty for each of the 16 board members targeted in the suit, is looking into an appeal.<br />
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<b>Update 7:23pm:</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Judge-tosses-lawsuit-against-co-op-over-boycott-3364582.php">Associated Press report via Seattle P-I</a> (Via<b> </b>the Olympia Food Co-op <a href="http://olympiafoodcoop.blogspot.com/2012/02/defendants-win-anti-slapp-motion-in.html">website</a>)<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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"[Judge Thomas] McPhee
ruled that plaintiffs failed to show that the board acted outside of
its authority when it enacted the boycott. He also ruled that the 2010
law was constitutional. He also addressed the plaintiffs' contention in
its lawsuit that the boycott was not "nationally recognized," as is
required under the co-op's boycott policy. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He
said that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement or BDS, which
supported the boycott, "is a national movement," The Olympian reported.
The group supports boycotts to compel Israel to respect
Palestinian rights."<br />
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<b>7:32pm:</b> <br />
Blogger Richard Silverstein at Tikun Olam : <a href="http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/02/27/olympia-food-coop-wins-anti-slapp-motion-court-dismisses-standwithus-lawsuit/"><span style="font-size: small;">Olympia Food Coop Wins Anti-SLAPP Motion, Court Dismisses StandWithUs Lawsuit</span></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"In this case, the issue was whether the food coop had the right to
ban nine Israeli products from its shelves in support of the globalBDS
movement. This action was taken according to coop rules which permitted
the board by concensus to approve this measure. The defendants could’ve
requested a vote of the. Entire membership to confirm or reject the
board’s decision but refused Togo this route. The plaintiffs ran for
the coop board in the next election on a platform that opposed the
board’s BDS decision and lost. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Though five coop members sued the coop itself in this case, the
plaintiffs were recruited by the right-wing pro-Israel advocacy group,
StandWithUs and Israel’s Northwest Consul General, Akiva Tor. SWU and
the MFA also recruited the lawyers representing the anti-BDS group.
Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, told an Israeli TV news
show that the government was using such suits in order to pre-empt what
he called efforts to delegitimize Israel internationally. Thus,
today’s court victory is a small, but important victory in the battle to
bring Israel’s human rights abuses and illegal Occupation to a broader
public audience. It is a defeat for the Israeli government and its NGO
allies who seek to sweep such issues under the rug and use lawfare
tactics to battle human rights activists."</blockquote>
<br />
<b>8:32pm:</b><br />
<a href="http://www.olympiafor.org/">Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation</a> posted the news.<br />
<br />
<b>Tuesday, February, 28th, 3:12pm</b><br />
<a href="http://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/blog/jewish-group-hails-bds-legal-victory?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook">Jewish Voice for Peace hails the news</a> : <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<strong>"Jewish group hails Olympia Food Coop BDS legal victory</strong><br />
JVP Members play role in successful defense of lawsuit</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Coop victory will resonate far beyond Washington State because it
represents a successful blow against a broader pattern of intimidation
by advocates for illegal Israeli settlement expansion who use legal
mechanisms and boy-who-cried-wolf definitions of anti-Semitism to try to
silence free and open debate and obstruct personal choice. A few
examples include a lawsuit against former President Jimmy Carter for
using the word “Apartheid” in his book title about Israel (<a href="http://www.thejc.com/united-states/44571/jimmy-carter-sued-israel-apartheid-book" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.thejc.com/united-states/44571/jimmy-carter-sued-israel-apartheid-book</a>) ; lawsuits at UC Berkeley accusing the school of being anti-semitic (<a href="http://www.dailycal.org/2012/02/05/amended-complaint-filed-in-lawsuit-alleging-anti-semitism/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.dailycal.org/2012/02/05/amended-complaint-filed-in-lawsuit-alleging-anti-semitism/</a> ), and the use of new civil rights legislation changes to make multiple complaints of anti-Semitism <a href="http://www.forward.com/articles/149618/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.forward.com/articles/149618/</a> ). </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Jewish Voice for Peace and National Lawyer's Guild member attorney
Barbara Harvey brought in the Center for Constitutional Rights, which
won the case, and assisted in the defense. Further, hundreds of Jewish
Voice for Peace supporters from Washington State signed an open letter
in defense of the boycott. ""<br />
</blockquote>TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-41218707307226584602012-02-25T14:44:00.000-08:002012-02-25T14:44:15.313-08:00"More than many peoples of the world we know of the type of support that is possible that can be built from the grassroots, from every city from every street, from classrooms, in support of the people who are faced with an injustice."Found this via <a href="http://josephdana.com/">Joseph Dana</a> on Facebook<span style="font-size: small;">. </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="long-title" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" title="Mbuyiseni Ndlozi - Israeli Apartheid Week, London. 22.2.12">Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, </span>Mbuyiseni Ndlozi is a PhD candidate and the Chairperson of the Post
Graduate Association at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Ndlozi is a member of the South African Students Congress (SASCO) and a
board member of BDS South Africa. Mbuyiseni is active in campaigning on
both domestic and international issues, including worker rights, student
issues and Palestine solidarity. He recently attended the South African
session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, a people's tribunal that
found Israel guilty of the crime of apartheid under international law.</span></blockquote>
:<br />
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<br />TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-74778990183031030902012-02-25T11:35:00.001-08:002012-02-25T11:35:21.705-08:00Constitutional Rights Lawyers Call for Dismissal of SLAPP Suit against OFCPress Release from the Center for Constitutional Rights. <a href="http://www.olympiabds.org/">Via OlympiaBDS</a> :<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<em>(Press Release from <a href="http://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/constitutional-rights-attorneys-urge-court-dismiss-lawsuit-filed-over-boycott-of-israeli-goods" target="_blank">Center for Constitutional Rights</a>, <a href="mailto:press@ccrjustice.org">press@ccrjustice.org</a>)</em><br />
<strong></strong></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<strong>Suing Co-op for Participating in Human Rights Boycott Violates Anti-SLAPP Statute, Lawyers Say</strong></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<em>February 23, 2012, Olympia, WA and New York, NY</em> – Today, in a
lawsuit brought against current and former members of the Olympia Food
Co-op board of directors for their decision to boycott Israeli goods,
lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Davis Wright
Tremaine LLP argued in a court hearing that the case should be
dismissed because it is an effort to chill the board’s public statements
on an issue of public interest. The lawsuit was filed by five co-op
members, purporting to bring the suit on behalf of the co-op itself,
which has approximately 22,000 members. The boycott is part of a global
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel for what
boycotters say are violations of international law and the denial of
Palestinian human rights.<br /><br />
“<strong>This boycott is part of a rich tradition of free speech and
nonviolent protest, including the Civil Rights Movement and the movement
against South African apartheid</strong>,” said Maria LaHood, a senior staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights. “<strong>The
court should strike down this effort to silence the co-op board’s
principled stand on Israel’s human rights violations – a stand it had
every right to take, regardless of whether one agrees with it.</strong>”<br /><br />
Before the co-op case was filed, the plaintiffs’ lawyer sent the
co-op board members a letter indicating that plaintiffs would bring a
“complicated, burdensome, and expensive” legal action if the co-op did
not end the boycott. At today’s hearing, defendant’s lawyers argued that
the resulting lawsuit is a SLAPP—Strategic Litigation Against Public
Participation. SLAPPs are lawsuits that target the constitutional rights
of free speech and petition in connection with an issue of public
concern. Although many cases that qualify as SLAPPs are without legal
merit, they can nonetheless effectively achieve their primary purpose:
to chill public debate on specific issues. Defending against a SLAPP
requires substantial money, time, and legal resources, and can divert
attention away from the public issue and intimidate and silence other
speakers. Washington State’s Anti-SLAPP statute was enacted in 2010 to
deter such lawsuits.<br />
“The board’s boycott decision is a classic exercise of freedom of
speech, and, because it involves a matter of intense public concern, it
is clearly protected by the new law,” said Bruce E.H. Johnson of Davis
Wright Tremaine LLP, who drafted Washington State’s Anti-SLAPP law.<br />
<span id="more-799"></span><br />The board members’ attorneys also asked
the court to deny the plaintiffs’ request for discovery, arguing that
lengthy depositions and voluminous document production is precisely the
type of burden the anti-SLAPP statute was intended to prevent. They
defended the constitutionality of Washington’s anti-SLAPP statute, which
the plaintiffs challenged in their opposition to defendants’ motion to
strike the lawsuit. The lawsuit seeks to prevent enforcement of the
boycott policy and to collect monetary damages against the 16 past and
current board members.<br />
<br />“We hope the court recognizes this lawsuit for what it is: an attempt
by a few members to impose their will on the organization through the
courts rather than following the democratic processes of the co-op,”
said Jayne Kaszynski, spokesperson for the Olympia Food Co-op and one of
the defendants in the case. “We look forward to re-focusing our energy
on our mission and the needs of the community as a whole.”<br />
<br />The Olympia Food Co-op is a nonprofit corporation that was formed in
Olympia, Washington in 1976. The co-op seeks to make good food
accessible to more people while encouraging economic and social justice,
and it has a long history of social justice work. In 2010, the board
passed a resolution by consensus to boycott Israeli goods.<br />
<br />The case is Davis, et al., v. Cox, et al., Case No. 11-2-01925-7 in
theSuperior Court of the State of Washington in Thurston County. For
more information and today’s argument, and to view filings in the case,
visit the Center for Constitutional Rights case page.<br />
<br />The <a href="http://ccrjustice.org/" target="_blank">Center for Constitutional Rights</a>
is counsel on the case with CCR cooperating counsel Barbara Harvey from
Detroit, Michigan, and Steven Goldberg from Portland, Oregon, along
with Seattle attorneys Bruce E.H. Johnson and Devin Smith of Davis
Wright Tremaine LLP. For more information about Davis Wright Tremaine
LLP, visit http://www.dwt.com/.<br />
<br />The Olympia Food Co-op is a member-based, not-for-profit, natural
foods grocery store with two locations in Olympia, WA. The Olympia Food
Co-op has provided healthy, organic and local food to the Olympia area
since 1977, with an emphasis on promoting social and environmental
responsibility. The stores are collectively managed and largely
volunteer-run. <br /><br />Visit <a href="http://www.olympiafood.coop/">www.olympiafood.coop</a>.<br />
<br />The <a href="http://ccrjustice.org/" target="_blank">Center for Constitutional Rights</a>
is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the
United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights
movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational
organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force
for social change.</blockquote>TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-42111597338139843422012-02-24T00:06:00.000-08:002012-08-05T09:22:35.880-07:00Israeli Apartheid Week 2012 at TESC!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3kCvAmzfOD_xhEqtnIyZoGMARRB703ZX3a94y4RHlPmXErgcEtrVftdqvXnxTxd0Sw-EOxxCBhfHWnbaV3CJGHDWfpUovAMcJhGyF_Oa3NxHv4jGajBtQlSLoduyoe1Ia_Hu4lk4xE0P/s1600/iaw2012poster2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3kCvAmzfOD_xhEqtnIyZoGMARRB703ZX3a94y4RHlPmXErgcEtrVftdqvXnxTxd0Sw-EOxxCBhfHWnbaV3CJGHDWfpUovAMcJhGyF_Oa3NxHv4jGajBtQlSLoduyoe1Ia_Hu4lk4xE0P/s400/iaw2012poster2.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Israeli Apartheid Week will be happening in Olympia for the first time in 2012!<br /><br /> This tradition was started in 2005 at the University of Toronto, Canada, and is now marked in cities across the globe. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /> The Week aims to draw attention to Israel's discriminatory policies aga </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="text_exposed_show">inst
the Palestinian people in all forms: the racist military occupation of
the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the unequal civil rights of Palestinian
citizens of Israel, and the refusal on the part of the Israeli
government to recognize the right of return of Palestinian refufees at
the same time as it allows any Jewish person from anywhere in the world
to become an Israeli citizen.<br /> <br /> </span></span><br />
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Film Screening: Slingshot Hip-Hop</span></h1>
<h1 class="title" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span class="date-display-single" style="font-size: large;">Thursday, March 1, 2012 - <span class="date-display-start">4:00</span><span class="date-display-separator"> - 6</span><span class="date-display-end">:00</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> PM</span></h1>
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The Evergreen State College</span></h1>
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Lecture Hall 5</span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As part of Israeli Apartheid Week 2012, </span><span style="font-size: large;">TESC Divest!, The Mideast Solidary Project and Hip-Hop Congress Present</span><span style="font-size: large;"><i> Slingshot Hip-Hop</i>, the acclaimed film about several
Palestinian rap groups in Israel and the Occupied Territories, which
follows the struggles these young people face in connecting with each
other across Israel's apartheid wall in the West Bank and siege of the
Gaza Strip. The film won the Documentary Competition at the Sundance
Film Festival in 2008, among various other awards, and has made the
facts of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict known to a wide new audience.</span></h1>
<span style="font-size: large;">The film will be shown at The Evergreen State College, in Lecture
Hall 5, at 4:00 pm on Thursday, March 1st, and will be followed by a
short audience discussion.</span></div>
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<br />TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-69433432290883322762012-02-10T09:12:00.000-08:002012-08-05T09:23:21.421-07:00Evergreen Bike Shop for CATerpillar Boycott!The Evergreen State College Bike Shop was spotted with the increasingly ubiquitous CAT-FREE ZONE poster!<br />
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<br />TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-62616714760858300062012-02-08T12:53:00.000-08:002012-08-05T09:23:56.656-07:00TESC WRC for a CAT Boycott!Evergreen State College's Women's Resource Center supports the 2010 student body vote to Boycott CATerpillar!<br />
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<br />TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495664940917647536.post-37040524688866219102012-02-05T13:39:00.000-08:002012-08-05T09:24:41.932-07:00OccupyOakland GA Endorses BDS, Remembers Evergreen Student Rachel CorrieThis is big news.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://mondoweiss.net/2012/02/occupy-oaklands-landslide-bds-endorsement.html">Via Mondoweiss</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Last Wednesday at the amphitheatre in front of Oakland’s city hall,
occupiers endorsed Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the
state of Israel in a 135-to-one vote. Oakland’s occupiers have recently
experienced chemical dispersants, and a <a href="http://hellaoccupyoakland.org/j28-a-day-of-community-a-day-of-violence/">mass arrest, which took place over the weekend</a>. Among those arrested was Noura Khouri, the Palestinian organizer who initiated the BDS proposal. . . </blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Khouri, along with co-presenters Basima Sisemore and Deppen Webber, also
touched on the use of chemical dispersants by the Oakland Police
Department (OPD) and the Israeli military. "The same tear gas that is
being used on the streets here against you all is being used in
Palestine," said Sisemore. And, in fact, a portion of the occupiers at
GA had experienced tear gas during the weekend’s "move-in day" actions, a
failed attempt to occupy a vacant building. Throughout the march the
OPD fired tear gas, rubber-coated bullets, flash-booms, and smoke
grenades, on protesters, including children and elderly. One producer
of these “non-lethal” weapons is Defense Technology, which is also <a href="http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16541">used by the Israeli military</a>. . .</blockquote>
<br />
Evergreen student Rachel Corrie, murdered in 2003 by the Israeli Defense Forces while protecting a house from demolition was counted as an inspiration for the resolution. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
However, occupiers did not need much convincing on why BDS <i>should</i>
be endorsed. During comments, an occupier named Alessandro said, "I am
fully in support of this proposal," continuing, "U.S. imperialism is
the biggest oppression in the entire world and Israel is their number
one client." This was echoed by another who received an ovation for
stating "I am indebted to Rachel Corrie for giving me the courage to
stand in solidarity with oppressed people." </blockquote>TESC Divest!http://www.blogger.com/profile/15977008561704682802noreply@blogger.com0