Attempted divestment at UCSB and the BDS machine

Published on May 13, 2013

Over the last month the UC Santa Barbara student government has been voting on a resolution to divest from companies doing business with Israel.

Oberlin College Student Senate endorses divestment resolution

Published on May 7, 2013

The Oberlin College Student Senate endorsed a resolution that calls for the college to divest from six companies that do business in the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and Gaza.

Cal-Berkeley student senate passes divestment measure

Published on April 18, 2013

A student senate at the University of California, Berkeley narrowly passed a measure calling on the school to divest from three companies with dealings in the West Bank.

U.C. Riverside student govt. rescinds Israel divestment resolution

Published on April 4, 2013

The student government of the University of California, Riverside, rescinded a decision to divest from Israel.

UC Irvine student divestment vote rejected by school officials

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 15, 2012

A resolution passed by the UC Irvine undergraduate student council calling on the university to divest from companies that “profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestine” has been rejected by the UCI administration.

UC-Irvine student senate approves non-binding divestment resolution on Israel

Published on November 14, 2012

The student senate of the University of California, Irvine unanimously passed a non-binding resolution calling on the school to divest from companies doing business with Israel. All 16 members of the legislative council of the Associated Students of UCI voted for the resolution on Tuesday that calls on the university to divest from companies that “have promoted and been complicit” in “ongoing human rights violations systematically committed by the Israeli government.”

Quaker group divests from companies working in Israel

Published on September 28, 2012

A Quaker group has removed a French and an American company from its financial portfolio due to what it calls the companies’ involvement with Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.

Univ. of California student group raps moves to censure boycott efforts

Published on September 19, 2012

The University of California Student Association voted to condemn attempts to censure boycott and divestment efforts by Palestinian human rights activists.

Look between the headlines to understand the Presbyterians' vote

Published on July 16, 2012

The Presbyterian Church (USA)’s 220th General Assembly had just cast its first vote on an anti-Israel divestment resolution when the spin began. Major news outlets and activists on each side could hardly wait for the debate to finish the next day before declaring winners and losers.

Presbyterian Church’s narrow rejection of divestment unlikely to slow anti-Israel push

Published on July 6, 2012

Proponents of using economic pressure to force Israel out of the West Bank may have lost a key battle this week – by a hair’s breadth – but they have no intention of giving up.

Presbyterians narrowly reject divestment

Published on July 6, 2012

In a narrow vote, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) rejected divestment from companies doing business with Israeli security forces in the West Bank.

Note to boycotters: Israel is not a thief

By David Suissa
Published on July 3, 2012

There is an obvious way to respond to author Alice Walker’s refusal to allow her novel “The Color Purple” to be translated into Hebrew. In case you missed it, Walker accused Israel of being “guilty of apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people, both inside Israel and also in the Occupied Territories.”

Presbyterian committee approves Israel divestment

Published on July 3, 2012

The country’s largest Presbyterian church has agreed to vote by week’s end on divesting its portfolio from three companies that it is says has resisted the request to stop providing services that aid Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

Boycott, divestment and sanctions put allies at odds

Published on July 3, 2012

As a long-time advocate for peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I am pained that frustration over failure to achieve a just and lasting peace has led allies in the struggle to end up at odds over tactics like boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS).

Methodists reject divestment motion

Published on May 2, 2012

The general conference of the United Methodist Church voted not to divest from three companies that trade with Israel.

Presbyterians to reconsider divestment from companies in Israel

Published on September 15, 2011

A decision by a group within the Presbyterian Church USA to reintroduce a resolution calling for divestment from companies doing business with Israel is reopening a long-running controversy over the church’s positions on Israel.

Presbyterian Church again talking divestment

Published on September 14, 2011

A committee within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has reopened controversy by recommending that the church divest from three companies doing business with Israel.

The sinister one-two punch: Creating hatred again

Published on March 9, 2011

The boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign against the state of Israel is nothing new. Prejudice, isolation and punishment of Jews, an earlier form of BDS has recurred over the past 2,000 years. In Europe and the Middle East, Jewish people were isolated, demonized, and then persecuted and murdered in pogroms, Inquisitions, and wars. In 1930s Europe, Jews faced economic, cultural, and social boycotts that paved the way for the Holocaust. Since the 1940s, Arab states have imposed strict boycotts of Israel. The players may be different, but they all follow the same playbook: the sinister one-two punch. The first punch unleashes lies and distortions to foment hatred. The second punch demands draconian punishments, such as BDS.

Put some teeth into Iran divestment

Published on February 2, 2011

Today was a difficult day. I met with Iranian dissidents, former political prisoners who had been tortured by the current regime. Seeing their scars was particularly difficult for me. But the stories of these people just personalized for me what I already understood about modern-day Iran. This is a government that executes a person every eight hours. That backs terrorists throughout the region and the world. That has made statements about Israel that are immensely disturbing.

UC-San Diego Hillel director reflects on divestment battle

Published on August 17, 2010

Last April, Keri Copans, Hillel's campus director at the University of California, San Diego, learned that a measure was about to come before her student government asking the university to divest from companies that do business with "occupying" powers.

Hillel students and professionals gear up to face anti-Israel campus activism

Published on August 17, 2010

Amanda Boris is nervous about what she’ll face when classes resume at the University of Wisconsin later this month.

UC Board of Regents and President speak out on divestment

Published on May 11, 2010

Recently, there have been two bills put forward for a vote before student organizations within the University of California that call on the University to divest from companies doing business with Israel. Understandably, these bills have received considerable attention from the public and the media.

Divestment bills reportedly fail at two Calif. universities

Published on April 29, 2010

The student government at the University of California, Berkeley fell a vote short in a bid to override a veto against a divestment bill.

Divestment bill vetoed at Berkeley

Published on March 25, 2010

The student government president at the University of California vetoed a bill calling for divestment from two companies doing business with Israel.

Will Smelko, the president of the Associated Students of the University of California, Berkeley, shot down the bill Wednesday, the Daily Californian reported. The association's Senate had passed the bill last week by a 16-4 margin.

University of California reportedly endorses divestment

Published on March 18, 2010

The student government at the University of California, Berkeley reportedly endorsed a divestment bill.

The Associated Students of the University of California, Berkeley passed the bill by a wide margin early Thursday morning, it was reported.

A Time For Action

By Sam Yebri
Published on October 27, 2009

Divest Now

By Rob Eshman
Published on July 21, 2009

L.A. county passes motion to divest from Iran

By Tom Tugend
Published on July 21, 2009

The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors passed a motion Tuesday morning requesting the county pension fund to divest itself of any assets or funds from any companies doing business with Iranian companies active in energy resource development.

Good friends and implacable foes

Published on July 9, 2008

Three days at the biennial General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in San Jose reminded me of the classic line about mixed emotions, which is watching your new Jaguar go over the side of a cliff with the tax assessor strapped to the seat. The very good results of the convention mingled freely with the very bad.

New Presbyterian statement irks Jewish groups, sparks divestment fears

By Ben Harris
Published on June 19, 2008

Just days before they are due to consider a range of motions on the Middle East at their biennial convention, the Presbyterian Church USA has released a document on combating anti-Jewish ideas. But Jewish organizational leaders say the statement is "infused with the very bias" it purports to condemn.

Briefs: Methodists don’t ‘divest,’ Jewish groups mobilize for Myanmar, Reno TV anchor sues

Published on May 8, 2008

Briefs

California State Senate passes Iran divestment bill

By Karmel Melamed
Published on September 13, 2007

On Sept. 6, the California Senate unanimously approved a bill that would require state pension funds to divest an estimated $24 billion in investments from nearly 300 companies doing business with Iran.

Briefs: The Milken JCC pool; Valley Cities JCC fundraiser; Iran divestment bill moving forward

Published on June 7, 2007

Briefs

The time has come for action on Darfur

By Leonard Fein
Published on May 17, 2007

We're told, these days, that the situation in Darfur is not as simple as we supposed a year or two ago. There, too, ambiguity. But it is not acceptable to be immobilized by ambiguity, not when women are being raped, children starved, people driven from their homes, routinely slaughtered. Much of life is inherently ambiguous. Yet, if not now, when? Else it will never end.

United Teachers Los Angeles just says ‘no’ to Israel divestment push by union commitee

By Marc Ballon
Published on October 5, 2006

Under a tidal wave of pressure from the local Jewish community, the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) has decided to deny use of its headquarters to a UTLA committee planning to host a meeting to discuss the launch of a local boycott of sanctions against and divestment from Israel.

Truth Trumps Presbyterian Divestment Resolution

By Rabbi Abraham Cooper
Published on June 29, 2006

Last week, delegates to the Presbyterian Church USA's (PCUSA) General Assembly in Birmingham, Ala., voted to undo their hateful 2004 anti-Israel divestment resolution.

Divestment Bad for Israelis, Palestinians

By Rev. Mark D. Stuart
Published on September 1, 2005

In the past year, several mainline American church bodies have favored divesting their assets from companies doing business with Israel. As an
Anglican priest, I find this very disturbing, especially so when my own American branch of Anglicanism (The Episcopal Church) has considered a similar course. I have discussed this with my friend, Rabbi John Rosove of Temple Israel Hollywood, which is near my parish of St. Thomas the Apostle. Our discussion motivated me to write to the appropriate national committees of my church to protest any possible divestment.

NATION & WORLD BRIEFS

Published on March 17, 2005

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved $200 million in aid to the Palestinians.

Briefs

Published on February 10, 2005

The State Department published a breakdown of how it intends to disburse $390 million in aid to the Palestinians.

Briefs

Published on January 6, 2005

The number of reported hate crimes in Los Angeles County was lower in 2003 than 2002, and while that decrease is part of a 12-year decline, Jews remain a highly visible, often-targeted religious group.

Israel Can’t Ignore Divestment Threats

By James D. Besser
Published on December 2, 2004

American Jewish leaders see it as a dire threat, but in Jerusalem, the current push for divestment by mainline Protestant groups eager to punish the Jewish state is a nonissue -- so much so that at a recent conference, Israel's foreign minister admitted he didn't have a clue about the raging controversy.

Israeli officials may be making a big mistake -- one more complication for Jewish leaders here who see divestment as a full-fledged emergency.

Episcopal Church Mulls Divestment

Published on October 7, 2004

Jewish leaders are displeased with another mainline Protestant church's call for divestment of church funds from companies doing business with Israel, with Southern California clergy trying to quell what could be an interfaith nightmare.

Presbyterians Ignite Divestment Uproar

By Gaby Wenig
Published on July 29, 2004

Before the sermon at each of the three services at Bel Air Presbyterian Church last Sunday, the Rev. Mark Allan Brewer did something unusual -- he protested. Speaking in a clear, forceful voice, the reverend denounced the 216th annual General Assembly of the Presbyterian church's decision to selectively divest funds from companies doing business in Israel.

State Fund to Keep Israel Investments

By Buzzy Gordon
Published on March 27, 2003

Campus activist groups -- led by Arabs in Students for Justice in Palestine and Jews for a Free Palestine -- had been gaining ground in their campaign for divestment from Israel, to the point where the UCLA Daily Bruin editorially endorsed divestment last July.