WSA Adopts Resolution Supporting Divestment From Israeli Military Occupation of Palestine

, by Courtney Laermer, Assistant News Editor

At Sunday’s meeting, the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) voted to adopt Resolution 11.35, which calls for the University and the WSA to divest from companies that profit from the occupation of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.

Members of the WSA had discussed this resolution during the three weekly meetings that preceded the vote. According to WSA President Nicole Updegrove ’14, the WSA is peripherally invested in the region through about $80,000 that is currently a part of the Wesleyan Endowment.

“We will likely move to a more transparent section of the Wesleyan Endowment where we can be sure that student money is invested somewhere that all students can support,” Updegrove wrote in an email to The Argus.

Earlier this year, members of the University circulated a petition calling for divestment, and over one quarter of the student body signed the petition. A press release circulated by students in support of the WSA decision explained that the petition also recognized the divestment resolutions passed by the student governments of UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, Oberlin College, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Arizona State University, Hampshire College, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Wayne State University, and others.

The work of the international Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement encouraged the adoption of this resolution. Consequently, some students believe that this conclusion is a concrete step toward ending the occupation and restoring the internationally recognized rights of Palestinian people.

“[The resolution demands divestment from] companies that a) provide weaponry, security systems, prisons, or other military support for the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories; or b) facilitate the building or maintenance of the illegal Separation Wall or the demolition of Palestinian homes; or c) facilitate the building, maintenance, or economic development of illegal Israeli settlements, outposts, and segregated roads and transportation systems on the occupied Palestinian territory (Gaza Strip, West Bank, and annexed East Jerusalem); for the purpose of removing the financial incentive to participate in the illegal occupation and exploitation of indigenous Palestinians and their land,” the resolution reads.

Rebecca Markell ’14 believes that the resolution inherently associates the University with the BDS movement, an organization that she says calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and denies the right for Jewish self-determination.

“It divests from both Israeli and Palestinian security, and undermines negotiations towards a peaceful two-state solution,” Markell wrote in an email to The Argus.

Opponents of the resolution introduced two last-minute amendments, both of which were rejected by the WSA following continuous debate.

“One of the rejected amendments condemned the BDS movement, while the second called for divestment from indirect support of groups recognized by the US government as terrorist organizations,” the press release read. “…Regarding the latter, assembly members recognized its practical impossibility, as well as the fact that support of these organizations is already illegal under US law. Co-signers of the resolution voiced that both of these amendments would contradict the original resolution.”

Markell commented on the refusal to add the amendments.

“Even though supporters of the resolution denied involvement with the BDS movement, they refused to add amendments condemning it,” Markell wrote. “They also failed to pass an amendment condemning terrorism and divesting from anyone indirectly funding terrorist organizations.”

Rebecca Casper-Johnson ’15, a member of J Street U, explained that J Street U opposes the BDS movement and Resolution 11.35.

“I do not believe that divestment is an effective tactic in ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the human rights violations encompassed by the Israeli occupation, and am disappointed that the WSA passed up a chance to include an amendment supporting Israel’s right to exist within a two-state solution, which I believe is the only viable political solution to the conflict,” Casper-Johnson wrote in an email to The Argus. “I would call upon the community to find avenues for constructive engagement with both sides as a means to furthering the cause of human rights in the region.”

However, other students, such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) member JJ Mitchell ’15, were in firm support of the resolution.

“The WSA’s vote to pass the resolution gives me hope that the student body cares about where our money is going and refuses to be complicit in funding an illegal colonial project,” Mitchell wrote in an email to The Argus.

Markell explained that she felt that the meeting’s atmosphere was hostile.

“Every time I spoke, I was laughed at, shushed, and mocked (by other attendees, not WSA members),” Markell wrote. “When WSA members attempted to keep order and respect, their request was ignored and the negative attitude continued to pervade the room. After the vote passed, supporters of the resolution screamed out in victory and continued to audibly do so after leaving the room, disrupting the meeting to the point where WSA members had to reprimand them for their disrespect.”

However, Christian Hosam ’15 explained that from his perspective, the idea of a resolution designed to claim that we desire not to be complicit in human rights atrocities should not be a politically divisive issue.

“From being in the meeting, it felt as though a number of people were concerned about the potential co-option of the rhetoric coming out of the resolution,” Hosam wrote in an email to The Argus. “I query that because it sends a message that we are more concerned about political correctness than the occupation itself. I am heartened, however, that the resolution passed as it did and I hope that this is indicative of the way that the University can evolve from very difficult dialogues on social and global justice issues.”

  • BigSticksWalkSoftly

    Not in my name.
    Hard earned American money shouldn’t be used to subside and support colonial expansions, and continued dehumanization of indigenous people anywhere.
    Palestinians deserve to have their narratives heard free from outside oppression and subjugation.
    Peace not apartheid.
    Palestinians deserve to have their civil and human rights within the context of a 1 or 2 state agreement.
    These are basic uniting principles of humanity. It is not rocket science.

    • Ofer

      Palestinians deserve nothing.

      They behave like babies that the whole needs to take care of.

      They enjoy the big wave of sympathy based on a systematic propaganda of lies against Israel, and this big wave will crash them sooner or later.

      What do you guys that made street parties after 9/11 know exactly about humanity? Don’t answer, it was a rhetoric question

      • So racist

        Racist

      • Ofer

        Murderer. Your turn

      • Anonymous

        Palestinians are a miserable and pathetic people. They slit the throats of innocent Israeli families, then whine when Israel sets up check points to prevent this.

        They blow themselves up on crowded Israeli buses, then whimper when Israel prevents this with a wall.

        They shoot rockets at Israel by the thousands, then kvetch and moan when Israel deploy Iron Dome defenses to prevent this, too.

        They forced the construction of the wall. They necessitated the
        checkpoints. All of their misery is their own doing. But they will never acknowledge that truth; because that would mean self-reflection and intelligence (decency and kindness) on their part– all characteristics they and their leadership know nothing
        about.

      • BigSticksWalkSoftly

        Aracrap
        Keep going with your unsubstantiated racist banter.
        It is great to see how well conditioned you are to hate.
        Palestinians have always wanted peace.

        If Palestinians are so bad, like you purport, why were no Israelis killed or injured in 2012 and for the subsequent 18 months?

        On the other hand, how many Palestinians were killed, injured or ethnically cleansed out of their homes by the expansionist Zionist Israelis?

        Palestinians deserve a just peace

      • Anonymous

        Palestinians reap what they sow…misery, love of death, corrupt leaders, fear, misogyny, sadism, destruction and never-ending self-inflicted madness.

      • BigSticksWalkSoftly

        Ofer
        It is obvious that you are young and conditioned to hate.
        Or old and delusional.
        If you are still a child, then I totally see where you
        Come from
        The racist state of Israel has conditioned you since birth to hate Arabs especially Palestinians, and now, Muslims and Christians.
        And so the Israeli young and middle class suffer, especially if you are not Haredi.
        You are not allowed to go to 1st grade until you crawl on the ground with a backpack and imagine you are ambushing Palestinians.
        You are forced to learn and honor the tragedies at an early age, and are reminded of it with national remembrance ceremonies almost weekly.
        Instead of learning to play, laugh, make friends , learn you instead learn hate.
        Then you are forced to go to the army.
        What a shame.
        Israel middle class suffer and so do Americans for so many reasons.
        It doesn’t have to be like this.
        The Israeli and American middle class aren’t stupid.
        And Palestinians deserve a just and lasting safe peace

      • Ofer

        Why writing so much when I stop reading you after one line?

        Try to condense your lies into one short and concise lie. You know how to do it.

    • Anonymous

      While Saudis repress all their people (other than the royal
      family whom have private $500 million dollar private airplanes) we focus our angst on Israel for deep down we are really just anti-Semites pretending to be humanitarians.

      While Pakistanis ethnically cleanse that once Hindu country
      of its remaining Hindus we focus our angst on Israel for deep down we are really just anti-Semites pretending to be humanitarians.

      While Egyptians ethnically cleanse that country of its ancient Coptic community we focus our angst on Israel for deep down we are anti-Semites masquerading as humanitarians.

      While Mali Islamists turn Mali into the next Sudan we focus our angst on Israel for deep down we are really anti-Semites dressed up in
      humanitarian’s clothes.

      While Yemenis turn that bread basket of the Arabian
      Peninsula into a place of starvation we focus our crocodile tears on Israel for deep down we are really anti-Semites dressed up in fancy humanitarian clothes.

      While Islamists in Southern Thailand kill off over 5,000 Buddhists in the span of a few years we ignore their plight and turn our focus on Israel for we are anti-Semites pretending to be concerned humanitarians.

      While Hezbollah kills off what remains of the Christian leadership in Lebanon we turn the spotlight on Israel for they are just Jews
      and we all know nobody has ever defended the Jews. They’re easy pickings and we are really just Brown Shirts pretending to be humanitarians.

      • BigSticksWalkSoftly

        Aralame
        Who cares?
        Stop with your lame obfuscations.
        Saudis nor Pakistanis are not Palestinians.

        Why do Unconditional Israel lovers always resort to obfuscations?

        Unconditional Israeli lovers always always justify the oppression of Palestinians, in order of desperation , by saying things like:
        1. We the best
        2. They the worst
        3. You the worst
        4. Everything is bad

        Palestinians deserve full civil and human rights without Zionazis monopolizing their narrative.
        Palestinians deserve a just peace

      • Anonymous

        Big BS,

        Riddle me this…

        “Why is it Muslims are free to violently conquer lands
        anywhere and everywhere without a word of protest from American Muslims, or any Muslims or any liberals?

        But if Jews have a legally established homeland Muslims and Liberals and their ilk will never stop protesting against it? Why is this do you suppose? What explanation can be given other than as the Qur’an states repeatedly that Islam’s goal is to establish a worldwide caliphate in which all
        non-Muslims are subjugated.

        For instance, Mohammed was born around 571 AD thousands and thousands of years after Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism existed. But within a
        few centuries of Mohammed’s birth Islam had violently conquered vast sections of Asia, all of North Africa and smaller sections of Southern Europe.

        Now Muslims tell us that all this land belongs to them even though, for instance, in Afghanistan they killed every last Buddhist who once lived there. According to Muslim logic per Israel shouldn’t this land belong to
        the Buddhists?

        Or in North Africa all the Berbers have been forcibly
        converted to Islam or have been killed and now we’re told all this vast landmass belongs to Islam. That’s interesting, if not completely hypocritical.

        And what about Southern Thailand. Did anyone know that in the last several years something like 5,000 Buddhists have been killed by Muslims because, or so we’re told, the land the Buddhists are on belongs to Islam.

        And Southern Russia? Muslims are relentlessly waging a slow reign of terror in Russia because, you guessed it, Russians are treating Muslims poorly and they should give up the Southern section of that country to Muslims since Islam deserves all lands.

        Or, let’s take Sudan as another example. How many millions have been killed in Sudan? How many babies and children have starved in Sudan while Islamists steal the food from aid compounds? How many women have Muslims gang-raped in Sudan all because that land belongs to Muslims and only Muslims. All other people can go somewhere else to live, I guess. They can go to South Sudan, but wait a minute, now Muslims are killing the people of South Sudan too.

        And Kashmir? The same. Despite Hindus having lived there for 3,000 years – something like 2,000+ years before Mohammed was born – Muslims tell us Kashmir belongs to them. Amazing logic isn’t it? Muslim logic, I guess.

        And that brings us to Israel. Israel also belongs to Islam too. Did you know that? It’s true. Just ask a Muslim or a liberal if you prefer. Even though it’s no bigger than a small pimple on the caliphate’s ass
        it is still their land and they will fight to the death to prove their point.

        Doesn’t the logic here make a lot of sense. Isn’t it as
        clear as day? Of course it does. The world belongs to Islam and we’re mere players on their stage.

    • Anonymous

      “Colonial”?? The Jews were herding sheep on the hills of Judea hundreds of years before Christianity or Islam were even contemplated.

      • BigSticksWalkSoftly

        Amartin
        Those Hebrew Jews of yesteryear live on genetically, culturally, residentially , legally, religiously and morally as modern day Palestinians.
        Most Israeli, especially of Russian, German/Ashkenazi, American have little to no relation to the Biblical Hebrew Jews.
        Sky daddy’s don’t deal in land deeds and Palestinians have a right to return and stand their ground.
        It’s not rocket science but it is fact

  • Ofer

    There is NO Israeli occupation of Palestine.

    There is a Palestinian occupation of Israel.

  • Ofer

    You are funny WSA “Resolution 11.35”? “”Resolution to call the University”?

    Well, I have just adopted Resolution 12345 to call the earth to spin, and Resolution 24680 to call the sun to shine.

  • Accuracy

    BDS is a international grassroots people’s movement not an “organization” or sentient being as it is sometimes talked about. Argus and Courtney Laermer should edit/print a correction to reflect this fact.

    • Accuracy

      It has a website and a guidebook for activists. Clearly, it is an organized movement.

    • Funky monkey

      Grassroots baloney!, it’s a blatantly antisemitic US nonprofit that has abused it’s tax deductible status for racist political ends, and there’s currently a whistle blower lawsuit in process proposing the IRS revoke it’s 501(c)3 status by a prominent Law School faculty member, a practicing securities Prof. Mazel Tov!

  • Don

    How people can openly and publicly defend and justify racism and colonialism is beyond me. Free Palestine! Fight colonialism and racism here, there, and everywhere.

    • Ofer

      Well Mohammed, the knowledge of what is racism and what is colonialism is also beyond you and you still talk about them.

      Palestine is already free and it is now returned to its real name “Israel”. How can one free something that is already free?

      Why don’t you take your Arab mob that calls itself “Palestinians”, go back to your homeland Jordan and stop the occupation of the land of Israel? This one is beyond me, Mohammed

      • BigSticksWalkSoftly

        Ofer
        His screen name is Don.
        Not Mohammed.
        And Jordan is not Palestine.
        Palestine is Palestine

      • Ofer

        right, linguistically Palestine is Palestine. Sorry about my spelling skills.

        Now, why would you care so much to correct me on his screen name? It’s just a screen name after all. Is it possible that you have a problem with the name Mohammed?

      • Anonymous

        Mohammed? You mean the guy who according to the Qur’an, Hadith and Sunnas enslaved woman for sex, stole from helpless people, married a six year old girl, led 60 battles and he and his men killed countless all in the name of their cruel lord Allah?

        Is this the Mohammed you are writing about?

        You mean the Mohammed that Muslims riot, plunder and kill over if anyone so much as suggests he is less than the perfect ideal of a man?

        Is this the sadistic plunderer you reference?

    • ThisIsPalestine

      Indeed, the only colonialism and racism allowed in the Middle East is the Arab kind.

      • BigSticksWalkSoftly

        This Palestine
        I never knew that Arabs had colonies in other people’s land.
        I thought it was just the atheist Zionists who were suffering from European aggression who set up Middle Eastern colonies.

        Why is it that Zionists always run to Muslim lands for refuge when they get persecuted by Christians? Just like the Spanish Inquisition, Russian pogroms, and holocaust.

        The suffering of people of the Jewish faith by European aggressors doesn’t mean that Palestinians deserve to be displaced.

        Palestinians deserve to have an opportunity to return to their lands, homes, businesses and schools.

        Didn’t Zionists learn anything from the holocaust ?

      • ThisIsPalestine

        Big Stick, every Arab country outside of Yemen and Oman are colonies in other people’s land. I suggest you Google “Arab Conquests.”

        “Why is it that Zionists always run to Muslim lands for refuge when they get persecuted by Christians?”

        Do “Zionists” do that? No. Jews do. Like your fellow Jew haters, you try to use “Zionist” in place of “Jew,” but you’re too stupid to disguise your prejudices well enough.

        The rest of your post is a series of strawman arguments, but let me just say that your conceit that the Holocaust (capital H), the attempted annihilation of a minority population for no other reason than they are different, is a “lesson to be learned” is horrible and disgusting, and extremely indicative of anti-Semitism. If you are a member of BDS, you are an embarassment to that cause.

      • Anonymous

        TiP,

        As you know communicating with BigStick is a waste of cyberspace. He is a true Nazi clone for whom truth is a mere trifle to manipulate in his evil disgusting mind.

  • Ofer

    Here’s a brainer for you: If you are so miserable and oppressed as you claim to be, and if we are racist and colonialist as you claim us to be, how come that 2 “racist and colonial” PMs of Israel offered you a state, and you, the “oppressed and miserable” people, rejected it twice?

    There must be something else that you want from Israel… I wonder what is it… Let me think about for a while

  • Gaelic

    Wonderful, BDS is growing! Human rights are important for ALL people!

  • ThisIsPalestine

    It’s very sad that Wesleyan’s student government thinks that Jewish people don’t have the same rights as everyone else. BDS is a ‘movement’ dedicated to the annihilation of Israel and the end of human rights for Jews. If any of their propagandists tell you differently, they are lying.

    • BigSticksWalkSoftly

      This Palestine
      How does supporting Palestinian civil and human rights take away human rights from Jews in the US?
      Your logic is illogical.

      This shouldn’t be zero-sum. Isn’t the way you think kind of like what Hitler said? Jewish civil and human rights doesn’t take away from German rights; just like Palestinian rights doesn’t negate the rights of Israelis and definitely doesn’t impede on the rights of any other people of the worldwide Jewry.

      Palestinians deserve full civil and human rights free from outsider subjugation and oppression

      • ThisIsPalestine

        BDS is not about supporting Palestinian civil and human rights. If it were it would be against the PA and Hamas. BDS is entirely about taking human rights away from Jews.

        I think that Jewish people should have rights. That’s the exact opposite of what Hitler and his ideological brethren in “Palestine” think.

      • BigSticksWalkSoftly

        ThisisnotPalestine
        Name one instance if Hamas or Fatah trying to take away the rights of Jews anywhere in Europe, the US or even in Israel.
        Palestinians deserve the right to non-violent protest and struggle

      • Anonymous

        BigStick,
        Last I had heard Hamas and Fatah were in Israel not Europe but given your grasp of lies as facts it’s not surprising you would misconstrue this too.
        What does it do to one’s soul to be a mini-Goebbels I wonder? Pray tell.

      • Anonymous

        BigStick, tell us how long peace would last among the Palestinians if they were united under one land? Would it take one day or two before they were at one another’s throats as we see happening between Muslims in Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan and elsewhere?

        How many Fatah loyalists would Hamas kill in day one?

        How many Hamas loyalists would be pushed off rooftops by Fatah in day two?

        It’s nice to know how connected your dreams are with reality. Lol

      • ThisIsPalestine

        Stick, the reason why Hamas and Fatah exist is to take away the rights of Jews. Use Google.

  • Reader20

    What a resolution. The Gaza Strip is occupied territory? Palestinians Arabs are “indigenous” and Israeli Jews — including those of Arab backgrounds — are all (implicitly) not. And, of course, like every such boycott resolution, the protagonists’ goal is — quite deliberately — obscured. Yet one need not do very much research to determine what the end of this “movement” is. Hint, it is not a peaceful resolution of the dispute between the State of Israel and its neighbors, it is a — wholly unrealistic, not to mention repugnant — effort to bring the existence of Israel to an end.

    • BigSticksWalkSoftly

      Reader
      You are wrong and misinformed
      You are thinking in zero sum terms
      Why can’t Palestinians and Israeli Jews enjoy the same freedoms and liberties?
      Palestinian civil and human rights does not mean the end of Israel.
      Who ever told you this is not familiar with the plight and suffering of Palestinians and is probably only focused on other things.
      Palestinians don’t deserve to continue to suffer because other people can’t get along.
      Palestinians deserve a just peace within the context of a 1 or 2 state agreement

      • Reader20

        Uh, calling me “misinformed” will get you nowhere fast. And I think you should do a little research of your own about the BDS “movement” before making such assertions. Thanks

      • Anonymous

        I love it when Muslims and their moronic leftist allies lecture us about diversity or accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing, apartheid or intolerance. What follows is the percentage Muslim
        demographic in the following countries.

        Bear in mind when studying these statistics that in every one of these countries 1,400 years ago (or less) Islam did not even exist.

        Afghanistan 100% Muslim
        (Once Buddhist, Hindu)

        Algeria 99%
        Muslim (Once Berber)

        Bahrain 100% Muslim
        (Once Zoroastrain, Christian)

        Iraq 95% Muslim (Once Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian)

        Iran 98% Muslim (Once Christian, Zoroastrian, etc…)

        Morocco 99%
        Muslim (Once Berber, Christian, etc…)

        Mauritania 100%
        Muslim (Once Animist)

        Somalia 100%
        Muslim (Once Animist, etc…)

        Saudi Arabia 100%
        Muslim (Once Jewish, Christian,
        Zoroastrian, etc…)

        Sudan 97% Muslim
        (Recent history teaches us what happened to all the non-Muslims in Sudan. It’s called genocide.)

      • BigSticksWalkSoftly

        Arabarf
        FYI
        Upwards of 20% of Palestinians are Christian.
        Not all Palestinians are Muslim.

        BTW
        Who cares about the religious demographics of places that are not Palestine?
        Obfuscations and distractions contribute little to this conversation.

        Palestinians deserve to have their narratives heard from non-Zionists and free from lies, misinformation and chronic obfuscations

        Peace not apartheid

      • Anonymous

        BS,

        Actually (not that you care) only 5% of Palestinians are Christians and they are being killed off like fleas, just as Muslims are killing off Christians in Nigeria, Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and elsewhere.

        = = = =

        This is on Muhammad’s orders: “I will expel the Jews
        and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslim.” (Sahih Muslim 19.4366)

        “Saudi Mufti again calls for destruction of all churches on Arabian Peninsula,” from Pravoslavie, September 30:

        Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz Bin Abdullah has once again called for the destruction of all
        Churches on the Arabian Peninsula.

        Bin Abdullah, head of the Ulema Council and the Standing Committee on Fatwas, made this statement after a presentation by the Kuwaiti parliamentarian
        Osama Al-Munawer of the bill that bans construction of new non-Muslim religious buildings in Kuwait.

        The Mufti stated that, according to Islamic law, all churches in the region must be demolished; i.e., Islam is the only legal religion here. The words of
        Muhammad that “there cannot be two religions on the Arabian peninsula” the head of the Sunni always interprets in favor of Islam.

  • Sarita

    Thank you WSA and Wesleyan students! As a Wes alum I am proud to see this resolution pass. I hope that students will also address investments in the private prison industry, fossil fuels industry, and the broader military industry beyond Palestine. Please demand transparency from the administration – as I understand they have not even disclosed their investments.

    In response to some of the comments here referring to the ‘annihilation’ of Israel and Jewish rights to self-determination, I would like to say that as a Jew I do not feel that Israel contributes towards my liberation. And I never heard my grandparents or parents speak of Israel, or any idea of a Jewish state for that matter, as the solution to our susceptibility to discrimination or loss of our culture and religion. A state is not an ends in and of itself. A state is means of providing for a given group of people, to ensure their safety and prosperity. And currently Israel is doing exactly the opposite for Jews worldwide by creating a damaging association of our religion with a secular supremacist state ideology. I do not dispute our Jewish indigeneity to the Middle East – this is clear, we have maintained our links through Hebrew as our liturgical language. I take pride in any renaissance of Jewish culture and Hebrew language, in its new and expressive forms and combinations. But cultural renaissance and a desire to live in an ancestral homeland need not be contingent upon collusion with Christian European colonialist, and now American neo-imperialist, ambitions. Now in the US there are more Christian than Jewish Zionists. What does that tell us? Israel is not about Jewish liberation, and it never was. It is a colonial project that has exploited our history and even colonized the Shoah (Holocaust) for its political purposes. Regardless of our Jewish claims to indigeneity, Palestinians are also indigenous – anyone who calls that place home, who has lived and loved and farmed on its land with respect and deep knowledge of place and people, is indigenous. This includes Palestinian Christians, Druze, Bedoiun, Circassions, Armenians, Greeks, as well as Arab Muslim Palestinians. When a Palestinian farmer can tell you which olive trees were planted by his father, which ones by his grandfather, and which by his great-grandfather, then this person is indigenous. To claim otherwise – to negate this longstanding Palestinian relationship with the landscape of the places between the Jordan river and the sea – is to fundamentally disrespect not just people but the greater bioregional relationships.
    I support liberation for Palestinians and for Jews, in one state, or five, or two. I support right of return and reparations that are necessary for a both a psychological and material healing process to finally take place among those displaced since 1948. I support the political entity of the nation as a means towards justice and equality and social consensus, not exclusion and dispossession.

    • Anonymous

      I think we should help Abbas and his dear friends and allies Hamas create a Palestinian state. Since Hamas is more popular than Abbas let’s call it Hamasistan. It could be based on all the other Islamist
      states. Women would have zero rights. Gays would be hung. Jews would be verboten. Non-Muslims would be killed unless they convert to Islam or pay a crippling tax that is designed just for them.

      I think this makes a lot of sense and is something college punks should march for, shout about, and pretend they care about. The world needs another Islamist state. What will we do without another one?

      In Hamasistan criminals will be punished by being tied to the back of jeeps and skinned to death on dirt roads until they die. The lucky criminals will simply be pushed off rooftops, and if they’re really lucky the rooftop will be very high.

      In Hamasistan they will blame all their problems on Israel that way the politicians can line their Swiss Vaults with endless international aid money and not be held accountable.

      In Hamasistan they will shoot rockets into Israel during rush hour and when schools get out. That’s the way they do things in Hamasistan. Then they will blame Israel for making them do it.

      Yes, this will solve all the problems just ask any leftist, liberal, dreaming moron and he will scream it at you as if there is no doubt
      about it.

      • BigSticksWalkSoftly

        Arafart
        Your fear mongering scare tactics are baseless and sensationalized.
        Thank you for not contributing anything worthwhile to this discussion.

        To say that world Jewry is not safe anywhere in the world, except when they displace Palestinians is racist on so many levels.
        The mean streets of Canada, California, and Manhattan are just sooo rough, the only safe refuge is to burn Palestinian olive groves to make room for a fortified Israeli colonial settlement. Sarcasm

        Palestinians deserve to have safe homes free from renegade settler marauders

      • Sarita

        Arafat is so funny. I see him posting on Palestine-related stuff all the way over here on the West Coast. He must spend a lot of time on the internet. Maybe if he left his house and talked to some humans face-to-face he might have a healthier understanding of human nature. Even better: he might even meet some Palestinians and talk to them. Maybe even one from Gaza.
        I do, however, agree with the issue of Hamas’ corruption and the complicity of NGOs in sustaining the occupation. Gazan youth released a statement last year condemning various sources of corruption and oppression and they named Hamas, of course. Ironically Hamas was initially funded and encouraged by the US and Israel in the cold war context, because at that time Islamism was preferable to communism in the view of US and its allies. AL-Qaeda same story.
        I appreciate Arafat bringing up the global economic factors of corruption, privilege, and exploitation that come into play in Palestine & Israel. From this perspective, it would be in the best interest of Palestinians, Israelis, and everyone else in the Holy Land to rise up together against a minority of elite that are profiting off of everybody’s else’s ongoing suffering. Arafat has a perceptive understanding of the forces of neoliberalism as they play out in Gaza. Now he just has to apply that same logic to Israel and the US and follow the connections.

      • Anonymous

        Sarita,
        Thanks, sort of.
        I have met plenty of Muslims and generally find them defensive and confused as is typical of people raised on propaganda.
        In fact, I believe Muslims are Islam’s first victims for from cradle-to-grave Islam stifle their potential for personal growth.
        I find your attempts to blame elites for Palestinian suffering to be disingenuous. Your inference that the suffering is due to anyone other than their Muslim brothers and sisters is typical. Just as many Jews were kicked out of Muslim lands in the late 1940s and early 1950s as were Palestinians yet we NEVER hear about these Jews. The reason is simple. The Muslim elites along the Persian Gulf threw a wet blanket at the Palestinian problem and instead of helping them find new homes (as happens with most refugees throughout history) the Muslim elite forced them to live generation after generation in refugee camps.
        Meanwhile the 800,000 Jews who were dispossessed of their property and homes were welcomed in Israel, France, the US and elsewhere. Voila! Problem solved.
        But, of course, we all know the Palestinian refugees are a thpecial case, not because they are really thpecial, but because Jews were involved in creating the problem. So the Europeans with their never-ending hatred of Jews allied themselves with Muslims – who see Israel as part of their Caliphate – and here we are today with leftists, Muslims, European scum all focusing their never-ending energy on this issue that could have been solved 65 years ago.

    • Anonymous

      Sarita, I feel sorry for you when I read your so called moderation.
      With due respect, you have the typical historical Jewish minority, “PLEASE LIKE ME” complex and it is so pitiful to read.

      Throughout Jewish History especially in Nazi Germany there were those Jews who begged to be accepted and liked by the host
      country’s people. “Like me and I will eat ham for you on Yom Kippur. Like me and I will put up a Christmas tree and call it a Hanukah
      Bush, like me and I will only pray one day a week, Sunday if you wish (the early German Reformed Jews), etc.” The first Jews to be gassed by Hitler were those Reformers (“please like me…”) who were viewed as a major threat by Hitler and his Jew hating Nazis.

      Fast forward to today: Here you are apologizing for Israel who is expected to live a double standard. Never mind the rockets and atrocities implemented by the Palestine people.
      If you read your history parts of Jordan are supposed to include part of
      Palestine–the world has convenient amnesia with this one.
      In the meantime here you are with your “please like me” attitude and no matter what you do they are NOT going to like you. You can stand on your head, eat ham and cheese sandwiches and they are still going to hate you because you are a Jew, period!

      Look in the mirror and accept that you are a Jew. Say it to yourself over and over and perhaps YOU can accept YOURSELF.

      Remember, if Israel disappears (the Jewish Host country) there IS NO place for American Jews or the World Jewish community to go in the
      event of another pogrom, anti-Semitic uprising or Holocaust. If there is
      another anti-Semitic uprising you are a Jew to these people no matter how much you apologize or try to appease them.

      • Sarita

        Arafat, are you Jewish?

  • Anonymous

    The big picture…

    Muslim terrorists have killed 5,000 Buddhists in southern Thailand in the
    last five years. Why?

    Muslim terrorists have gang-raped, killed, maimed, destroyed and created
    500,000 refugees in Mali in the last six months. Why?

    Muslim terrorists have slowly but surely destroyed the ancient Coptic
    community in Egypt. Why?

    Muslim terrorists have slowly but surely wiped out the ancient Hindu
    community in Pakistan. Why?

    Muslim terrorists have killed or forcibly converted every single Buddhist in
    Afghanistan – once home to a great Buddhist civilization. Why?

    In Nigeria, Syria, Somalia, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and
    throughout the Muslim world there is anarchy, repression, violence, sadism.
    Why?

    This brings us to Israel (or Kashmir if you prefer). In Israel Muslims call
    for the murder of Jews and Muslim supporters (Wesleyan students and professors) see this as some how different than everywhere else in the world where Muslims are demanding control of land and wealth and supremacy. Why Wesleyan people are you so blind, so uneducated, so easily swayed towards castrating Israel? Why?

    That’s strange that you focus on Israel since Muslims are doing – or trying to do – the exact same thing throughout Africa, Asia inclduing even Russia and China (China where just a few weeks ago Muslims killed hundreds in separate terrorist attacks).

    Why don’t people at Wesleyan see the bigger picture– that of Islam being a supremacist religion for whom aggressive jihad has been utilized since Mohammed moved to Medina and started his life-long pursuit for unlimited power no matter what violence was required to achieve it.

    Why are Wesleyan professors seemingly in cahoots with this anti-Israel and pro-Muslim meme? Why?

    One day the Muslims WILL come for you. Just as they are wiping out all the Animists in northern Africa, all the Buddhists from wouthern Thailand, all the Hindus from Pakistan and Bangladesh, all the Copts, Chaldeans, Assyrians, homosexuals, so will it be for you and all you do is enable it. Beyond pathetic. Why?

    • BigSticksWalkSoftly

      Analfat
      ??????
      Palestinians deserve a just peace

      • Anonymous

        BS,

        Chew on this while you’re toting water for your Muslim masters…

        There are two UN refugee agencies in the world: First is the
        United Nations Relief and Works Administrations (UNRWA) for 5 million Palestinian refugees (which includes the descendants of the original 500,000 Palestinian refugees from the Israeli War of Independence) which employs 30,000 workers. The UNRWA has resettled no Palestinians.

        The second refugee agency is the United Nations High
        Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which assists every other refugee in the world–including 100 million displaced people during the last 50 years–and employs 7,000 people. The UNHCR has resettled tens of millions of refugees.

        Looking at these numbers, one would think that the cause of
        the Palestinians is somehow morally superior to that of all other war refugees. After all, why have so many more workers been assisting a dramatically smaller group of people? But if the Palestinians are unique it is only because of their moral inferiority, as they are the only group of refugees that regularly commit acts of terrorism against innocent civilians.

        Another obvious question: why hasn’t the UNRWA resettled any of the Palestinian refugees? The answer, of course, is that the surrounding Arab states would rather have these refugees remain a thorn in Israel’s side, than help them start a new life. The UNRWA is happy to oblige.

  • Anonymous

    BDS Scorecard for 3rd Quarter 2013

    Tunisia Banished from Davis Cup for Boycotting Israeli Tennis deals a blow to the BDS Boycott

    A Massive Legal Win In France Against BDS over Jerusalem Rail Link

    Lockheed Martin is opening a subsidiary in Israel

    Shurat HaDin Files Racism Lawsuit against Sydney University BDS Supporter

    Beijing Businesses Looking For Products Labelled “Made In Israel”

    Israel overtakes France as the world’s 4th largest exporter of arms in the world

    Kuwait buys arms from Israel, defends position on Al Jazeera

    Israel’s Second Quarter growth exceeds expectation

    Facebook is opening its first office in Israel after acquiring app maker Onavo

    Germans advise BDS will not bring peace in article in Algemeiner, 4th Nov 2013

    The Irish Independent reports that entrepreneurs from five up-and-coming Irish high-tech firms are visiting Israel to learn how its businesses pulled off so many achievements.

    The Nigerian president is to lead 30,000 pilgrims to Israel, according to All Africa

    The richest man in Asia is giving $130 million to the Technion to build a research centre in China.

    Israel is closing consulates in Europe and replacing them in China, where trade is increasing

    Apple Pays $345 Million For Israeli Chip Manufacturer

    BDS Main Websites Built Using Israeli Software Wix – journalists accuse them of hypocrisy

    Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Top Index Hits All-Time High Nov 21.

  • Anonymous

    Arabs have more freedom in Israel than in all the Arab countries combined. Have a nice day.

  • Funky monkey

    If the Israeli businesses in that tiny country (that has no oil reserves) closed down that are now creating desalination plants for Arab states to survive, state of the art irrigation technology for desert people globally to live, and Intel chips for laptops & phones globally, a whole lotta Arabs would be SOL. Thousands of Palistinians would be out of luck, jobs Finito! So dig dat!

  • Anonymous

    I don’t agree. They (the indigenous peoples) broke their U.N. treaty. The deal was this… Israel told those people that they could stay on Israel’s land (including control over the oil wells), as long as they left the Israelis alone to live in Peace. It worked for a while, but then the indigenous peoples started encroaching on even more land, and then drew first blood from Israel, breaking the treaty. The U.N. is a coward for not stepping in and telling them that since they broke the treaty, they have to move back off Israel’s land.

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