UC Irvine Students Vote for ‘Israel Divestment’ But Have No Investments to Divest
Latest update: November 16th, 2012
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From the "Irvine Divest" Facebook page: "Historic UC Irvine divestment vote deals stinging defeat to Zionist bullying on campus."
Photo Credit: Irvine Divest
Late last night, November 13, there was a unanimous vote at a California school for divestment from certain companies that do business with Israel. Unanimous, 16 -0.
There are, however, several points militating against an uptick in alarm.
For one thing, the school at which this took place was the University of California at Irvine. Yes, the school that allowed students to repeatedly disrupt Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, in 2010. Eleven of those hooligans were charged and convicted of conspiracy and disrupting a public meeting. Those convictions were obtained despite the efforts of many UCIrvine faculty members, including a large number of Jewish Studies department faculty.
But more importantly, the vote was taken by the UC Irvine Student Government, which, in all likelihood, does not have any investments in the targeted companies, or any other companies, for that matter.
The student government also called on the UC Irvine administration to divest from the named companies, but a student group’s call on its university to take the students’ investment advice is not exactly like money in (or, in this case, out of) the bank.
While the vote was really the equivalent of a small group of children shouting at those acting in loco parentis to take its investment advice, last night’s effort by anti-Israel student leadership at UCI is noteworthy for a small shift in tactic.
Although the Resolution repeatedly compared Israeli activity to Apartheid South Africa, the student government Resolution only sought divestment from those companies it deemed to provide support for the Security Fence, the demolition of “Palestinian” homes, and the building or maintenance of the “illegal Israeli settlements” on “occupied Palestinian territory.” In the past, calls for divestment from Israel typically called for divestment from any company doing business in Israel, which was the South Africa Apartheid divestment model.
The nitty gritty details, that is, that it was a student group that voted to divest its own (non-existent) financial holdings from certain companies – and was not the vote by a university to divest its holdings from companies doing business in Israel – was completely lost on most other media reporting on the vote. Professional Israel haters such as Ali Abunimeh and Noam Chomsky were quick to add their support, as were Muslim Student Associations and other anti-Israel groups across the country. To see the misguided glee, check on twitter #IrvineDivest.
The Resolution, which was introduced by Sabreen Shalabi, and seconded by Shadi Jafari, follows:
Item Number: 16 Legislation Number (B: Bill, R: Resolution): R48-15 Synopsis: Divestment from Companies that Profit from Apartheid Date of Presentation: November 13, 2012 Divestment from Companies that Profit from ApartheidWHEREAS, it is UC Irvine’s duty to maintain the values of “respect, intellectual curiosity, integrity, commitment, and empathy” which includes the promotion of human rights, equality, and dignity for all people without distinction;WHEREAS, it is the mission of the UCI Foundation to “ensure the appropriate use of all funds” in order to uphold the values of respect, intellectual curiosity, integrity, commitment appreciation, and empathy;WHEREAS, students have a legacy of standing against oppression and injustice at UC Irvine and across the U.S.;WHEREAS, the role of student activists in exposing South Africa’s apartheid system and supporting equality, freedom, and dignity sets an example for us to follow as students of global conscience;WHEREAS, as the example of South Africa shows, it is imperative for students to stand unequivocally against all forms of racism and bigotry globally and on campus, including but not limited to Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, homophobia, patriarchy, and Israel’s system of apartheid;WHEREAS, the occupied Palestinian Territory is controlled militarily by the Israeli government;WHEREAS, certain companies have promoted and been complicit in these ongoing human rights violations systematically committed by the Israeli government, which have been documented by human rights organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Al-Haq, Defense for Children International, Addameer, B’tselem, Adalah, Badil, and the Israeli Coalition Against Home Demolitions;WHEREAS, according to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), “the construction by Israel of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and its associated régime are contrary to international law”;WHEREAS, according to the same ICJ decision, the establishment and expansion of settlements in the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem is also illegal by international law; About the Author: Lori Lowenthal Marcus is the US correspondent for The Jewish Press. She is a recovered lawyer who previously practiced First Amendment law and taught in Philadelphia-area graduate and law schools.
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19 Responses to “UC Irvine Students Vote for ‘Israel Divestment’ But Have No Investments to Divest”
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on June 18, 2013 10:22 AMPrinted from: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/uc-irvine-students-vote-for-israel-divestment-but-have-no-investments-to-divest/2012/11/14/
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Mr. Hall, You truly are naive and ignorant–for all of their worthless resolutions–they are the promoters of anti-Semitism and intolerance–intolerance for everyone who will not accept their Marxism!
@RC: Hall is not naive. He spends most of his posts promoting Antisemitism and ubber left pro-hamas propaganda. As for Jew hatred, not just at Irvine but at most of the UC conglomeration, the State of California and the UC boards have repeatedly refused to condemn organized Jew hatred oft times not only promoting it but openly financing it. It is simply the continued decline of cali into a third world bankrupt (morally and economically) society. Hall hopes for the same Jew hatred and bankruptcy to migrate throughout the country
Whereas, students at UC Irvine spend more time hating Israel than they do the murderous regimes in the Arab world (and beyond); e.g. Syria, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, etc.
Racist! The regimes in saudi, iran, jordan, etc are committing random acts of genocide because the quran requires. You dare to condemn another's religion?
Then the Allah is a killing god? Wow! Who wants a god like that? I would rather have a loving God who states in His word. Thou shall NOT kill. That really means to love one another and be sharing and forgiving and kind towards one another.
Mr. Rosenrauch–they do not care about the truth–as they are all about promoting hatred–in this case the hatred of anti-Semitism!
Judy Shingler The God of the Bible, is also because of his righteousness a killer–its not you shall not kill–but rather shall not murder–you should know the difference–apparently you do not!
As for the so called god of Islam–this is a personification of Satan who is a mass murderer.
Really no worries here. With California quickly approaching bankruptcy, and all these Jew haters being forced out of UC-Irvine because the school will no longer have funds to maintain them, they will of course be begging those "damn Jew bankers" for jobs and help or they will join the others living under the overpasses and trying to sell oranges at the freeway exits. Promising future while those that do not spend their alleged college years fomenting Jew hatred will move on, upward, and ito comfortable environs that YES they did build for themselves.
It is all well and good to pass resolutions, even laws, if you can cajole your neighbor into voting with you, but in reality they are of no lasting effect on the psyches of anyone. It is too bad that these resolutions are based on strong emotions rather than intellect. When confronted individually, face to face, these same types have no argument or response to serious questioning about their views, other than retorts ranging from mild irritation to outright spitting, foaming fulminations. Either that or they just run away. That must be what they mean by Zionist bullying. The Zionists have ready answers for all questions, while the divestment types do not, so they feel embarrassed and humiliated. "I feel bad therefore you a bully QED."
As correctly stated, there should be no alarm about this resolution. The unformed minds represented on this council should not be condemned outright, for they are merely following form from previous generations of bandwagon activists, who were once led by socialist protesters, or weedy pot smokers, but are now suit and tie wearing, briefcase toting members of corporate America. In regard to the pot smokers, as I've always said, "I never smoked, but I did inhale." For those who can't read between the lines, this means that these same students are subject to a change of mind in favor of Zionism, when they are no longer surrounded by the milieu of anti-semitism.
More useful idiots!
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml;jsessionid=d4df7d3510900146efbbc88f1045?bill_id=201120120HR35
Whereas, students at UC Irvine spend more time hating Israel than they do the murderous regimes in the Arab world (and beyond); e.g. Syria, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, etc.
Racist! The regimes in saudi, iran, jordan, etc are committing random acts of genocide because the quran requires. You dare to condemn another’s religion?
Then the Allah is a killing god? Wow! Who wants a god like that? I would rather have a loving God who states in His word. Thou shall NOT kill. That really means to love one another and be sharing and forgiving and kind towards one another.
Really no worries here. With California quickly approaching bankruptcy, and all these Jew haters being forced out of UC-Irvine because the school will no longer have funds to maintain them, they will of course be begging those “damn Jew bankers” for jobs and help or they will join the others living under the overpasses and trying to sell oranges at the freeway exits. Promising future while those that do not spend their alleged college years fomenting Jew hatred will move on, upward, and ito comfortable environs that YES they did build for themselves.
It is all well and good to pass resolutions, even laws, if you can cajole your neighbor into voting with you, but in reality they are of no lasting effect on the psyches of anyone. It is too bad that these resolutions are based on strong emotions rather than intellect. When confronted individually, face to face, these same types have no argument or response to serious questioning about their views, other than retorts ranging from mild irritation to outright spitting, foaming fulminations. Either that or they just run away. That must be what they mean by Zionist bullying. The Zionists have ready answers for all questions, while the divestment types do not, so they feel embarrassed and humiliated. “I feel bad therefore you a bully QED.”
As correctly stated, there should be no alarm about this resolution. The unformed minds represented on this council should not be condemned outright, for they are merely following form from previous generations of bandwagon activists, who were once led by socialist protesters, or weedy pot smokers, but are now suit and tie wearing, briefcase toting members of corporate America. In regard to the pot smokers, as I’ve always said, “I never smoked, but I did inhale.” For those who can’t read between the lines, this means that these same students are subject to a change of mind in favor of Zionism, when they are no longer surrounded by the milieu of anti-semitism.
More useful idiots!
These Godless whores–are indeed useful idiots and tools of the Marxist democrat party!