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Students for Justice in Palestine

Formation	2001
Location	Various independent chapters across North America
Colors	Red, Green, White, Black
Affiliations	Palestine Solidarity Movement, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is a college student activism organization in the United States and Canada that promotes the liberation and self-determination of Palestinian people. The goals of the organization are to strengthen the student movement for Palestinian rights and develop a better understanding of the situation in Palestine. The organization actively supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Some SJP chapters in the United States have adopted the name Palestine Solidarity Committee or Students for Palestinian Equal Rights. In Canada, SJP chapters have adopted the name Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA).

History

The 1st National Conference resolved the organization's Points of Unity on October 16, 2011. The purpose of the organization is outlined in the Points of Unity established in the first national conference. The Points of Unity stated:

Students for Justice in Palestine is a student organization that works in solidarity with the Palestinian people and supports their right to self-determination. It is committed to ending Israel’s occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Separation Wall. It recognizes the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality. It calls for respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194.

Demonstrations

"Free Speech Fight" at UC Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley chapter of SJP came to international attention in April 2002 when they chose the memorial of the Deir Yassin massacre to occupy a campus building and disrupt a midterm in progress for over 600 students as part of a protest against their university's investments in Israel. The occupation was broken up by police after warning the students of trespassing. Seventy-nine protesters were arrested, cited for trespassing, and, in some cases, resisting arrest. All but one were released. One protester wound up in jail, on a charge of felony battery after he bit a police officer. Following the arrests SJP was banned from operating at UCLA prompting SJP to begin a campaign against what they saw as the university attacking freedom of speech, assembly and protest. Over two hundred demonstrators turned out the month after on a national day of action, "Free Palestine! Free Speech!", to protest what they saw as the university's stifling of freedom of thought and protest as well as the universities continuing links with Israel.

Following the incident, UC Berkeley administrators gathered information that led them to believe that group that protesters would also try and seize a campus library.

In Auckland, SJP has led demonstrations against the local weapons industry including parking a model of a bombed out ambulance outside the shareholder AGM of Rakon, a company that sells components to the IDF and US Military for use in guided munitions. It has also organised demonstrations outside the offices of Oscmar International to protest its selling of military training simulators to Israel. In July and August, 2006 the group organised a series of five protests against Israel's invasion of Lebanon. The first protest turned into an alleyway brawl between activists and police after one person lowered the US flag on the US consulate to half-mast and attempted to climb down a drainpipe and evade police.

In April 2011, Avi Dichter, Member of Knesset and member of Israel's centrist and Kadima party, was interrupted by protesters from a group of the Brandeis SJP, while speaking at Brandeis University. Several students got up out of their seats and called Dichter a war criminal, and accused him of torture and crimes against humanity.

Divestment at Hampshire College

SJP claimed that Hampshire College decided to divest from holdings in Israeli companies. In response, Alan Dershowitz called for a divestment from Hampshire College. However, Hampshire College president, Ralph Hexter, said that decision to divest from certain companies was not aimed at Israel and criticized the pro-Palestinian students for suggesting otherwise, saying "I think they crossed the line of appropriate behavior.”

Princeton and DePaul campaign to boycott Sabra

Princeton University

On November 11, 2010, the SJP at Princeton — Princeton Committee on Palestine (PCP) — began collecting signatures to place a non-binding referendum that called on Princeton University to ban Sabra from campus. The referendum's wording was rephrased to call for alternatives to Sabra at Princeton. After complaints by a representative from Tigers for Israel on the technicality of rephrasing the referendum, the Student Government on November 20 decided that a new petition had to be submitted with 200 signatures to have a rephrased referendum. After two days, a new petition with the rephrased wording and 200 signatures was submitted to Student Government. After a week’s delay, the referendum was placed on the ballot on the week of November 29. Students voted down the referendum 1,014 to 699.

DePaul University

On November 11, 2010, SJP at DePaul University expressed concerns that Sabra supported the Israeli occupation. On November 19, the university temporarily suspended the sale of Sabra products and told campaign organizers that Sabra products are set to be removed from shelves for the remainder of the school quarter. On November 24, DePaul University reversed its stance to remove Sabra from campus by reinstating it in the dining halls.

On May 12, 2011, the DePaul SJP presented a non-binding referendum to the Student Government concerning Sabra. After deliberation, the Student Government decided to place the referendum on the ballot from May 16 to May 20. The student referendum was the first referendum on the ballot in over 10 years. The students voted to remove Sabra with 1,127 votes in favor of removing Sabra out of 1,467 votes cast. 332 students voted against the referendum, and 8 voted “other.” Although the referendum passed, it was not recorded as an official referendum because total voter turnout did not increase 1,500.

California BDS initiative

International attention at UC Berkeley

SJP at Berkeley led a 40 group coalition and over 100 UC faculty members to support divestment at University of California, Berkeley. On March 17, 2010, UC Berkeley Student Senate voted 16-4 to support divestment companies that provided military equipment allegedly used against Palestinian civilians including General Electric and United Technologies. A week later, UC Berkeley Student Body President vetoed the divestment bill.

Irvine domino effect

On November 13, 2012, the University of California, Irvine Student Senate unanimously passed a resolution 16-0 to call on University of California to divest from companies that assist or directly profit from Israeli human rights abuses including Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, Sodastream, Raytheon and L-3 Communications. The President of UC Irvine Student Body praised the legislation by stating, “We are agents of change in this world.” The SJP chapter of UC San Diego lauded the Irvine Divest campaign.

Stanford University's SJP chapter led a coalition of student organizations after two years of campaigning. On February 19, 2013, they presented a draft bill to the Undergraduate Senate for a recommendation to the university's Board of Trustees to divest from companies with known affiliations of human rights violations in Palestine. On March 5, Senate voted 7-1 against the bill with 5 abstains. After the meeting, a former Stanford Student Body President wrote a letter to SPER mailing list expressing his disappointment in the Senate's failure to pass the bill. The SJP chapter at Stanford noted that although their resolution did not pass, the Senate passed a separate resolution that expressed the Senate's firm stance against investment in companies that cause "substantial social injury” and called for "the Advisory Panel on Investment Responsibility and Licensing to review the University’s investments to ensure compliance with the University’s Statement on Investment Responsibility."

Stanford's BDS defeat was notably followed by two quick BDS victories at University of California, Riverside and University of California, San Diego. On March 8, 2013, substantial campaigning by SJP at University of California, Riverside (UCR) produced a victory when the Senate voted 11-5 to endorse BDS and divest from Caterpillar and Hewlett Packard. The vote in support of BDS at UCR was large enough to avoid a veto by the undergraduate student body president who opposed the resolution.

See also

• To Know is Not Enough - Documentary film about divestment at Hampshire College.
• DePaul student referendum - DePaul University student referendum to ban Sabra
• Why we refuse to buy Sabra - Video by DePaul students to ban Sabra
• SJP’s Sabra campaign was indeed a victory, deserves administrative recognition - DePaul student calls SJP campaign to ban Sabra victorious
• Facebook page of "Boycott Sabra Hummus" at Princeton University - Princeton Committee for Palestine research on Sabra's links to human rights violations
• UC Berkeley SB 118A - UC Berkeley divestment bill from war crimes
• UC Irvine R48-15 - UC Irvine resolution to divest from companies that profit from apartheid
• University of Regina BDS resolution
• Carleton University Graduate Student Association 2012 Ballot - Carleton University divestment referendum
• Carleton University SIAA press release regarding referendum
• Holding Stanford Accountable Part 1 and Holding Stanford Accountable Part 2 - Article by SPER member explaining the criteria for divestment

Notes

1. http://sjpnational.org/2011/10/18/student-organizations-resolve-organize-nationally-palestine/
2. Daily Cal - 10 April 2002 - Israeli, Palestinian Backers Clash During Campus Rally
4. Berkeley Daily Planet- 3 May 2002- Pro-Palestine protesters rally for free speech
5. Daily Cal- 26 April 2002- Students Arrested During Protest May Be Suspended
6. McKenzie-Minifie, Martha (2 September 2006). "Excitement inside deafens protest". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
7. Aotearoa IMC: Aucklanders march for Palestine and Lebanon
8. Jewish leftists disrupt Kadima MK speech at U.S. University
9. Pro-Palestinian students, college debate divestment claim
10. Schworm, Peter (12 Feb 2009). "Hampshire College cuts ties with fund invested in Israel". Boston.com. Boston.com. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
11. "A BDS Debate at Princeton, with J Street, JVP, and me (this Wednesday)". maxblumenthal.com. 13 Dec 2010. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
12. Halder, Alaka (19 Nov 2010). "Students campaign for alternative hummus". The Daily Princetonian. The Daily Princetonian. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
13. Greene, Abby (22 Nov 2010). "Dipping in controversy: A look at Princeton's hummus debate". The Ink. University Press Club. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
14. Jackson, Rachel (29 Nov 2010). "After week's delay, voting on Sabra hummus referendum opens". The Daily Princetonian. The Daily Princetonian. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
15. ^ Lewin, Tamar (3 Dec 2010). "New Subject of Debate on Mideast: Hummus". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
16. Kishawi, Sami (19 Nov 2010). "DePaul 'divests' from Israeli hummus product". Sixteen Minutes to Palestine. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
17. Kishawi, Sami (22 Nov 2010). "Update on DePaul's temporary divestment from Sabra products: Official Statement". Sixteen Minutes to Palestine. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
18. Schanz, Jenn (17 May 2011). "SGA holds referendum on Sabra hummus". The DePaulia. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
19. McCraney, Lacey (17 May 2011). "Hummus Vote More Than Dip Debate at DePaul". NBC Chicago. NBC News. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
20. "DePaul students vote to boycott Sabra Hummus". BDSmovement.net. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
21. "Referendum to ban Israeli hummus at DePaul fails". ABC Local News. ABC News. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
22. Pazornik, Amanda (12 Feb 2009). "UPDATE: U.C.Berkeley student president vetoes divest-from-Israel resolution". Jweekly. j. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
23. Ceasar, Stephen (14 Nov 2012). "UC Irvine student leaders urge UC to divest from some companies". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-03-13. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
24. Kolsy, Uzma (27 Nov 2012). "UC Irvine Students Vote to Divest From Israel". The Nation. The Nation. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
25. Moon, Sarah (19 Nov 2012). "UCI Passes Unanimous Divestment Resolution". University of California San Diego The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
26. ^ Kane, Alex (7 March 2013). "California BDS debate heats up: Riverside campus passes divestment measure as Stanford rejects the same". Mondowiess. Mondoweiss. Retrieved 2013-03-14. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
27. Moore, Justine (8 Mar 2013). "Undergraduate Senate votes against divestment bill". The Stanford Daily. The Stanford Daily. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
28. Gordon, Larry (8 March 2013). "UC Riverside student Senate urges divestment from firms working in West Bank". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-03-14.

• Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
• Advocacy groups
• Student political organizations
• Student political organizations in the United States