Sunday, March 6, 2016

40 Columbia University Professors Sign Petition to Boycott Israel



40 Columbia University Professors Sign Petition to Boycott Israel
by Deborah Danan 3 Mar 2016
TEL AVIV – Forty Columbia University faculty members have signed a petition in favor of divestment from companies related to Israel, the Columbia Spectator reported.

The petition, which was signed on Monday – the first day of so-called Israel Apartheid Week, urged the Ivy League college to “divest from corporations that supply, perpetuate, and profit from a system that has subjugated the Palestinian people.”

According to the petition, the signatories “stand with Columbia University Apartheid Divest [CUAD], Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine as well as with Jewish Voice for Peace in calling upon the University to take a moral stance against Israel’s violence in all its forms.”

In February, CUAD demanded that Columbia divest from eight specific corporations “that profit from the State of Israel’s ongoing system of settler colonialism, military occupation, and apartheid law” as part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The signatories include Rashid Khalidi, a history and Middle Eastern studies professor who is a longtime critic of Israel and supporter of the BDS movement; Joseph Massad, a professor of modern Arab politics and intellectual history who views Zionism as a racist and colonialist movement, and Nadia Abu El-Haj, an anthropology professor whose research has been criticized for containing unfounded claims. El-Haj authored a book that accuses Israel of manipulating archaeological findings to legitimize its existence, JTA reported.

“As both scholars and community members, we are professionally, intellectually, and morally invested in our University. We deem it our duty to hold our institution accountable for the ethical implications of its own actions, notably its financial investments and their implications around the world,” the petition said. “In particular, we take issue with our financial involvements in institutions associated with the State of Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian lands, continued violations of Palestinian human rights, systematic destruction of life and property, inhumane segregation and systemic forms of discrimination.”

Middle Eastern South Asian and Africa studies, or MESAAS, English and comparative literature, and anthropology were the departments with the most signatories.

“I fully support every effort to put pressure on the Israeli government to end its illegal occupation of Palestinian lands,” said Partha Chatterjee, an anthropology and MESAAS professor, adding that Israel’s security regime “virtually amounts to apartheid.”

English professor Bruce Robbins compared CUAD’s campaign to anti-apartheid efforts in the 1970s and ’80s pushing for divestment from South Africa.

“I have also seen what it’s like for Palestinians on the West Bank to live under the occupation,” Robbins said. “Once you’ve seen that, and you are offered a form of non-violent protest that is also endorsed by Palestinian civil society, it seems like a no-brainer.”

Dirk Salomons, a senior lecturer at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, told the Spectator, “I’ve always had a feeling as a Jew that a Jewish state should rise slightly above the lack of morality of its neighbors. It pains me to see how a country which I love and which I have visited many times can be so blind to the needs of its neighbors.”

Columbia University
Jonathan S. Lavine is a trustee at Columbia University, and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Note: Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the American Constitution Society, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the Human Rights First.
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, Jonathan Soros’s father, was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a benefactor at the Harlem Children's Zone, a supporter for America Coming Together, and William D. Zabel was his divorce lawyer.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, the Harlem Children's Zone, the New America Foundation, the Roosevelt Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Climate Reality Project, the Millennium Promise, the Aspen Institute (think tank), for the International Rescue Committee, the Committee for Economic Development, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Human Rights First.
Faye Wattleton was the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and is a trustee at Columbia University.
Eric H. Holder Jr. was a board member for the American Constitution Society, an intern at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and a trustee at Columbia University.
Michael I. Sovern is a director emeritus at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and was a president emeritus for Columbia University.
Mark E. Kingdon is a trustee at the Harlem Children's Zone, and a trustee at Columbia University.
Richard E. Witten is a trustee at the Harlem Children's Zone, and was a trustee at Columbia University.
Michael M. Crow is a director at the New America Foundation, and was an executive vice provost for Columbia University.
Jonathan Soros is George Soros’s son, a director at the New America Foundation, and a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute.
Alan Brinkley is a governor at the Roosevelt Institute, and a professor at Columbia University.
Ted Van Dyk is a governor at the Roosevelt Institute, and was a VP for Columbia University.
Frederica P. Perera is a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council, and a professor at Columbia University.
Joseph E. Stiglitz was a director at the Climate Reality Project, and is a professor at Columbia University.
Jeffrey D. Sachs is a director at the Millennium Promise, and a professor at Columbia University.
Jimmy Carter was an honorary co-chairman for the Millennium Promise, and is a member of The Elders.
Nelson Mandela was the founder & honorary elder for The Elders, and the president of South Africa.
Patrick H. Gaspard is a U.S. ambassador for South Africa, was a national field director for America Coming Together, a White House political director for the Barack Obama administration, and attended Columbia University.
Stephen Friedman is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and was a chairman for Columbia University.
George E. Rupp is an overseer; former president & CEO for the International Rescue Committee, was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and the president of Columbia University.
Lee C. Bollinger is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and the president of Columbia University.
Robert Legvold is a professor emeritus at Columbia University, was a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).        
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), was the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)
Joan E. Spero was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a trustee at Columbia University.
Saban Center for Middle East Policy is a policy center at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Kenneth M. Pollack is a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, and was a senior fellow, Middle East policy for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Bruce Riedel is a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Haim Saban is a benefactor at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a friend of Shimon Peres, and was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Jonathan S. Lavine was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and is a trustee at Columbia University.
Shimon Peres is a friend of Haim Saban, and was the president of Israel.
Sidley Austin LLP is the lobby firm for Israel.
R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.    
Newton N. Minow is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
James D. Zirin is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and was a director at the Human Rights First.
Mark A. Angelson was a partner at Sidley Austin LLP, and a director at the Human Rights First.
William D. Zabel is the chair for the Human Rights First, and was George Soros’s divorce lawyer.
Louis Henkin was a director at the Human Rights First, and a professor at Columbia University.

No comments: