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2002
University of California Faculty Petition for Divestment from Israel
We, the undersigned are appalled by the human rights abuses against
Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government, the continual
military occupation and colonization of Palestinian territory by
Israeli armed forces and settlers, and the forcible eviction from and
demolition of Palestinian homes, towns and cities. We find the recent
attacks on Israeli civilians unacceptable and abhorrent. But these
should not and do not negate the human rights of the Palestinian people.
As members of the University of California community, we believe that
our university ought to use its influence - political and financial -
to encourage the United States government and the government of Israel
to respect the human rights of the Palestinian people. We therefore
call on the US government to make military aid and arms sales to Israel
conditional on immediate initiation and rapid progress in implementing
the conditions listed below. We also call on the University of
California to divest from Israel, and from US companies that sell arms
to Israel, until these conditions are met:
1. Israel is in compliance with United Nations Resolution 242 which
notes the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war, and
which calls for withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from occupied
territories.
2. Israel is in compliance with the United Nations Committee Against
Torture 2001 Report which recommends that Israel's use of legal torture
be ended.
3. In compliance with the Fourth Geneva Convention ("The occupying
power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population
into territories it occupies"; Article 49, paragraph 6), Israel ceases
building new settlements, and vacates existing settlements, in the
Occupied Territories.
4. Israel acknowledges in principle the applicability of United Nations
Resolution 194 with respect to the rights of refugees, and accepts that
refugees should either be allowed to return to their former lands or
else be compensated for their losses, as agreed by the Palestinians and
Israelis in bilateral negotiations.
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