February 4, 2004 A Call for New York University to Divest from Israel We, the undersigned, are appalled by Israeli human rights abuses against Palestinians, including: the continual military occupation and colonization of Palestinian land by Israeli armed forces and settlers; the state of siege inflicted upon the general populace through curfews and closures preventing the movement of people and goods; the building of the 700-km-long separation wall around and within the West Bank; forcible evictions of Palestinians from their homes and lands; the demolition of houses, workplaces, and public infrastructure; destruction of vital agriculture; the refusal of recognition of Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homes and lands; and the treatment of Palestinians within Israel as second-class citizens through the denial of equal economic, social, and political rights. We condemn attacks against all Palestinian and Israeli civilians.  Like some in the Israeli peace movement and many Palestinians, we are convinced that only a just resolution to the conflict, based on an immediate end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights, Israeli recognition and implementation of the Palestinian refugees’ right of return, and the attainment of full civic equality and equal citizenship status for Palestinians within Israel, can bring a lasting peace to Palestine/Israel. Although New York University has refused to disclose its financial portfolio to the University community, we are certain that it holds significant investments in manufacturers that sell arms to Israel for use in the Occupied Territories, in violation of the US Arms Control Export Act (1976). We believe that these investments, and others which serve the expansion of Israeli colonization, particularly in the OccupiedTerritories, constitute a significant breach of the stated educational values and social mission of New York University. Thus, as members of the NYU community, we call on the University to divest from all companies that conduct business in Israel or the Occupied Territories—including, but not limited to, firms that sell arms to Israel and firms with operations in illegal settlements in the West Bank and Gaza—until the state of Israel complies with the following:  1. United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (1967), which notes the illegality of acquiring territory through war and calls for the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the Occupied Territories 2. The Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49, paragraph 6, which declares that "the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into territories it occupies" by ceasing to build new settlements and vacating existing settlements in the Occupied Territories 3. The United Nations Committee Against Torture Report (2001), which calls on Israel to cease torturing people in its custody 4. The Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 3, paragraph 1, which forbids "the carrying out of executions without previous judgments pronounced by a regularly constituted court", by renouncing its practice of assassinating Palestinian leaders and political activists 5. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 (1948) with respect to the rights of Palestinian refugees, which stipulates that refugees should either be allowed to return to their former lands or else be justly compensated for their losses 6. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (passed as General Assembly Resolution 217 A(III) of 10 December 1948), Article 7, which states that "All [persons] are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law," by altering Israeli laws and de facto practices regarding citizenship, enfranchisement, land ownership, and access to resources and services to provide for equal economic, political, and social rights for all those living within its borders. We, the undersigned, believe that these measures constitute necessary steps towards the achievement of a just and lasting resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and therefore seek to ensure that the values of the University community are not compromised by the corporate investments represented in New York University’s financial portfolio.