Sjp institutional statement 2007

An institutional statement proposal proposed by SJP to be adopted by Hampshire College. Nov 30th2007 (this the first draft of the statement, the latest draft can be found here)

On November 29th 1947, the UN general assembly voted for the establishment of two states in Palestine: one Jewish and one Palestinian. However, in 1948 only a Jewish state was established in a process that involved the flight of close to a million Palestinians, turning them into refugees. In June of 1967, Israel waged a war against the neighboring Arab states, occupying vast territories including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai Dessert. Ever since, Israel has been engaged in a brutal military occupation of Palestinian territories; denying Palestinians basic human rights including the right for self-determination. Israel has continuously ignored UN resolutions such as 242 and 194 that called for an Israeli withdrawal from the Occupied Territories and reaffirmed the Palestinian refugees' right of return. Contrary to international law, Israel built settlements in the Occupied Territories grabbing over 40 percent of the West Bank. Over 400,000 Israeli settlers inhabit these colonies; they comprise roughly 6% of Israel's citizens. Throughout 40 years of occupation Israel has established two separate judicial systems; the occupied Palestinians have been subjected to the Israeli martial law, whereas Israeli settlers are included under Israeli civil law. As a result Palestinians have been denied the right to a fair trial, and are tried by martial courts. Since the outbreak of the first Palestinian "Intifada"(uprising) in December of 1987, Israel has exercised severe political oppression and suppressed Palestinian civil society. During those years, Israel assassinated political leaders and activists, imprisoning tens of thousands of Palestinians. To this day, 8700 Palestinian political prisoners are held in Israeli prisons (about half of all the prisoners in Israel), out of which 842 are held without a trial .Civilian infrastructures and houses have been deliberately destroyed in acts of collective punishment. Since the beginning of the second Intifada in September of 2000, Israel waged an economic siege on the Palestinian people. After the democratic election of the Hamas government in 2006, Israel intensified this siege, including the prevention of Palestinian money from being transferred to the Palestinian National Authority. In October of 2007 the Israeli government declared the Gaza Strip an "Enemy Entity", deciding to drastically reduce power supply to the Strip, and to stop trade and money transfer between Israeli and Palestinian Banks. These policies further escalated the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Since 2002 Israel began the construction of a separation wall and a system of "Jewish only" roads cutting through the West Bank thus depriving Palestinians freedom of movement. We at Hampshire College view these actions as contradictory to our most essential values. They are policies of ethnic segregation and apartheid that manifest themselves in all the layers of the occupation. These are criminal actions according to international law and are considered immoral by the international community. This illegal occupation would have not been possible without the US's military aid as well as its unconditional support for Israel. This further emphasizes the importance of an opposition to the occupation from within the US. Traditionally, Hampshire College has always stood by the oppressed, taking an unpopular stand when others have preferred to turn away. In 1976 Hampshire College was the first US College to divest from Apartheid South Africa; in 2001 Hampshire was the first college to object to the war in Afghanistan. In this spirit and in light of the fact that the Israeli occupation is the longest ongoing occupation since World War II, we state our objection to the oppression of the Palestinian people. The Hampshire community hereby declares its commitment to work towards the end of this occupation. Furthermore we call upon Israel to end these policies of discrimination and to respect international law and Palestinian rights, including the right to self determination. Our commitment includes the following policies ratified by Hampshire College:

-	Hampshire College calls on the United States Government to stop financing the occupation.

-	We support dialogue on our campus and between the leaderships of the two peoples as long as it is sincere and with the intention to end the oppression of the Palestinian people.

-	As an institution we will not support, invest, or finance any individual, group or institution that is economically involved with the occupation.

-	We support the Palestinian right to resist the occupation in accordance with the international law.

-	Due to our mandate as an institution of higher education, we are committed to support the Palestinian right to education which is denied by the occupation, through exchange programs and academic support.

-	In solidarity with the Palestinian people, our educational program will provide a stage for unheard Palestinian voices.