statement via Students Against Israeli Apartheid – Regina

Photo: Palestinian refugee youth in Aida refugee camp in the West Bank, Palestine.

Students Against Israeli Apartheid – Regina (SAIA) is pleased to announce that a motion was passed at the University of Regina Student Union AGM to support the Palestinian call for boycotts, divestments and sanctions (BDS) as a means of pressuring Israel to comply with international and human rights law. This resolution is a huge first step towards the full divestment of the University of Regina from companies complicit with the human rights violations currently taking place in Palestine.

Plans are already in motion for SAIA, together with the University of Regina Student Union (URSU) and other members of the community, to begin investigating URSU’s portfolio for companies that support or profit from Israeli war crimes, as well as collectively launching an education campaign on campus about the issue.

SAIA would like to thank everyone who came out to vote for the resolution and all those who have been supporting and organizing around this issue within the community. There will be a lot of work to do before the end of the school year – if anyone is interested in joining the group please feel free to contact us at saiauofr(at)gmail.com. Thanks for all the support!

Sincerely,

Students Against Israeli Apartheid – Regina (SAIA)

Resolution to Join the Global Movement in Support of Palestinian Rights

February 1, 2012

WHERAS Israel is currently in defiance of over 30 UN Security Council Resolutions pertaining to its illegal military occupation of Palestine and is in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law under the Geneva Conventions, as affirmed by the International Court of Justice in 2004;

WHEREAS Israel systematically obstructs Palestinian students’ right to education through military checkpoints and roadblocks, the illegal apartheid wall, and the frequent closure of cities, routinely preventing thousands of students and teachers from reaching their schools and universities;

WHEREAS on July 9, 2005, 171 Palestinian organizations called upon people of conscience around the world to implement a global campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era;

WHEREAS students around the world, from York to Concordia, Carleton, UC Berkeley, McGill, the University of Toronto and New York University have been at the forefront of this global movement by campaigning for divestment of university funds from companies that support or profit from Israel’s illegal occupation and systematic denial of Palestinian human rights;

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the University of Regina Student Union:

Recognize that the right to education is a fundamental human right that is basic to human freedom;

Join student organizations around the globe by endorsing the 2005 call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions from Palestinian civil society;

Commit to identifying and divesting from companies that support or profit from Israeli war crimes, occupation and oppression;

Affirm that students have a vital role in supporting struggles for social justice, and stand in solidarity with Palestinians’ struggle for self-determination and freedom.