Students call for divestment, end of Israeli apartheid

<h1>RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED<br />
National Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement</h1>
<h2>Berkeley, California<br />
February 2002</h2>

<ol><li>POINTS OF UNITY</li>
<li>POINTS OF ACTION
<ol><li>Organization of an Observer Force to Palestine</li>
<li>Divestment Resolution</li>
<li>Website Resolution</li></ol>
</li>
<li>STATEMENTS
<ol><li>Solidarity Resolution</li>
<li>Statement of Solidarity with National Anti-War Conference</li>
<li>Divestment Statement</li></ol>
</li></ol>

<p>Conference organized by Students For Justice In Palestine<br />
Berkeley, CA 94704<br />
http://www.justiceinpalestine.org</p>

<p>Conference co-sponsors (alphabetical order): Al-Awda, the Palestine Right of Return Coalition, San Francisco Chapter, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, San Francisco, American Muslims for Jerusalem, Americans for Justice for Palestinians, Arab Student Union, UC Berkeley, Arab Women's Solidarity Association, Berkeley Women in Black, Boalt Hall Arab Student Association, Center for Economic and Social Rights, Friends of Sabeel-North America, General Union of Palestinian Students, If Americans Knew, International Socialist Organization, Jews for a Free Palestine, Left Turn, Middle East Childrens Alliance, Muslim Public Affairs Council, Muslim Students Association, Solidarity Design, Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism, The Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between People</p>

<h2>POINTS OF UNITY</h2>

<ol>
<h3>MISSION</h3>
<li>The National Student Conference of the Palestinian Solidarity Movement (hereafter the Conference) is a diverse group of students, activists, and community members, organized to promote justice, human rights, liberation, and self-determination for the Palestinian people.</li>

<h3>GUIDING PRINCIPLES</h3>

<li>The Conference is committed to a core set of principles.</li>

<li>The Conference believes that the Palestinian people must ultimately be able to decide their future in Palestine. Certain key principles, grounded in, but not limited to, international law, human rights, and basic standards of justice, will be fundamental to a just resolution to the plight of the Palestinians. These include: <ol>
<li>the full decolonization of all Palestinian land, including settlements, which are illegal under international law;</li>
<li>the end of the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem and all Arab lands;</li>
<li>the recognition and implementation of the right of return and repatriation for all Palestinian refugees to their original homes and properties; and</li>
<li>an end to the Israeli system of Apartheid and discrimination against the indigenous Palestinian population.</li>
</ol></li>

<li>Just as the Conference condemns the racism and discrimination inherent in Zionism underlying the policies and laws of the state of Israel, the Conference rejects any form of hatred or discrimination against any group based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.</li>

<li>The Conference’s strength is in the great diversity of its membership. The Conference welcomes individuals of all ethnic and religious backgrounds to join in solidarity with the struggle for justice in Palestine. </li>

<li>As a solidarity movement, it is not our place to dictate the strategies or tactics adopted by the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation.</li>

<h3>STRATEGY</h3>

<li>The Conference seeks to promote the following campaigns: <ol>
<li>divestment from Israel</li>
<li>ending U.S. aid to Israel</li>
<li>Right of Return;</li></ol>
Using tactics which may include:<ol>
<li>education</li>
<li>public demonstrations and rallies</li>
<li>civil disobedience or direct action</li>
</ol></li>
<li>The Conference does not endorse activities that contradict the guiding principles as stated above. </li>
<li>Individuals or groups acting as members, representatives, or sponsors of the Conference agree to abide by the code of conduct and promote its guiding principles. </li>
<li>In the interest of building a more unified and expanding solidarity movement for justice and human rights in Palestine, individuals or groups may endorse and sign on the the above guiding principles. </li>
<li>Conference members and future endorsers will organize and coordinate future assemblies as needed. </li>
</ol>

<h2>POINTS OF ACTION</h2>

<h3>Organization of an Observer Force to Palestine</h3>

<p>National Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement <br />
Berkeley, California<br />
February 2002</p>

<p>We, as students in of the National Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement, will send a large delegation of students and international community members to go to Palestine this summer with two main objectives:</p>

<ol><li>
We will fundraise and gather much needed material items, food, medicines, and money to deliver directly to the Palestinian people.</li>
<li>We will then spend a month (or longer, depending on the availability of individuals) acting as an observer and protector force for the Palestinians living under the illegal Israeli occupation.</li></ol>

<h3>Divestment Resolution</h3>

<p>National Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement <br />
Berkeley, California<br />
February 2002</p>

<p>We, the national student movement for solidarity with Palestine,</p>
<ol>
<li>endorse an April 9, 2002 National Day of Action to commemorate the Deir Yassin massacre and call for university divestment. </li>
<li>will hold regional conferences to demand university divestment on the weekend of September 28–29, 2002 (dates recommended), to commemorate the anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Intifada.</li>
<li>will create a resource center to serve as a source of information, educational resources, and activist skills for divestment work.</li></ol>

<h3>Website Resolution</h3>

<p>National Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement <br />
Berkeley, California<br />
February 2002</p>

<p>A website dedicated to serving activists by facilitating their access to resources, as well as a platform to communicate, is invaluable and long due. The National Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement endorses Solidarity Design’s initiative to design site for this purpose, at http://www.palestineactivist.org.</p>

<p>The website structure will consist of the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Home: A brief explanation of what the site is about, and a small announcement window</li>
<li>Activism: An introduction to the most effective website</li>
<li>Films: Information about documentaries and how to obtain them</li>
<li>Speakers: Listing, specialty, and contact information</li>
<li>Publications: Listing of pamphlets / leaflets, and how to obtain them (some could be downloadable)</li>
<li>Media: Pointers on effective ways of dealing with the media, and relevant contacts</li>
<li>Online: How the power of the Internet can be harnessed to effectively support our objectives</li>
<li>Fundraising: Pointers on raising funds for your organization</li>
<li>Newsletter: Listing of useful newsletters to subscribe to</li>
<li>Announcements: Details of relevant events, and a form to add your own</li>
<li>Contacts: Listing of activists in various geographic areas</li>
<li>Listserve: to which all conference attendees will be invited</li></ul>

<p>Other sections may be added, including contacting government officials, divestment campaign, and more. Conference attendees are invited to support the project with content.</p>

<h2>STATEMENTS</h2>

<h3>Solidarity Resolution</h3>

<p>National Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement <br />
Berkeley, California<br />
February, 2002</p>

<p>We, the national student movement for solidarity with Palestine, declare our solidarity with the popular Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation, colonization, and apartheid, just as we unequivocally support the right of all people, wherever they may be, to resist oppression. </p>

<p>Popular resistance is a legitimate strategy that has been and will continue to be adopted by people under similar inhuman conditions. </p>

<p>In the spirit of movements for self-determination throughout history, we call upon all people opposed to injustice and oppression to support the Palestinian struggle. </p>

<p>As a solidarity movement, it is not our place to dictate the strategies or tactics adopted by the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation.</p>

<h3>Statement of Solidarity with National Anti-War Conference</h3>

<p>National Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement <br />
Berkeley, California<br />
February 2002</p>

<p>The National Student Conference of the Palestinian Solidarity Movement extends our support to the National Anti-War Conference attendees gathered in NYC the weekend of February 22–24. The liberation of Palestine is inextricably linked to the larger struggle for global justice and an end to the U.S. “war on terror” and U.S. imperialism. We urge you to take this opportunity to show your solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for justice, dignity, and self-determination. </p>

<h3>Divestment Statement</h3>

<p>National Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement<br />
Berkeley, California<br />
February 2002</p>

<p>In recognition of the more than 1000 Palestinians who have been killed since the start of the al-Aqsa Intifada on September 29, 2000, we, the undersigned, convened for the National Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement in February, 2002 at the University of California, Berkeley, call upon our colleges and universities to divest all financial and institutional holdings from Israel until:</p>

<ol>
<li>the end of the Israeli occupation and settlement of the Gaza Strip, West Bank including East Jerusalem, and all Arab lands;</li>
<li>the recognition and implementation of the right of return and repatriation for all Palestinian refugees to their original homes and properties;</li>
<li>and an end to the Israeli system of Apartheid and discrimination against the indigenous Palestinian population. </li></ol>

<p>We also call upon our governments to end all diplomatic, political, and economic aid to Israel. We promote the aforementioned campaign in the interests of justice, human rights, liberation, and self-determination for the Palestinian people. </p>

<h4>Signed February 17, 2002 by the National Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement, as represented by students from the following institutions:</h4>

<p>Antioch College (Yellow Springs, Ohio)<br />
City College of San Francisco<br />
City University of New York<br />
Columbia University<br />
Concordia University (Montreal)<br />
Depaul University (Chicago)<br />
Georgetown University<br />
Long Island University<br />
McGill University (Montreal)<br />
Merced College<br />
Ohio State University<br />
University of California, Berkeley<br />
University of California, Davis<br />
University of California, Los Angeles<br />
University of California, Santa Cruz<br />
University of Illinois, Chicago<br />
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign<br />
University of Massachusetts<br />
University of Michigan<br />
University of Minnesota<br />
University of Washington<br />
Vista College (Berkeley)</p>