Stand with Desmond Tutu, Support the Initiatives
(The following letter was printed in the May 13, 2010 Cooper Point Journal.)
Although we were not old enough to have participated in the movement against South African apartheid, we do have an opportunity to work for similar justice today. There are two exciting initiatives in the upcoming student-wide ballot that the Evergreen community should be proud to support.
The first initiative calls for the Evergreen State College Foundation to institute a socially responsible investment policy. Although Evergreen is perceived as a progressive institution, it falls behind many other colleges in social responsibility. Other colleges and universities have socially responsible investment policies that guide how they invest their money, to stay away from corporations that profit from war, human rights violations, and environmentally destructive practices.
The Evergreen Foundation, which operates on campus and in conjunction with the school, has no such policy. In fact, the Evergreen Foundation is not interested in knowing what it invests in, as attempts to uncover this by students in past years have resulted in little accountability. This lack of transparency should be a concern for everyone advocating for human rights, environmental justice, and fair labor practices. Socially responsible investment helps punish corporations for their unethical practices, reduces our complicity in those practices, and forces corporations to become more accountable.
As part of instituting a socially responsible policy, the initiative calls for the Evergreen Foundation to divest from companies that profit from Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories. In doing so, we would be joining a worldwide nonviolent movement to work toward an end to the Palestine-Israel conflict, in which the US is so deeply entrenched.
The second initiative calls for Evergreen to end the use of Caterpillar equipment on campus until Caterpillar ends its involvement in human rights abuses. The Israeli military employs weaponized versions of Caterpillar D9 and D10 bulldozers, fully armored and equipped with heavy machine guns, to demolish Palestinian homes and markets, destroy farmland, and even commit extrajudicial killings. The latest iteration of Israel’s Caterpillar arsenal is the remote-controlled weaponized bulldozer, codenamed “Dawn’s Thunder,” which was used in Israel’s invasion of Gaza in 2008–9.
Although the Caterpillar Corporation claims both ignorance and innocence, Caterpillar has been put on notice for years by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, who have called on CAT to suspend its sales to Israel, and who accuse CAT of being complicit in war crimes and human rights abuses. Without economic pressure, CAT will continue to ignore these calls.
Boycott and divestment are tools of nonviolence that we can all participate in for social change, and it both honors and supports those in the conflict who have resisted and suffered to bring about peace and justice.
We remember Bassam Abu Rahme (aka “Phil”), who was killed by Israeli soldiers one year ago, as he nonviolently demonstrated against the expropriation of his village’s farmland. His relative Abdullah Abu Rahme, a leader in the nonviolent resistance, was arrested by Israel last December. He is currently in solitary confinement. There are many more like them.
Israeli peace activist Ezra Nawi, a plumber by trade, faces a prison term for attempting to prevent the demolition of Palestinian homes. Our colleague Rachel Corrie was killed by a weaponized Caterpillar bulldozer in Rafah when she tried to do the same. There are many more like them.
Recently, after students at UC–Berkeley initially passed a similar divestment resolution, Desmond Tutu sent a letter of support. He wrote, “You, students, are helping to pave that path to a just peace. I heartily endorse your divestment vote and encourage you to stand firm on the side of what is right.”
When we hear that prominent South Africans who suffered under apartheid – such as Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, Fatima Hassan, and Mondli Makhanya – find the conditions of Palestinians comparable to, or even worse than apartheid, we must take notice. If divesting from South African apartheid was necessary, then divesting from the illegal occupation of Palestine is necessary. We must send a message to the war profiteers.
Many people have asked, “Where is the Palestinian Martin Luther King?” There are many Palestinian Martin Luther Kings; but where are we? Civil rights leader Ella Baker reminds us that “the movement made Martin rather than Martin making the movement.” Let us be part of that movement.
It is time we end our complicity. We are both proud and humbled to stand with Desmond Tutu, and we are proud and honored to follow in the footsteps of amazing people such as Rachel Corrie, “Phil” Abu Rahme, Abdullah Abu Rahme, and Ezra Nawi. Our actions may pale in comparison to theirs, but it’s the least we can do for them—for what we’ve done to them.
When voting begins on March 17, please join us by voting yes on these two initiatives.
For more information, visit www.tescdivest.org.