UC Berkley Action

A student group is doing wonders at UC Berkely. Two leading students are Snehal Singavi and Osama Qasem. Snehal gave an excellent presentation at Columbia University on their actions and plans for divestment recently. He presented a summary of the actions of the group called Students for Justice In Palestine http://www.justiceinpalestine.org

He asked other students at other campuses to pick-up the banner and do what the brave UC students did and plan to do. The students staged a sit-in and many were cited. Many in the outside community lent their support by rallying outside, giving speeches and holding banners (such as Will Youmans and Elias Rashmawi of ADC-Sacramento, Richard Becker of the International Action Center and so on). A smaller Zionist rally was also outside :-)

The students who organized and staged this also plan more action. I encourage all student groups to do similar action. They do ask for similar actions at other universities. I suggest Al-Awda chapters take on this mantle, sponsor and endorse similar events especially since many of our chapters and committees have lots of politically active students.

This article below from the student Newspaper in Berkely describes details of the events. Kudos to the brave students (most of those cited were actually not even Arab). Please send letters to the editor to opinion@dailycal.org especially if you are a UC Berkely student).

Activists Hold Wheeler Under Siege Regents* Involvement With Israel Protested Photo Caption: Joanna Eveland was arrested and later received a citation during a demonstration in front of Wheeler Hall yesterday protesting the UC Regents* involvement with businesses in Israel.

Locking all but three of the 12 doors to the building with chains and linking arms to block the three open entrances, activists disrupted classes to protest the UC Board of Regents' involvement with companies working in Israel.

 UCPD ended the demonstration at 6 p.m. after the protesters nearly >closed off the building for the entire afternoon. With a team of 30 officers, police pulled students and community members from the doorways they were blocking, telling people trying to enter the building that it was "occupied."

Police removed the chains from doors, as they presented a fire hazard and potential code violation, said acting campus fire marshall Dennis Mueting.

While the bulk of police action took place inside the building's lobby and entrances, speakers rallied on the steps in front of the building. "We chose Wheeler because it's geographically strategic," said Noura Erakat, a junior majoring in developmental studies who was arrested. "While (in Palestine) I saw how just because I had an American passport, I had more privileges. It is seeing post-colonial textbooks come to life."

 Activists proclaimed the need for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestine and the need for the UC system to rid itself of any indirect involvement in the turmoil in the Middle East, which has resulted in thousands of deaths.

 Shingavi said the protesters were using their "critical thinking tools" to pressure the UC Regents to divest the university system from such companies as Nokia, General Electric, and Hewlett Packard*all of which have heavy ties in Israel.

 "It's really disgusting that they are willing to do this to people protesting peacefully," he said. The protesters, most of whom are members of Students for Justice in Palestine, said they knew they could be arrested if they blocked people from entering the building at all of the doors. But with a 40-person team, the protesters spanned out and blocked the few doors not chained shut, telling those trying to get in to "turn around and ask your regents to negotiate."

The demonstration began at 12 p.m. under Sather Gate and then proceeded to Wheeler Hall*one of the largest teaching facilities on campus. Police stood watch throughout the event*the second anti-investment rally on campus this year.

Marie Felde, a UC Berkeley spokesperson, said as education is the mission of the campus, the university would take action if access to the building was prohibited. Police presence increased gradually throughout the day.

 Amid picket signs and chants of "we must divest now," Near Eastern studies professor Daniel Boyarin said he agreed with the message of the protest. "I am not a rabble-rouser or cheerleader, but the only hope we have is to get our university to divest," he said through a megaphone.

 Members of the Israeli Action Committee were also present, beginning at 10 a.m., to counter "the rhetoric" from the protesters. > "Most of these people are for a Palestinian state, but when they come out here and call Zionists racists, we feel the need to protest," said Mark Rosenberg, a member of the committee.

Richard Cain, who watched the demonstration, said he thought the protest was misguided. "I think they want to pick something to attack, and the university is an easy target," he said. "To me it doesn't do much good to scream and yell about Hewlett Packard."