Sparking debate, Students Confronting Apartheid in Israel (SCAI) launches divestment push

[Purveyor]

January 25, 2007

By Patrick Fitzgerald

Deeming it the “most moral, effective and nonviolent approach” to bringing peace to the Middle East, Students Confronting Apartheid in Israel (SCAI) last night launched its campaign calling on the University to selectively divest from companies with ties to Israel.


The campaign, which comes on the heels of successful efforts in 2005 that prompted Stanford to sever relations with corporations connected to Sudanese government, drew the ire of a number of student and faculty members concerned with the use of “apartheid” in the group’s name and its potential to further polarize student dialogue.

Speaking in front of a crowd of about 150 students, faculty and community members in Tressider Oak West, senior and SCAI President Omar Shakir, a senior, outlined the group’s case for divestment and offered a brief history of Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Shakir presented a five-part divestment approach in which he called for the University Board of Trustees to divest from companies that: support Israel’s military, aid the construction or maintenance of the West Bank “separation fence,” operate on occupied land, assist in the demolition of homes or engage in institutional discrimination. He defended the use of the word “apartheid,” arguing that while the Israeli and South African regimes are different on the surface, their result is the same.

“No one here is saying what is going on is genocide,” he said. “But the systemic discrimination and institutional racism is very clear.”

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http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2007/1/25/sparkingDebateScaiLaunchesDivestmentPush