SFP call on Oberlin to divest

To the Editors:

We, the undersigned, are appalled by the human rights abuses against Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government, the continual military occupation and colonization of Palestinian territory by Israeli armed forces and settlers, and the forcible eviction from and demolition of Palestinian homes, towns and cities. We find the recent attacks on Israeli civilians unacceptable and abhorrent. But these should not and do not negate the human rights of the Palestinian people.
As members of the Oberlin College community, we believe that our college should use its influence - political and financial - to encourage the United States government and the government of Israel to respect the human rights of the Palestinian people. We therefore call on the US government to stop military aid and arms sales to Israel until Israel meets the conditions outlined below. We also call on Oberlin College to divest from US companies that sell arms to Israel until these conditions are met:

1. Israel is in compliance with United Nations Resolution 242, which notes the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war, and which calls for withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from occupied territories.

2. Israel is in compliance with the United Nations Committee Against Torture 2001 Report which recommends that Israel’s use of legal torture be ended.

3. In compliance with the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel ceases building new settlements, and vacates existing settlements, in the Occupied Territories. (“The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into territories it occupies,” Article 49, paragraph 6.)

4. Israel acknowledges in principle the applicability of United Nations Resolution 194 with respect to the rights of refugees and accepts that refugees should either be allowed to return to their former lands or else be compensated for their losses, as agreed by the Palestinians and Israelis in bilateral negotiations.

To add your name to this petition or to find out more about it, visit our
website at www.oberlin.edu/~sfp.

—Nava Etshalom
College junior
–Lina Elbadawi
College sophomore
–Rehan Rafay Jamil
College first-year
–Bobby Bergeron
Oberlin resident
–Ariella Cohen
College junior
–Marta Berg
College junior
–Alexander Brinks
Oberlin resident
–Zoe Chace
College junior
–Paul Gargagliano
College senior
–Shelley Goldman
College senior
–Mike Sowiski
College senior
–Yussef Cole
College sophomore
–Pegah Rahmanian
College first-year
–Haley Pollack
College junior
–Rebecca DeCola
College junior
–Laura Alvarez
College sophomore
Members of Students for a Free Palestine