U of Rochester SDS occupies building in solidarity with gaza, sign action plan with the administration

some of the questions floating around my head: what role does the academy (higher education) play in society? what role should it play? what responsibility do academics/intellectuals/scholars have in creating a more just world? this makes me think about trouillot's assertion that we must be transparent in stating our subjectivities and the reasons for our academic pursuits...

[Trouillot: "We [anthropologists] owe it to ourselves and to our interlocutors to say loudly that we have seen alternative visions of humankind--indeed more than any academic discipline--and that we know that this one may not be the most respectful of the planet we share, nor indeed the more accurate nor the most practical. We also owe it to ourselves to say that it is not the most beautiful nor the most optimistic." previous posts re: trouillot]

some context: the site for the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)

"The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel was launched in Ramallah in April 2004 by a group of Palestinian academics and intellectuals to join the growing international boycott movement. The Campaign built on the Palestinian call for a comprehensive economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel issued in August 2002 and a statement made by Palestinian academics and intellectuals in the occupied territories and in the Diaspora calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions in October 2003."

"The Palestinian Campaign is inspired by the historic role played by people of conscience in the international community of scholars and intellectuals who have shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in their struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott."

and from U of R SDS blog: (backwards-- their original declaration is below)

UR-SDS Declares Victory in less than 9 hours.

Submitted by ursds on Sat, 02/07/2009 - 04:29

We spoke for peace and solidarity with the Palestinians and we were heard. UR-SDS and friends declared a victory to our occupation just before midnight Friday (Feb. 6, 2009) when we signed a joint statement of understanding/plan of action with the Dean of Students where we found common ground on addressing our demands in a substantive manner. This final statement was approved overwhelmingly by a vote of the general assembly of all those present to the occupation.

The rough wording of the signed Joint Statement of Understanding/Action Plan is as follows:

1. University of Rochester will commit to provide any surplus goods or supplies that could assist the devastated University of Gaza.

2. University of Rochester will commit resources and information to assist fundraising for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

3. University of Rochester will commit to reach out to Palestinian students in order to provide them scholarships to the University of Rochester

4. University of Rochester will commit to organize an open forum to discuss why the University invests in weapons manufactures and discuss the process of the University moving toward a more socially responsible, transparent, and democratically controlled investment policy.

The spirit in the air at midnight was jubilation. Because we took a stand for peace and justice in Gaza, and we got the University of Rochester to act decisively to better the lives of the people of Gaza.

--

University of Rochester Students for a Democratic Society (UR-SDS)

U of R Students to Occupy Academic Building for Peace and in Solidarity with Gaza

Rochester, NY - 02/05/09-- Students from the University of Rochester and members of the local Rochester community will be occupying an academic building on campus tomorrow for peace and in solidarity with the people Gaza and in opposition to U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the recent atrocities in Gaza. The action, organized by U of R Students for a Democratic Society (UR-SDS), will begin on the afternoon of Friday, February 6 and will last until the University of Rochester administration meets the demands put forward.

The demands are:

1. Divestment: We demand the University of Rochester to adopt the "UR-Peaceful Investing Initiative" which institutes a peaceful investment policy to the university's endowment which includes divestment from corporations that manufacturer weapons and profit from war. (For example, the U of R invests in General Dynamics which manufactures weapons to maintain a 41-year occupation of the Palestinian territories and wars which slaughter Palestinian civilians by the 100s)

2. Humanitarian aid: We demand that the University of Rochester commit to a day of fundraising for humanitarian aid in Gaza within the next two weeks, as part of an ongoing commitment to provide financial support for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

3. Academic aid: We demand that the University of Rochester twin with the devastated Gaza University and provide the necessary academic aid (e.g., recycled computers, books, etc. ).

4. Scholarships: We demand that the University of Rochester grant a minimum of five scholarships to Palestinian students every year.

The recent war on Gaza has devastated Gazan society, taken hundreds of innocent lives, and has escalated the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Given the United States' central role in supporting the war in Gaza and a harsh 41-year military occupation of the Palestinian territories, the students' actions are to express solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle for life and peace.

The student occupation will feature a number of informational and peaceful consciousness raising events such as public talks, teach-ins, and sit-ins. The action was inspired by a wave of student occupations that occurred in 16 universities in England following the Israeli assault on Gaza.

This event is organized by the University of Rochester Students for a Democratic Society (UR-SDS), a local chapter of the national Students for a Democratic Society. UR-SDS was founded in the Fall 2008 semester and seeks to effect progressive social change on campus through educational events and direct actions.