Students Boycott Apartheid

SBA on anniversary of BDS call

Jul 9, 2009 Announcements | Author: Hannah

July 9, 2009

Ramallah, Palestine

On the fifth anniversary of the International Court of Justice decision against Israel’s apartheid wall, and the fourth anniversary of the Palestinian civil society call for boycotts, divestments, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, we are proud to announce the completion of the first-ever Students Boycott Apartheid (SBA) tour and workshop. For the past two weeks, delegates from nine North American colleges and universities have traveled throughout Palestine, meeting with organizations and participating in a three-day workshop to strengthen the student BDS movement.

The Students Boycott Apartheid 2009 delegation was organized around the 2005 call on the international community to apply BDS against Israel until it complies with international law and recognizes the rights of three different but overlapping groups of Palestinian people. The demands on Israel are:
“1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall;
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.”

The Students Boycott Apartheid delegation forwards these demands through community and campus activism in North America and through relationships with Palestinian activists and organizations.

The travel portion of the trip gave participants necessary tools to understand and speak about apartheid in Palestine and to promote BDS in creative and strategic ways. The delegation met with organizations and individuals in the occupied West Bank and inside 1948 Palestine, as well as with students in Gaza (through video conference), all of whom live under and are resisting the Israeli apartheid system. In Mas’ha a family holds steadfast as the wall entirely surrounds their home; in the Naqab, villagers organize for recognition of their rights; in Yaffa, a neighborhood struggles against ongoing displacement and gentrification; in Lyd, hip hop artists bring publicity to racial and economic discrimination; in Dheisheh and Balata refugee camps, children dance dabke and create films to maintain their cultural identity in the face of occupation; in East Jerusalem, a family remains near their settler-occupied home in a tent that has been destroyed six times by the Israeli government. Students also met with representatives from Badil, Who Profits, the BDS National Committee (BNC), and others to discuss BDS as a tactic for resistance against apartheid.

Following the travel, 20 North American and Palestinian students participated in a workshop coordinated with the Right to Education campaign, Baladna, and Stop the Wall to share experiences and strategies for further campus organizing. Students from North America gained tools and resources to organize Israeli Apartheid Week and divestment campaigns at their universities. The workshop also provided the rare opportunity for students from the West Bank to meet Palestinians from 1948 Palestine, connecting these separated populations and contributing to further solidarity. Students from Birzeit, Najah, and Bethlehem Universities developed connections with one another and are committed to supporting each other’s future campaigns. Palestinians from Baladna organization in Haifa deepened their understanding of systems of apartheid in the West Bank and are determining what forms of BDS will be possible in their communities. All participants will continue individual and joint campaigns that recognize the necessity of a global grassroots movement of economic and political pressure to force Israel to abandon occupation, colonialism, and apartheid.