The Divestment Slate at Cal Berkeley: Framing the Issues

What a difference a year makes.
For 2013, UC Berkeley perpetual grad student and anti-Israel activist Tom Pessah  presented the SJP endorsed divestment slate.  He's done this before.


Do you support the nonviolent divestment movement for Palestinian human rights?
 So do the following candidates for ASUC (Cal student government) office, all of whom are strong allies of Students for Justice in Palestine.
 Your vote WILL bring to ASUC the people who will advocate for justice in Palestine, so VOTE at http://election.asuc.org/ from TODAY, Tuesday April 9, at 9:00 AM until 11:59 PM on Thursday (April 11).
 The ASUC uses ranked-choice voting, so candidates should be be ordered in terms of preference (#1, #2, #3) to ensure your vote counts!
 PRESIDENT
 1. DeeJay Pepito, CalSERVE
 http://www.calserve.org/deejay/
 SENATE
 1. Talïah Mirmalek, #119, Independent and SJP member
 https://www.facebook.com/Taliah4Senate
 2. Naweed Mohabbat, #116, Independent
 https://www.facebook.com/Naweed4Senate
 3. Briana Mullen, #123, CalSERVE, or
 Solomon Nwoche, #137, Independent Campaign for Common Sense
 EXTERNAL AFFAIRS VICE PRESIDENT
 1. Spencer Pritchard, CalSERVE
 EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
 1. Nolan Pack, CalSERVE
 ACADEMIC AFFAIRS VICE PRESIDENT
 1. Valerie Jameson, CalSERVE


Tom's announcement from the 2012 election follows:

Do you support UC divestment from companies that enable Israel's illegal and racist occupation?
So do the following candidates for ASUC office, all of whom are strong allies of Students for Justice in Palestine.

VOTE at http://election.asuc.org/ from Tuesday April 10 9:00 AM until 11:59 PM on Thurs. April 12
The ASUC uses ranked-choice voting, so candidates should be be ordered in terms of preference (#1, #2, #3) to ensure your vote counts.


PRESIDENT
1. Andy Albright, CalSERVE
http://www.calserve.org/andrew-albright-for-asuc-president/

SENATE
1. Sadia Saifuddin, #138 Independent
https://www.facebook.com/SadiaSaifuddin138ForASUCSenate

2. George Kadifa, #186 SJP member, Student Action
3. Isaac Kreisman #205, Students for a Democratic University (SDU)
4. Deejay Pepito #184, CalSERVE


EXTERNAL AFFAIRS VICE PRESIDENT
We are fortunate to have three candidates running for this position who support SJP's goals (a sign of the successful work we've done on campus): Isabel Sausjord (SDU), Sydney Fang (CalSERVE), and Shahryar Abassi (Student Action).
Isabel, however, is a current and active member of SJP.

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Candidates from both CalSERVE   Anthony Galace and SDU  James Chang are allies.

ACADEMIC VICE PRESIDENT
Candidates from both SDU Frank Luna  and CalSERVE Naomi Wilson  are allies.

Notice the difference in the language. In 2012 , Tom wrote  "Do you support UC divestment from companies that enable Israel's illegal and racist occupation?"  This year he couches the same movement in quite different terms ,  in the language of human rights, asking instead  "Do you support the nonviolent divestment movement for Palestinian human rights?"

The BDS movement hasn't changed. Why has the  marketing-  the selling of the movement- changed?  Dispel any notion that this is a grass roots, student lead movement- its actually highly orchestrated and well funded. There are BDS boot camps. BDS conferences. And there are professional BDS activists and trainers. The Divest Now handbook for Student Divestment campaigns specifically admonishes students "to be deliberate in the language they use to frame divestment...", and warns them not to confuse people with actual history or current politics.

Tom's betting on the proposition that its easier to sell the uninitiated on "human rights" rather than on frothing at the mouth Israel hate. He might be right. We'll see soon enough.  The ASUC- the student Senate at UC Berkeley  will be examining divesting from Israel this week