ASUC Judicial Council : UC Berkeley divestment is unconstitutional

From the Daily Cal:

The ASUC Judicial Council has ruled parts of controversial divestment bill SB 160 unconstitutional, removing clauses that require the ASUC to divest from companies affiliated with the Israeli military.

In an opinion released Sunday, the council ruled that the ASUC Senate lacked the authority to divest ASUC funds, saying that investment decisions must be made by the ASUC Investment Committee.

“The ASUC Senate has no constitutional power to craft specific investment policies,” the opinion states. “According to the By-Laws, the only body in the ASUC with the authority and expertise to write investment policy is the Investment Committee. Thus, when the ASUC specified companies by name and issued strict directives such as ‘will divest’ in SB 160, it overstepped its legislative bounds.”

The ASUC decision, and all the UC Student Senate decisions are merely symbolic acts. The UC Regents, the governing body of the University of California  rejected  the option of divestment from Israel in 2005.   From a May 2010 statement  by the University of California Regents’ Chair and Vice Chair along with the UC President:

“The overarching question of the University of California divesting from any company is a complex one and any action considered must conform to State and federal laws, as well as to the University’s fiduciary responsibilities as a public entity to protect the security of its pension and endowment funds.  In 2005, the Regents stated that a policy of divestment from a foreign government shall be adopted by the University only when the United States government declares that  a foreign regime is committing acts of genocide. It was also noted at the time that divestment is a serious decision that should be rarely pursued....”

UPDATE:

Former ASUC Senator George Kadifa, the sponsor of the divestment bill declares "victory" in the face of his bill being declared unconstitutional. After all, when they "lose" they  "win". Note please, his ready admission that  none of the companies listed for divestment were actually held by the ASUC.  Do you need any more proof that the parasitical SLP, the MSA and their handlers are willing to put their school and their classmates through a divisive time-consuming and agonizing process simply to further their narrow political agenda? 



"Hello Everyone,

I want to provide a final update on SB 160. On May 26th at 2:12 pm Judicial Council released their final verdict on SB 160. The final verdict is attached to this note containing a final copy of the bill. Out of a 2,932-word bill J Council removed exactly 31 words. All essential clauses calling upon the UC Regents and Berkeley campus to divest were left completely intact. The only words removed were non-essential language added at the 11th hour calling upon the ASUC to divest their funds. (The ASUC has no investments in companies profiting from the occupation and likely never will, as the Boston Trust already follows stringent  ethical investment guidelines).

SB160 passed through the legislative body, withstood a veto threat by the executive body, and the amended version of the bill has been approved as constitutional by the judicial body. There are no more hurdles the opposition can put this bill through; this bill is an official statement on behalf of the ASUC a body that represents the 35,000 students at the University of California at Berkeley.

This bill was made possible by the tireless work of hundreds of individuals and parties involved.

To the many SJP members who pushed this issue forward: Ley, Isabel, Norah, Andrea, Nathan, Husam, Taliah, Tom, Maggie, Emiliano, Joe, Jessica, and Taqwa to name but a few. Your work and dedication paid off.

To the MEMSA community at large when we all work together there is nothing we can’t do.

To the Calserve communities and in particular to their party chairs Anais LaVoie and Salih Muhammed. You were unwavering and steadfast allies. This would have been impossible with out you.

To the Senators who found the courage to stand for human rights even for a very silenced people; Nolan Pack, Jorj Pacheco,Megan Majd, Sadia Saifuddin, Emily Chen, Nils Gilbertson, Klein Lieu, Sidronio Jacobo, Daley Vertiz, and DeeJay Pepito you were all amazing

To EAVP Shahryar Abassi for his incredible oratory skills and for EVP Justin Sayarath for maintaining his objectivity. Thank you.

To President Connor Landgraf the Dwight Eisenhower of the story thank you for keeping your promise even though it may have been a difficult one to keep

A special thank you to the time and energy of those that defended SB 160 in court. Nolan Pack, Jorj Pacheco, Liz Jackson you were all fantastic

A shout out to Judicial Council for putting up with Noah Ickowitz for a month and half I’m sure that must have been a challenging experience.

To a certain egocentric, ragingly narcissistic, self interested, self aggrandizing, self victimizing and enormously self-important AIPAC bought Senator(You know who you are and so does everyone else) – Thank you for your contributions to the debate you made this a more lively and exciting experience for all of us,

To AIPAC and its minions- (including of course the previous after mentioned senator) it takes true political skill and brilliance to defend your completely indefensible and morally bankrupt position. You did so spectacularly. What your arguments lacked in honesty they made up for in creativity. Hopefully that political skill could be better used someplace else.

To J Street for their well-intentioned schizophrenia. You were our most formidable opponents, now hurry up and change sides already you would make better allies.

To the many folks that helped out in many ways but couldn’t be mentioned in the space allotted. To all those who helped but whose names must be kept secret, thank you as well, you know who you are and you were indispensable.

And last but certainly not least for the courage and heroism of the many Palestinian students at Berkeley you were an inspiration to us all.

SB 160 has passed, Berkeley students have spoken and have demanded that their university and the UC Regents divest from the occupation of Palestine. This is just the beginning.

Next stop the Regents.

Roll on You Bears!!!!"

Jewish community Hero Tammi Benjamin under Attack

"When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser."

Socrates

A  eleventh hour resolution attacking  our Jewish Community hero, Tammi Rossman Benjamin has been introduced  to the ASUC under the guise of a resolution against hate speech.    It will be voted on at Cal Berkeley tomorrow.  The sponsoring senators include  ASUC Senator Sadia Saifuddin, Senator Klein Lieu, Senator Rosemary Hua, Senator George Kadifa and  Senator Daley Vertiz.  Tammi Rossman Benjamin has been  singled out because of her tireless work with the Amcha Initiative, fighting anti-Semitism on campus. This is just another attempt to silence her voice.

The resolution follows:

Resolution Condemning Islamophobic Hate Speech at the University of California

WHEREAS, the University of California has identified the issue of campus climate as a priority for administration, staff, and students across the UC system; and,

WHEREAS, the UC prides itself on welcoming students from any race, religion, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, yet pockets of racism and hate still exist on this campus which makes the UC an unwelcoming experience for certain communities; and,

WHEREAS, Islamophobia is defined as the irrational fear of Islam, Muslims, or anything related to the Islamic or Arab cultures and traditions; and,

WHEREAS, since September 11, 2001, Islamophobia has become the latest “hazing” technique across the United States and has created a chilling effect for Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians in their communities, work-environments, and campuses; and,

WHEREAS, according to a Gallup Study, 60% of of Muslim Americans say that Muslims face prejudice from Americans; and,

WHEREAS, 48% of Muslim Americans say that they have personally faced racial or religious discrimination, which is on par with Hispanic Americans (48%), and African Americans (45%), while 54% of Arab Americans say they have experienced this type of discrimination; and,

WHEREAS, since 2006, Muslim students have been targeted for surveillance by the FBI in Orange County, who said that they are paying particular attention to Muslim students at UC Irvine and UCLA; and,

WHEREAS, this surveillance is occurring on the East Coast as well, with the New York Police Department surveillance of Muslim students at Yale, Columbia, Syracuse, Rutgers, New York University, and Brooklyn College; and,

WHEREAS, these racist and selective surveillance procedures are justified by figures in mainstream media, such as David Horowitz, who defines the core mission of the MSA to “advance the Islamic Jihad against the Jews and Christians of the Middle East, and ultimately against the United States”, and,

WHEREAS, attempts to mischaracterize and chill Palestinian activism have occurred on Berkeley’s own campus, with a lawsuit filed in July 2011(later dismissed in court) against the UC Regents and President Mark Yudof containing extremely Islamophobic and anti-Arab rhetoric referring to Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslims Students Association as “anti-Semitic” and “pro-terrorist”; and,

WHEREAS, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege that “the more publicly active SJP may be understood as the more militant arm of the outwardly benevolent MSA” and that SJP, MSA, and MSU all “fund terrorism” and are tied to terrorist groups; and,

WHEREAS, more recently, UC Santa Cruz lecturer Tammi Rossman-Benjamin has been responsible for inciting racist and Islamophobic rhetoric by claiming that students in the MSA and SJP are “...generally motivated by very strong religious and political convictions, they have a fire in their belly, they come to the university, many of them are foreign students who come from countries and cultures where anti-Semitism is how they think about the world … These are not your ordinary student groups like College Republicans or Young Democrats. These are students who come with a serious agenda, who have ties to terrorist organizations.”; and,

WHEREAS, claims such as those cited above create an unsafe and divisive environment for Middle Eastern, Muslim, South Asian students, and others who may be perceived as being of similar descent, and these claims are completely opposite to the values of a premier university system; and,

WHEREAS, the President of the University of California, Mark Yudof, is responsible for advocating for all students regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation; and,

WHEREAS, the University of California is no place for hateful and inflammatory rhetoric and holds its students, faculty, staff, and affiliates to higher standards that promote a positive and inclusive campus climate; therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED, that the ASUC condemn the remarks of lecturer Tammi Rossman-Benjamin and those described in the above-mentioned lawsuit as hateful and inflammatory; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the ASUC urge President Mark Yudof to condemn these inflammatory, hateful, and racist assumptions by UCSC lecturer Tammi Rossman-Benjamin against Middle Eastern, Muslim, South Asian, and Palestinian activists; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that EAVP Shahryar Abbasi write a letter to UCOP condemning the racist and bigoted language by Tammi Rossman-Benjamin and President Yudof’s failure to address the matter, as well as passing a similar bill with UCSA; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the ASUC urge other campuses to pass similar bills in their respective student governments.

A reminder to Tammi: "  First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."    Mahatma Gandhi.   And for the rest of you, consider dropping  the ASUC senators a quick email.  You can reach them here.   Ask them to eliminate the attacks on Tammi Benjamin  from this resolution

 UPDATE:

The resolution was passed by the ASUC last night.