Hamzeh Daoud resigns as Stanford RA

If Hamzeh Daoud assumed the outcry over his threatening posts would die down, he was wrong.

From Inside Higher Ed: After Threat of Violence, Calls to Fire RA

From the Jewish Journal: More Expletive-Laden Anti-Zionist Social Media Posts Emerge from Stanford Student Who Threatened Violence Against Zionists

From the Times of Israel  Stanford urged to act against student who said he’d ‘physically fight Zionists’

From the National Review: Stanford Student Threatens Violence against Pro-Israel Students
From Stanford's own school paper: A statement from SCR on Hamzeh Daoud’s threat

As of today, Hamzeh Daoud has since stepped down from his position as a resident assistant, to the relief of Jewish and Israeli students on campus.

Stanford University issued the following statement on Aug. 3, 2018.statement regarding Hamzeh Daoud Facebook post

We have heard many expressions of profound concern in recent days over the issues surrounding a Facebook post by a Stanford student scheduled to be a resident assistant (RA) in the upcom his staff position as an RA, expressing deep regret for the original post and recognizing the importance of promoting healing across the many communities that make up the Stanford community.ing 2018-19 academic year.

The university has been engaged with the student author of the post, and he has made the decision to step down from his staff position as an RA, expressing deep regret for the original post and recognizing the importance of promoting healing across the many communities that make up the Stanford community.

As we have said before but cannot emphasize strongly enough, threats of physical violence have absolutely no place in the Stanford community. Students must feel physically safe in our student residences and be able to voice their views on our campus without fear of retaliation. However, in addition to physical safety, it is essential that all students feel a deep and abiding sense of welcome and belonging in our campus community.

The effects of the original post have continued rippling through our campus community and beyond. There have been many expressions of concern for the safety of Jewish students at Stanford. There also have been expressions of concern at the social media campaigns, including death threats, which have been targeting the author of the post, along with concern for the well-being of other communities as they return to campus this fall. Staff in multiple parts of the university have been working over the last many days to check in with students and extend our support to them.

Daoud will be seeking therapy.

Stanford's Hamzeh Daoud physically threatens Zionist students.

Writing on his Facebook page, Hamzeh Daoud , a member of Stanford's Students for Justice in Palestine and a former University Senator  declared  "i'm going to physically fight zionists on campus next year".

The Stanford College Republicans responded to this call for violence by asking for the University to take disciplinary action against Daoud.

SCR is disgusted by a threat of violence issued by Hamzeh Daoud, a rising junior at Stanford University, toward pro-Israel students. Daoud, who is active in Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine, a former ASSU Undergraduate Senator (Hamzeh Daoud for ASSU Senate), and who will be a Residential Assistant in one of Stanford’s dormitories in the 2018-2019 school year, vowed on his personal Facebook page to “physically fight zionists on campus next year.” Threatening to assault other students who hold a different point of view is anathema to a free society and any kind of education, let alone the operation of the premier research university in the world.

Stanford should take disciplinary action against Mr. Daoud and SCR demands that Stanford terminate Daoud’s position as a Residential Assistant in the Norcliffe dormitory immediately. Mr. Daoud’s statements reveal him to be a danger to the safety of students on Stanford’s campus, and such an individual should never be put in any position of authority over other students, particularly in a dormitory that includes freshmen. Moreover, while we are disturbed by Hamzeh Daoud’s statements, we find it unsurprising that a member of SJP, an organization with financial ties to terrorist affiliates, would issue a call to violence against pro-Israel students.

After his words were exposed by the Campus Republicans, Daoud changed his post

Stanford Campus Defaced with Swastikas

This weekend,  several residential facilities on the Stanford campus were defaced with swastikas. The vandalism was condemned widely as a hate crime, by student groups, religious leaders and university administrators. Stanford police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime under its Acts of Intolerance Protocol.

Stanford President John Hennessy has condemned the early Sunday morning vandalism of swastikas spray-painted around student residences as an act of hate "that has no place at Stanford..."

"I am deeply troubled by the act of vandalism, including symbols of hate, that has marred our campus," Hennessy said Sunday. "The university will not tolerate hate crimes and this incident will be fully investigated, both by campus police and by the university under our Acts of Intolerance Protocol. This level of incivility has no place at Stanford. I ask everyone in the university community to stand together against intolerance and hate, and to affirm our commitment to a campus community where discourse is civil, where we value differences, and where every individual is respected."

Later, hundreds attended a Stand in Solidarity against AntiSemitism Vigil in White plaza organized by Jewish groups on campus.

According to the Stanford review, 

Similar Neo-Nazi graffiti incidents have occurred on many college campuses. UC Berkeley, UCDavis, Harvard, Yale, George Washington University — to name a few —  have all had reported incidents of anti-semitic graffiti.

Down on the Farm. Another BDS fail

While anti-Israel activists chortled over their short-lived BDS  paper "victory" at Stanford, the Board of Trustees was gathering information to formally denounce it, and Hillel was preparing the last laugh

On April 7, the Graduate School of Business  hosted its third annual Israeli Entrepreneurship Fair, an event for Israeli companies from Silicon Valley.   This  event was a collaboration between Hillel at Stanford University and the Israeli students of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and featured 15 companies involved with social media, crowd funding, cyber-security and  bio-tech 

Over 300 students attended,  meeting representatives from the various companies,  listening to presentations and watching demos of new products.

From the Stanford Daily:

“When you look at the education backgrounds of all the [GSB] professors, the most overrepresented university outside the U.S. is Hebrew [University],” said Ophir Samson, a first year graduate student at the GSB and one of the organizers of the fair. Tal Briller, who works in tech in Silicon Valley, and Yaron Fishelson, a staff member at Hillel, also organized the fair.

Samson added that the link between Stanford and Israel extends beyond its faculty. He explained that Israel, like Silicon Valley, has a culture that is well disposed to startups and tech companies.

“There’s more venture capital per head [in Israel] than any other place in the world; there are more startups per capita than any [other] place in the world; and The Economist recently voted it the second-best place in the world to be an entrepreneur, after Silicon Valley,” Samson said. “So naturally there are strong links between Silicon Valley and Israel. And the [GSB] has a very… important role in nurturing that.”

Samson was excited by the turnout, explaining that many of the companies represented at the fair are “some of the top Israeli entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.”

If you are looking for more opportunities to learn from the Start-up nation, consider a week or more at the Innovnation Summer Program, studying with leading Israeli entrepreneurs while earning academic credits  at Hebrew University's Rothberg International School.

To SJP and the BDS cru- how does it feel to be irrelevant?

BDS fails of the Week

 And the BDS fails of the week include:

 *  Ohio State Treasurer  Josh Mandel has purchased  $42 million of Israel Bonds  There are now over $80 million dollars worth of Israel Bonds in the state's treasury portfolio. The March 1 purchase is the largest single government purchase of Israel Bonds in United States history, according to the Cleveland Jewish News.  According to Mandel.“We believe this is a sound investment for the taxpayers of Ohio and consistent with our strategy of investing in safe and strong securities.”

*  Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel), the largest multi-country mobile operator in the world, and Amdocs, provider of customer experience systems and services have opened a joint development center in Israel on Sunday. “We have been extremely satisfied with the wealth of talent in Israel”, said Allen Lew, Chief Executive Officer of Group Digital L!fe, SingTel.

 *  The Associated Students of Stanford University Undergraduate Senate have rejected a Divestment  proposal proposed by the Students for Palestinian Equal Rights (SPER)  The bill originally would have committed the Senate to urge the university’s Board of Trustees to reconsider endowment investments in 8 companies doing business in Israel   A revised bill  pared the list to two. There was only one vote in favor of the resolution.  A wide spectrum of people weighed in on the proposal, with J street's Jeremy Ben Ami adding his voice to those opposed.

In fairness, it should be mentioned that the  UC Riverside student Senate voted to divest. Their decision was immediately followed by this statement  from UC Riverside's  Interim Chancellor Jane Close Conoley

UC Riverside’s student government, Associated Students of UCR, passed a resolution called “Divestment from Companies that Profit from Apartheid,” which calls for UCR to divest of any holdings with companies “materially supporting or profiting from Israel’s occupation” of Palestine.
It is important to note that such divestment is not the policy of the University of California system nor of UC Riverside.  Moreover, The UC Board of Regents requires this action only when the U.S. government deems it necessary. No such declaration has been made regarding Israel.
To quote a statement issued in May 2010 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.”
The campus looks forward to continued constructive exchanges that benefit our students, faculty and community.

Having trouble keeping track of the BDS fails?  Thanks to Avi Mayer, there's an interactive Google map that provides you with all the information you need.  I think we are going to have some fun with this.

UPDATE:

Legendary  singer and actress Barbra Streisand will perform in Israel on June 18 at the opening ceremony of Shimon Peres’s annual Presidential Conference, in  honor of Peres' 90th birthday.  Streisand, 70, has visited Israel, has performed in Friends of the IDF fundraisers  but her June 18 appearance will mark her first official performance in the Jewish state.

Here's a taste of things to come:
Barbra Streisand singing Hatikvah

Stanford Caterpillar protest falls flat

The announcement went out to dozens of lists. It read:
Dear People of Conscience,

"The CEO of Caterpillar is speaking Thursday May 24th at 12 PM in Cemex Auditorium. Caterpillar violates international law and principles of human rights by supplying bulldozers to the Israeli military to illegally demolish Palestinian homes. Since 1967 Israel has illegally demolished about 25,000 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank. The CEO of Caterpillar obviously thinks profits are more important than international law, human rights, and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of innocent people. Join Students for Palestinian Equal Rights to demonstrate against home demolitions and violations of international law and human rights. We will show our discontent with Caterpillar's unethical and illegal business practices Thursday May 24th at 12 PM outside Cemex Auditorium. Stand up for human rights and the tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians."

So, Josh, what if you gave a protest and no one came?

There was a total of 3 protesters standing quietly outside the auditorium, completely ignored and irrelevant. Inside there were about 200 students listening attentively to Caterpillar CEO, Doug Oberhelman. What did they hear? For more than 85 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent. With 2011 sales and revenues of $60.138 billion, Caterpillar remains the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives, much to the profound annoyance of the BDS cru.

Oh, yes. The issue of Israel never came up.

So Josh Schott. How does it feel to be irrelevant?

Richard Falk at Stanford. "Hamas? Not anti-Semitic"

Richard Falk wouldn't recognize anti-Semitism if it removed him from his house, separated him from his family and put him in a "work" camp.

On some level, we all suspected this. He did after all, issue a glowing endorsement of Gilad Atzmon's newest screed. And Falk’s recent publication of a cartoon depicting Jews as bloodthirsty dogs clearly crossed the red lines of hate speech. Falk himself must have realized that, and scurried to delete it and to cover his tracks.

See the documentation at UNWatch

Richard Falk spoke at at Stanford Feb. 6, and may very well have crossed those lines again.

Asked by an audience member about the role of Hamas in the peace process, Falk replied " As far as I know in the last part of your question, the Hamas perspective is directed at achieving Palestinian self-determination challenging Israel. But I have no evidence that it includes an anti-Semitic – whatever is meant in this context by anti-Semitic perspective"

Ok, Mr. Falk, Lets try this from the Hamas Charter:

Article Seven:
The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the links in the chain of the struggle against the Zionist invaders....
Moreover, if the links have been distant from each other and if obstacles, placed by those who are the lackeys of Zionism in the way of the fighters obstructed the continuation of the struggle, the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realisation of Allah's promise, no matter how long that should take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:

"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).


Article Thirteen:
Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. Abusing any part of Palestine is abuse directed against part of religion. Nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its religion. Its members have been fed on that. For the sake of hoisting the banner of Allah over their homeland they fight. "Allah will be prominent, but most people do not know."

Now and then the call goes out for the convening of an international conference to look for ways of solving the (Palestinian) question. Some accept, others reject the idea, for this or other reason, with one stipulation or more for consent to convening the conference and participating in it. Knowing the parties constituting the conference, their past and present attitudes towards Moslem problems, the Islamic Resistance Movement does not consider these conferences capable of realising the demands, restoring the rights or doing justice to the oppressed. These conferences are only ways of setting the infidels in the land of the Moslems as arbitraters. When did the infidels do justice to the believers?
"But the Jews will not be pleased with thee, neither the Christians, until thou follow their religion; say, The direction of Allah is the true direction. And verily if thou follow their desires, after the knowledge which hath been given thee, thou shalt find no patron or protector against Allah." (The Cow - verse 120).

Article Fifteen:
The day that enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem. In face of the Jews' usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised. To do this requires the diffusion of Islamic consciousness among the masses, both on the regional, Arab and Islamic levels. It is necessary to instill the spirit of Jihad in the heart of the nation so that they would confront the enemies and join the ranks of the fighters.

Article Twenty:
... The society that confronts a vicious enemy which acts in a way similar to Nazism, making no differentiation between man and woman, between children and old people - such a society is entitled to this Islamic spirit. Our enemy relies on the methods of collective punishment. He has deprived people of their homeland and properties, pursued them in their places of exile and gathering, breaking bones, shooting at women, children and old people, with or without a reason. The enemy has opened detention camps where thousands and thousands of people are thrown and kept under sub-human conditions. Added to this, are the demolition of houses, rendering children orphans, meting cruel sentences against thousands of young people, and causing them to spend the best years of their lives in the dungeons of prisons.

In their Nazi treatment, the Jews made no exception for women or children. Their policy of striking fear in the heart is meant for all. They attack people where their breadwinning is concerned, extorting their money and threatening their honour. They deal with people as if they were the worst war criminals.

Article Twenty-Eight:
The Zionist invasion is a vicious invasion. It does not refrain from resorting to all methods, using all evil and contemptible ways to achieve its end. It relies greatly in its infiltration and espionage operations on the secret organizations it gave rise to, such as the Freemasons, The Rotary and Lions clubs, and other sabotage groups. All these organizations, whether secret or open, work in the interest of Zionism and according to its instructions. They aim at undermining societies, destroying values, corrupting consciences, deteriorating character and annihilating Islam. It is behind the drug trade and alcoholism in all its kinds so as to facilitate its control and expansion.

We should not forget to remind every Moslem that when the Jews conquered the Holy City in 1967, they stood on the threshold of the Aqsa Mosque and proclaimed that "Mohammed is dead, and his descendants are all women." Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people. "May the cowards never sleep."

Richard Falk has served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur of human rights in the Palestinian Territories since 1967. In 2001, he served on a 3 person human rights inquiry commission for the Palestinian Territories . Is he an anti-Semite? I couldn't possible know what is in his heart. But certainly, he has positioned himself as an enabler of anti-Semitism, and a fellow traveller of anti-Semites. For a "human rights activist" that's a very poor choice.

Understanding the BDS Movement

From an article by Avishai Don in the Harvard Crimson

Avisahi, processing strong intestinal fortitude has endured the reading , cover to cover of Omar Barghouti's book “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions.”

"Next weekend, the University of Pennsylvania will host the second national BDS conference, an event that will advocate for the “growing global campaign to boycott, divest from and sanction (BDS) the State of Israel.” Last April, Omar Barghouti, a leader and spokesperson of this campaign, spoke at Harvard. He insisted that anyone wanting to learn more about the fundamental tenets of BDS should read his recently released book, aptly titled “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions.”

So I followed his advice—I bought a copy of Barghouti’s book and read it from cover to cover. He writes some things in this work about the aims of BDS that lead me to believe that the movement is being far from forthright about its ultimate goals.

The Penn conference states that the purpose of the global BDS campaign is to isolate Israel economically “until it complies with its obligations under international and human rights law.” Understanding this to mean ending the Israeli occupation and fostering a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, a number of Zionists—that is, individuals who believe in the Jewish state’s right to exist—have either joined the BDS Call or implicitly sanctioned it. Two years ago in the Los Angeles Times, for example, an Israeli professor insisted that he supports BDS because it is “the only way to save his country.” Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization composed of both “Zionists [and] anti-Zionists,” considers itself “proud to be a part of the BDS movement.” Last year, J Street, an American liberal Zionist organization, held a panel at their national conference on the efficacy of this movement’s tactics “as a means to end the occupation.” Although J Street does not endorse the BDS movement, J Street’s president describes it in his book as a group of “activists who seek to raise pressure…against Israel to end the occupation.”

Clearly, these individuals have not read Barghouti’s work.

“A few Israeli and international activists have a tendency to make the [BDS] struggle Israel-centric, arguing that ending the occupation is good for Israel, above everything else,” Barghouti writes. “We totally reject that ‘save Israeli apartheid’ view.” He goes on to say that although BDS should coalesce with diverse political forces, “caution should be exercised in alliances with ‘soft’ Zionists, lest they assume the leadership of the BDS movement in the West, lowering the ceiling of its demands beyond recognition.”

So what, then, are BDS’s demands? Although Barghouti insists that BDS is neutral on the debate about a one-state versus two-state solution, even a cursory glance at Barghouti’s book reveals that this movement considers the existence of a Jewish state in the region patently unacceptable. For example, Barghouti explains that his movement cannot ally with Israeli peace groups, because even “the most radical Israeli ‘Zionist-left’ figures and groups are still Zionist, adhering to the racist principles of Zionism” that “maintain Israel’s character as a colonial, ethnocentric, apartheid state,” which BDS seeks to dismantle.

If the BDS movement were more open about its aims to purge the Jewish state from the Middle East—rather than just end some of its policies—I could have written an op-ed decrying the movement for its distortion of international law rather than its duplicity. I could have asked, for example, how the movement could possibly believe that a liberal democracy cannot have an ethnic identity when democracies across Eastern Europe—including members of the European Union like Finland, Slovenia and Germany—explicitly privilege one ethnicity over others in areas like immigration and culture. I could have also noted how odd it is that the movement vocally opposes the ethnic nature of the Jewish state, yet says nothing about the myriad Arab states that surround it.

But the BDS movement hides its ultimate goal of dismantling the Jewish state behind its public rhetoric. As a result, it has co-opted numerous individuals—and quite possibly donors—who desire to see both a Jewish and Palestinian state flourish into supporting its campaign. Although some members of the movement might actually support the Jewish state’s continued existence, as Barghouti makes abundantly clear, the Palestinian BDS National Committee—the “reference and guiding force for the global BDS movement”—cannot do so under any circumstances.

So because this movement will not broadcast its ultimate aims loud enough, I will do it for them. If you support the BDS movement, you are supporting an organization that is actively working to undermine the Jewish state. Utilizing the vocabulary of international norms, the movement actually systematically attempts to undermine the international consensus that recognizes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. And if you support this right—regardless of your politics, regardless of your stance on the occupation, and regardless of your feelings towards the current Israeli right-wing government—then there is only one moral option. Boycott the BDS movement."

Thank you, Avishai.

Stanford is also resurrecting the divestment movement. The anti-Israel group on campus is sporting a new and improved politically correct name "Stanford Students for Palestinian Equal Rights" and a thinly disguised BDS agenda of "targeted divestment".

We will keep you posted.

Stanford student discusses the divisiveness of BDS on campus

"We don’t know how our actions on campus will affect a faraway conflict in the Middle East, but we do know what our actions will do to this community. Therefore, the best solution is for the people with different political views to come together and find creative solutions to those disagreements that will help achieve a real and lasting peace for the Middle East and for all of the communities on this campus"


Yascher Koach to Justin Hefter on his op-ed in the Stanford Daily


"When I came to Stanford as a freshman in the fall of 2007, I was shocked to see the condition of the interfaith community. Fragmented and scared, students would whisper about the events of the previous year. Divestment, Muslims against Jews, Jews against Jews. The anti-Israel divestment campaign of the previous year had rocked the Stanford community. It drove people away from wanting to learn about or discuss Israel, drove Jewish students from wanting to befriend Muslim students and even drove Jews away from the Jewish community as a whole.

I was able to witness firsthand the devastating effects of the 2006-07 divestment campaign, because I was the only freshman to join the Stanford Israel Alliance. I joined because, after facing anti-Semitic abuse during high school, I found Israel was the one place where I knew I could be safe as a Jew, and I wanted a place like that to exist for all people. That’s why I wanted to try to improve the condition between Jews and Muslims on campus. I wanted to make things friendlier, so that people did not have to be afraid to express themselves, so that the discussion could be more positive. When I discussed co-sponsoring a charity drive for children in Israel and Gaza with the Muslim Students Awareness Network my freshman year, some of the Jewish/pro-Israel students looked at me like I was crazy.

Eventually we overcame the emotional scars of divestment, and the charity drive to send gift baskets to children in Israel and Gaza went forward. It was a major success because it was a positive way to deal with the conflict. Since then, the number of Jewish and Muslim interfaith events has increased. Political disagreements surrounding Israel have been handled in a more positive light. We repeated the charity drive my sophomore year and launched an even more successful microfinance campaign the year after. The past few years have been a huge step forward, but I fear that we are on the verge of taking two steps back.

This spring saw the initiation of a renewed divestment campaign. Divestment calls to the University not to do business with companies that do business in Israel. While the campaign purports to be about a few specific companies, in reality it is a campaign to delegitimize Israel, using literature from international movements that try to convince countries to boycott and sanction the Jewish state. This campaign is divisive because it places the blame for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a conflict that takes into account centuries of nuance, squarely on Israel’s shoulders. That’s not fair; both sides share responsibility.

Divestment aims to injure Israel economically, without actually directly helping the Palestinians. This should be upsetting to anyone who cares about Israel and also anyone who cares about the Palestinians. We should work toward change that helps both sides of the conflict, not simply injure one side or the other.
Regardless of our politics, the campaign of divisiveness that is in the process of being put forth can only have destructive outcomes. We don’t know how our actions on campus will affect a faraway conflict in the Middle East, but we do know what our actions will do to this community. Therefore, the best solution is for the people with different political views to come together and find creative solutions to those disagreements that will help achieve a real and lasting peace for the Middle East and for all of the communities on this campus. We do not need to replicate the animosity in the Middle East in order to make productive change. I have faith that if anywhere in the world there is a place where Muslims, Jews and people of all religious and political dispositions can come together to find constructive solutions to the Middle East conflict, it is Stanford University. I implore you, Stanford University, do not let this campus go back to the way things were. We have changed, and we are so much better than divestment."

Invest in Peace in Israel and the Palestinian territories

Those of us that spent hours sitting through the Divestment proceedings at UC Berkeley were uniformly dismayed at the bitter decisiveness of the issue. Good people on both sides, convinced of the justice of their position engaged for hours without accomplishing a thing. Many of us wondered- How can we take the energy and passion of these acticvists and channel it towards positive change?
Students at Stanford may have developed a workable stategy. Why not channel efforts to help the organizations in the Middle east that work to build co-existence? Why not work to strenthen the organizations that promote economic, social and cultural bonds between the people of the region? There are many. In Hadassah Hopital nominated for a Nobel Prize in 2005, Arab doctors treat Jewish Patients. Jewish doctors treat Arab patients. Consistent with its philosophy of equal treatment and equal employment opportunities for all, the Hadassah Medical Organization has always embodied the concept that medicine serves as a bridge to peace. Save a Child's heart an Israeli-based international humanitarian project, whose mission is to improve the quality of pediatric cardiac care for children from developing countries including Palestinian children. The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies is a regional center for environmental leadership. With a students from Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Israelis, and around the world the Arava Institute encourages environmental education nad cooperation between all peoples.

Students at Stanford Unniversity have taken this concept a step further, with their innovative "Invest for Peace " program.

One powerful line from the hours-long debate at Berkeley came from the Cal Chabad Rabbi. He made the point that you cannot fight darkness with darkness; you must fight darkness with light. A negative campaign against alleged abuses will only bring more negativity and damage. And, it will not address the issues or solve the problems – it will only cause further polarization and make peace even more elusive. In my experience with divestment when applied to this conflict, damage is wrought, but nothing positive comes of it. In the past, divestment campaigns helped combat apartheid in South Africa and genocide in Darfur. However, the divestment campaign against Israel is a crass bludgeon, which reduces an incredibly complex situation to euphemisms and demonizations.

Therefore, the Stanford Israel Alliance chooses to invest, and we hope you will join us. We agree that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is deep, complex, and painful. We support the Palestinian people in their desire for an independent state alongside the State of Israel. To that end, we wish to help the Palestinian people build up their infrastructure and economy, which will be the basis for a future state.

In the coming weeks, Stanford Israel Alliance will be raising awareness and support for two NGOs that are working to improve Palestinian and Israeli society. Lendforpeace.org is a microfinance organization based in the Palestinian Territories, inspiring entrepreneurship among Palestinians. The Peres Institute for Peace is an Israeli organization that builds connections between Israeli and Palestinian businessmen, environmentalists, and civil leaders to forge common frameworks between the two peoples.

Our goal is to move past the venomous rhetoric that divestment inspires and attempt to tackle the Israeli/Palestinian conflict from a positive perspective. It is our responsibility as Stanford students to help foster a more nuanced understanding of the issues, and to deal with the legitimate grievances that exist.

The Stanford model can be used by caring students across the country. Invest in Peace. Find and support organizations that work to bring people together, not ones that tear people apart. More co-existence, more interaction, stonger cultural and economic ties are the path to peace.