Students Against Israeli Apartheid’s (SAIA) divestment campaign was praised by Andrew Stachiw, a member of Hampshire College Students for Justice in Palestine, who compared SAIA’s campaign to a similar one launched at Hampshire.
“Things that took Hampshire months are taking days at other schools,” Stachiw said.
Stachiw, along with SAIA member Yafa Jarrar and Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel campaign member Nada Elia were part of the March 1 launch of Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) at Carleton, a week that has been subject to controversy and discussion.
SAIA’s divestment campaign calls for Carleton administration to pull pension fund investments from five companies they describe to be “complicit in human rights violations and crimes under international law.”
A similar campaign was launched at Hampshire College in 2007 and was successfully completed in the spring of 2009 when the school divested.
Laura Grosman, president of Israeli Awareness Committee – a committee which opposes IAW — said she is concerned about the divestment campaign.
“Nowhere in the campaign [document] do they use the word peace. We’re here to promote peace and academic discourse.”
According to an article in the Toronto Star, the MPPs of Ontario are condemning IAW, arguing that the word “apartheid” is to strong and does not invite the debate the situation requires.
When asked about this in a question and answer period following the March 1 event, Stachiw said he was happy that the MPPs were even talking about it. The fact that IAW was being recognized on a provincial level represented a level of success, according to Stachiw.