As the Israeli state continues its murderous assault on Gaza, we all must do everything we can to let Gaza live and to support the Palestinian struggle for freedom and equality—which are the necessary conditions for a just peace.  

Palestinian civil society has called on persons of conscience everywhere to support their struggle by adopting boycotts, targeted divestment, and lawful sanctions (BDS), following the model that supported the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Palestinians from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees (PFUUPE), the Right to Education Campaign at Birzeit University, and Omar Barghouti have called on Pitzer College specifically to enact principled BDS in alignment with the college's core values.

In 2019, Pitzer’s  Faculty and College Council voted overwhelmingly to suspend study abroad in Israel, in accord with the call from Palestinian civil society for global social justice allies to lend support to the Palestinian struggle through boycotts, targeted divestments, and lawful sanctions, or BDS.   

BDS is the same ask the African National Congress (ANC) made of social justice allies starting in the 1960s and which Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu judged was crucial support for their successful struggle to end the apartheid they lived under.  Here is the Palestinian call for BDS.   

It is important to emphasize that BDS is, first, the support that Palestinians have asked of persons of conscience around the world, not something others have decided Palestinians need.  And second, that BDS is non-violent resistance, which is precisely what must be supported if one seeks a world without both oppression and violent resistance to oppression.  

In voting to suspend study abroad in Israel in 2019, the Pitzer Faculty and College Council took a principled action for social justice and peace.  Shamefully,  however, these democratic governance votes at the College were immediately vetoed by Pitzer’s former president (backed by the trustees). This is the sole veto of democratic governance in the history of Pitzer College.

On April 1st, Pitzer became the first US higher education institution to enact a significant measure of the Palestinian led call for academic boycott of Israel by closing its study abroad program to the University of Haifa. Haifa University is one of the pillar schools of the Israeli military and actively aids Israels ongoing apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide of Palestine. This BDS victory comes after 6+ years of student organizing despite constant repression by Pitzer administration and board of trustees. 

On Thursday April 11th Pitzer’s most inclusive shared governance body (College Council) comprised of students, faculty, and staff, passed resolution 60-R-5 for a complete academic boycott of israeli universities complicit in genocide and apartheid. Before this resolution got to the College Council, it was voted on unanimously through Pitzer’s Student Senate which is one of the largest per-capita college student governments in the world. These votes through Pitzer government affirm the Pitzer community’s demand for a principled Boycott Divestment Sanctions resolution at Pitzer in pursuit of a free Palestine. An hour after this decision President Strom Thacker vetoed this historic resolution, aligning himself firmly with apartheid and betraying Pitzer’s core values.

To support these efforts, a collective of roughly twenty alums are organizing fellow alums to sign the following pledge of loyalty to Pitzer’s stated ideals of social justice and responsibility:

By clicking on the “submit my pledge” button, you will honor and strengthen the BDS movement as a Pitzer alum by pledging not to donate to the College until it upholds its own stated ideals of social justice and responsibility by: 

1. Boycotting all study abroad programs in Israel and committing to not developing any further institutional ties with complicit universities.  

2. Divesting Pitzer’s endowment and ending procurement from corporations on the BDS list that aid the occupation of Palestine.

Here is the text of the pledge: “In line with my commitment to Pitzer College’s social justice mission, as a proud alum I pledge not to donate to Pitzer until the College ends its complicity in Israeli oppression of Palestinians. Ending the College's complicity must include the following actions until such time as all of the UN stipulated rights of the Palestinian people are met: the College must (i) boycott all study abroad programs with complicit Israeli universities and (ii) divest from and exclude from procurement contracts with all complicit corporations listed in the American Friends Service Committee’s “Investigate” database and the Palestinian-led BDS movement’s list of targeted corporations.”

Send your pledge below to withhold donations until Pitzer ends its complicity in Israeli oppression of Palestinians. Personalize your email by adding a line about why this matters to you. 

With appreciation for all you do to support both a free Palestine and our collective liberation.

Resources: 

Omar Barghouti,  "Why I believe the BDS movement has never been more important than now," The Guardian, Oct. 16, 2023

Website of the Palestinian Campagin for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel 

US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) 

AROC - Arab Resource & Organizing Center 

Jewish Voice for Peace 

If Not Now