by Penn Against the Occupation
We hear that it is too difficult to talk about. “You better stay out of that subject, ok?” But too often the consequence of ‘complexity’ arguments (usually Israel supporters who claim this “conflict” is too complicated for you to talk about) is not enhanced precision. It is a treacherous scenario where the only politically responsible position to take vis-à-vis Israel is to take no position at all.
But the truth has only been made more clear in the past year. Recently, Human Rights Watch charged Israeli authorities with the crimes of apartheid and persecution. Why do we use this word to describe Israel? Apartheid is understood as a legalized system of racial discrimination. For 50 years, Palestinians and Jewish Israelis lived with different sets of rights: all allocated based on their ethnicity. Israeli civilian law is applied to Israeli Jews, who have freedom of movement and circulation, freedom of speech, and political rights. Israeli military law is applied to Palestinians, who possess none of these rights. For years, this situation has been normalized and voices for equality shut down. What the Penn community must understand is that this is an issue of human rights and equality and NOT “friendliness” with a particular nation or cause. PAO leads, learns, and educates with a rights-based approach.
We believe it is about time to start talking about Israel and the way our school is helping to perpetrate human rights violations in the OPT. Here’s what you should know about divestment, a popular and nonviolent movement to fight for equality in Israel.
In 2016, the UN OHCHR urged all states to ensure they are not assisting the expansion of settlements or the construction of the wall in the OPT by trading with settlements, as this is illegal under international law. The UN also released a list of corporations that are complicit with the violation of international law by assisting or profiting from illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Penn trades with, invests in, and performs research for several of these companies. They include, but are not limited to, Caterpillar, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Elbit Systems, Mekorot, Hapoalim, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin. By investing in these companies, Penn actively contributes to the violations of international law and human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: the destruction of Palestinian homes and construction of illegal settlements, the inhumane restriction of movement through roadblocks, checkpoints and the Apartheid wall, the theft of Palestinian resources, unethical surveillance and policing and the unequal treatment of Palestinians under Israeli law.
Ways in Which Penn Supports the Occupation: Research
The university does not only support human rights abusers with the endowment, we also have students and faculty performing research that makes the siege of Gaza possible. In 2014, Penn Engineering established a collaborative research fellowship with Raytheon United Technologies, the world’s fourth largest defense company and the largest producer of guided missiles. This firm supplies Israel with guided air-to-surface missiles for its F-16 fleet, cluster bombs and bunker busters (constantly used against Gaza’s civilian population and infrastructure), as well as radar systems used on Israel’s fighter jets and missiles. They also produce Blackhawk helicopters, which are used to attack Palestinian cities and refugee camps and are responsible for the lion’s share of Palestinian civilian deaths.
Ways in which the University Supports the Occupation: Recruitment
Career Services sends Penn graduates to work and intern at firms that violate the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in relation to the OPT. For example, in 2013, General Electrics recruited Penn students through Career Services and, since then, has been offered as a prospective employer for recent engineering graduates. Former GE vice chair even gave career advice to Wharton students in an event for Knowledge@Wharton. GE’s Apache helicopters and F-16 jets are used for assaults on Gaza, including in the targeting civilians and civilian infrastructures and in attacks on homes and refugee camps.
Motorola’s internships are also featured on the Career Services website. The UN found Motorola to provide Israel with surveillance systems to prevent Palestinians from moving freely in their territory, besides sustaining the settlements and checkpoints on the wall.
Blacklisting
Pro-Israel blacklisting organizations intimidate Penn professors and students into not speaking up about the military occupation of Palestine. Any criticism of Israel’s racist politics is labeled as anti-semitic with the aim of shutting down pro-Palestine voices. Canary Mission intimidated Penn professors with charges of anti-semitic hate speech, for simply… giving lectures about Palestine. Among them are prominent Middle East experts like Dr. Norton, Dr. Vitalis, and –recently retired– Dr. Lustick (whom is not only Jewish, but also a self-declared zionist.) This is immensely detrimental in our community, especially considering that professors rarely voice an opinion on the issue (let alone students and faculty members who are engaged in activism and Palestinian advocacy.)
PAO demands that the university ceases to support Israel’s illegal activities through the endowment or through academic research. Moreover, we encourage all university departments to evaluate their complicity with the normalization of Israeli apartheid AND we ask faculty and students to speak up about the military occupation of Palestine.
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