I received the following message and attached documents from Omar Barghouti, one of the key figures in the Palestinian campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel:
In a landslide, 16-4 vote, the University of California Student Senate passed the attached BDS motion endorsing divestment from companies profiting from Israel's occupation and violation of Palestinian rights. Also attached is the official press release of the sponsors of the bill.
Hampshire College, of course, was the first to divest from companies colluding in Israel's occupation, but this student senate vote at a university of the prominence of Berkeley may well be the watershed, the crossing of the threshold in the spread of BDS across the US that many of us have been waiting to see. This will be a significant step towards a UC-wide actual divestment from Israeli occupation and apartheid. The South Africa spirit is in the air ...
A warm salute to the UC Berkeley Students for Justice in Palestine and all supporters of human rights and justice, individuals and organizations, who supported them to achieve this victory.>> Onwards!
Omar