Open Letter to Berkeley Students

[Magda Hassan]

From an email this morning.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jews for Justice <jewsforjusticenow@gmail.com>
Date: 2010/4/17
Subject: update from Berkeley -- thank you for your ad, we will prevail...
To: Jews for Justice Now <jewsforjusticenow@gmail.com>


Dear Jews for Justice,


Thank you. Your ad was extremely powerful. Many of the Senators were talking about our ad in the days before the vote[B], according to Israeli graduate student Tom Pessah, co-author of the divestment bill and board member of Students for Justice in Palestine.[/B]


Unfortunately, we didn't quite cross the threshold this time, and fell just shy of the 2/3 supermajority vote we needed to override the veto. But the momentum is clearly on the side of justice, equality, and human rights. After 8 hours of debate, the Student Senate tabled the bill for possible future re-discussion.


Below you will find an extensive collection of links to news and updates on the divestment bill...


A video of scenes from the vote:
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/the-scene-...keley.html


News stories and blog posts:

http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2010-04-15/article/35024?headline=No-Final-Decision-on-UC-Berkeley-Israel-Divestment-Bill-after-Marathon-Meeting

http://www.dailycal.org/article/109108/a..._bill_veto

http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/showdown-f...keley.html

http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/uc-berkele...r-yet.html

http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com...shows.html



http://mondoweiss.net/2010/04/judith-butler-joins-chomsky-tutu-klein-and-a-growing-chorus-worldwide-in-support-of-berkeley-divestment.html


http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/57721/u.c.-berkeley-student-senate-votes-to-sustain-veto-of-divest-from-israel-re/

Here's SJP's very articulate response to the veto:
http://calsjp.org/2010/04/12/announcemen...-response/

And check out JVP's 30-page document compiling all the Jewish support we received for the Divestment Bill:
http://www.scribd.com/full/29932279?acce...sle95zc4ux

Yaman Salahi and Sydney Levy: Attack on Berkeley divestment bill dishonest and misleading
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11198.shtml

Daily Cal's blog report on Desmond Tutu:
http://clog.dailycal.org/2010/04/12/desm...o-the-yes/

If you have liberal Zionist friends who are unsure whether to support BDS in the future, you might want to forward them this link:
http://themagneszionist.blogspot.com/201...hould.html


Shalom/Salaam,


Matthew Taylor