UMass speaks out against hate

Originally published in Socialist Worker.

Gary Lapon reports on the publication of a right-wing newspaper at UMass-Amherst--and the opposition it has galvanized.

February 27, 2009

AMHERST, Mass.--An ad-hoc coalition of students at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) came together and, on a few days' notice, organized a "Speak-Out Against Hate" February 25 to protest a racist right-wing newspaper.

The Minuteman began appearing on campus earlier in the month. Published by a registered student organization calling itself "The Silent Majority," the paper has outraged members of oppressed groups on campus and their allies with its blatant racism, homophobia, sexism, transphobia and targeting of individuals involved in social justice organizing on campus.
"The Silent Majority," and many of the students involved in publishing the paper, are also members of the UMass Republican Club.

The front cover of The Minuteman (which is also the UMass mascot) features a picture of Jason Vassell, a former UMass student currently awaiting trial and facing a potential maximum of 30 years in prison for defending himself in his dorm from racist attackers.

The article, titled "Who's Paying Jason's Lawyers?...You are," alleges that Vassell and the Committee for Justice For Jason Vassell received assistance in the form of T-shirts from the UMass Student Government Association (SGA). On the back cover, there is a photograph of Malcolm X with the caption, "Is This YOUR SGA?"--a reference to a poster of Malcolm X that hangs in the office of the SGA, where a number of the representatives are progressive students and outspoken supporters of the Justice for Jason campaign.

The real outrage is that Vassell is being charged at all, and it makes sense that SGA would support a student assaulted and called a "nigger" by non-students while sitting in his dorm room.

If The Minuteman staff were truly concerned about "wasteful spending," they might have saved the cover for a feature on the hundreds of billions being handed to the banks and spent to kill Iraqis and Afghanis while UMass tuition is scheduled to increase by $1,500 next year.

However, the allegations of wrongdoing are simply a cover for racism and other forms of hate.

Inside the paper, an article by Ed Cutting entitled "Jason: Be A Man," begins with "Jason, if you were a real man, none of this would have happened." He goes on to blame Vassell for causing his attackers relatively minor injuries with a small knife--which Cutting believes was an unreasonable reaction from an African American man who was being attacked by two white men screaming racial slurs. Cutting ends his piece by giving his respect to all "the young men with enough courage to not 'go ghetto.'"

The paper is filled with hatred and has been aptly described by once local activist as tantamount to a "Klan rag." The Minuteman refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people as the "LBGTQWRSYZ community," and claims that "the only thing more queer than [openly-gay Congressman Barney] Frank's thinking on economics is his behavior in the bedroom."

The paper features an article presenting the supposed downside of a transgender civil rights bill (they put "civil rights" in quotes), illustrated by a stereotypical photograph of a "drag queen" performer. It begins with the sentence "What a drag!" and raises the specter of transgender people using bathrooms appropriate to their chosen gender.

The UMass Republican Club advertised their next event in the paper, which reveals their true agenda. It's called "Exposing the Malicious Myth of Liberalism: Hate Crimes." This is particularly outrageous given the recent history of hate crimes on campus.

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ALL OF this is enough to make African Americans, LGBT people, women, immigrants and other oppressed people on campus feel attacked and unsafe.

That sentiment was expressed by the students at the speak-out, who represented a cross section of the student body, including members of those groups attacked by The Minutemen--people of color, LGBT people, women and their allies.

On top of attacking these communities, the paper singles out Dan Keefe, an organizer in the Justice for Jason campaign. The paper refers to him as "Danny the Tranny" and "Dan 'Prom Queen' Keefe," and features a photograph of him dressed in makeup and a skirt.

Keefe spoke at the Speak-Out Against Hate, which he co-chaired, and placed the attack in the context of a history of harassment from members of the Republican Club.

Last year, when Keefe was sitting in the campus office of the Radical Student Union (RSU), members of the Republican Club on numerous occasions gave him the finger and call him a "faggot" as they walked by the office. Keefe pointed out that putting his picture in paper was "like putting a target on me, saying 'Gay bash me.'"

After calling out the UMass administration for failing to stand up for him and others who have been the victims of hate on campus, Keefe ended with a message of hope. "This struggle is all of our struggles," he said. "We're on the same side."

Others echoed this sentiment--acknowledging both the fear of attack and the desire to stand up and fight back.

One woman stated that she felt unsafe walking alone at night. Another expressed her fear of police, saying, "Police don't necessarily mean safety...we are our own safety."

William Syldor, a member of the RSU and organizer with the Justice for Jason campaign, gave a moving speech that illustrated the role oppression plays in "keeping people divided and conquered":

If we ever chose to destroy our socially constructed selves, and join our being with other human beings, if we were ever to truly unite, then the glass that the system lays on will begin to crack. United rebellion is all the system truly fears, it is the Achilles heel...The only true end of oppression lies in the end of us, so we remain divided and small and weak.

Another speaker pointed out that these groups are often pitted against one another by the mainstream media and politicians, whether it's the 2008 election that raised the absurd question of whether Blacks or women are more oppressed, or the way some sought to blame Blacks for the passage of the antigay Proposition 8.

But by attacking so many oppressed people, The Minuteman has brought us together and created an opportunity for us to join hands and stand against all oppression no matter who it targets.

Organizers stressed that the speak-out was only a first step. Dozens of attendees signed up for an e-mail list, and there will be a follow-up meeting on March 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pride Alliance office in the UMass Student Union to talk about next steps. In addition, they pointed out the importance of electing progressive students in the upcoming Student Government Association election.

As UMass student and member of the International Socialist Organization Charles Peterson said, "We're the majority, so we need to not be silent, and talk to people and bring even more to our next event."

Hampshire students defend their victory

Originally published in Socialist Worker.

Gary Lapon reports that pro-Israel apologists are putting pressure on Hampshire College to back away from its historic divestment decision.

UNDER PRESSURE from pro-Israel apologists led by Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, administrators at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., issued a "statement of clarification" about the recent decision to divest from six corporations that profited from and supported Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine.

But student activists aren't going to quietly accept Hampshire's shameful attempt to wriggle out of a decision the college should be proud of.

Members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Hampshire announced in a February 12 press release that they had succeeded in pressuring Hampshire's board of trustees to divest from companies involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Palestinians and their supporters around the world, including Noam Chomsky, Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire, Howard Zinn and former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, greeted the news with joy.

"This is a monumental and historic step in the struggle for Palestinian equality, self-determination and peace in the Holy Land by nonviolent means," wrote Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a leader in the struggle against South African apartheid, in a message of support sent to members of Hampshire SJP.

"I see what these students have accomplished as a replica of the support of their college of our struggle against apartheid in South Africa," he continued, in reference to Hampshire's place of prestige as the first institution of higher education to divest from South Africa. "Hampshire College's decision to divest should be a guiding example to all institutions of higher learning."

But within hours of SJP's announcement, the pro-Israel counteroffensive began. Dershowitz, a virulent supporter of Israel, called Matan Cohen and Brian Van Slyke, two members of SJP, to threaten an international campaign to divest from Hampshire College--a threat that carries some sting for Hampshire, which is a small institution with a history of financial difficulties.

Dershowitz is notorious for his relentless personal and professional attacks on those who speak out against Israel's crimes. In 2007, for example, Norman Finkelstein, a renowned scholar and an outspoken critic of Israel's policies, was denied tenure at DePaul University after Dershowitz put pressure on faculty and the administration.

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FACED WITH Dershowitz's threats, three Hampshire administrators--Board of Trustees Chair Sigmund Roos, President Ralph Hexter, and Vice President and Dean of Faculty Aaron Berman--issued a joint "statement of clarification," presumably to appease their pro-Israel critics and downplay this important milestone in the struggle for justice for Palestinians.

The statement admits that while the investment review that led to the decision to divest "was undertaken...to address a petition from a student group, Students for Justice in Palestine...the decision [to divest from the State Street fund] expressly did not pertain to a political movement or single out businesses active in a specific region or country."

In trying to dissociate Hampshire's divestment decision from the Palestinian cause, the statement asserts that in addition to corporations like Caterpillar and United Technologies--which were among the six targeted by SJP for their support of the Israeli occupation--"the State Street fund included 200-plus companies engaged in multiple violations of the college's investment policy."

But the minutes of the university's own Committee at Hampshire on Investment Responsibility (CHOIR), a subcommittee of the Board of Trustees' investment committee, proves this to be a deception at best.

After two SJP presentations in 2008, CHOIR's own minutes recorded a vote "to recommend to the investment committee that Hampshire College divest of the following six companies--Caterpillar, Terex, Motorola, ITT, General Electric, United Technologies--based on full consideration of the presentation by SJP."

In its own statement, SJP points out:

SJP was explicitly asked by the administration what companies to avoid in the future in terms of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. This fact illustrates that the Israeli occupation and SJP's work were undoubtedly the primary reasons for the decision to divest.

Furthermore, the violations of the other 200 companies...were only researched days before the investment committee's decision to divest...For eight and a half months, the only specific companies in the State Street fund that were discussed were the six companies SJP targeted.

These facts prove that the decision was made on the grounds of the six companies' involvement in the occupation of Palestine. We can only assume the reason the Board and administration chose to depoliticize this decision is because of the volatile nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

This victory has inspired activists on campuses across the country and has the potential to help spur the movement for divestment from Israel's occupation and oppression of Palestinians.

As Omar Barghouti of the Palestinian Committee for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel said in a statement of solidarity to Hampshire SJP:

What worries Dershowitz et al. in the Zionist establishment in the U.S. to the extreme is the fact that this is a successful precedent attained through a persistent, committed, well thought out and intelligent student campaign...

There is no reason why Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley or Columbia students cannot emulate this success on their own respective campuses, Dershowitz must be thinking. And that would effectively announce the beginning of the end of Israel's impunity in the U.S. with all the repercussion such a transformation would lead to on the ground in Palestine.

Those who seek justice for Palestinians and support the right to speak truth to power should stand with Hampshire SJP to defend their victory so that, in the words of Hampshire SJP, "this decision will pave the way for other institutions of higher learning in the U.S. to take similar stands."

Hampshire is first to divest

Originally published in Socialist Worker.

Also published at Dissident Voice.

Gary Lapon reports on a milestone in the movement in solidarity with Palestine--the first U.S. college to divest.

February 13, 2009

THE HAMPSHIRE College board of trustees voted to transfer assets from a fund that invests in corporations that contribute to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, making Hampshire the first institution of higher education in the U.S. to divest.

This historic decision came as a result of from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a group formed at Hampshire in 2006. According to a statement from Sigmund Roos, chair of the board of trustees, the board reviewed the college's investments to address a petition from SJP.

Among the corporations that Hampshire will divest from are United Technologies, which produces Blackhawk helicopters and engines for F-15 and F-16 fighter jets that Israel uses to kill Palestinians, and Caterpillar, which supplies Israel with bulldozers that the Israel Defense Force (IDF) uses to destroy Palestinian homes, orchards and olive groves in clearing land for illegal settlements and the "Separation Barrier" apartheid wall.

The petition in support of divestment was signed by over 800 Hampshire students, faculty and alumni (on a campus with under 1,500 students). It was the product of a two-year campaign that included educational events such as film screenings and lectures, "mock walls" simulating life in the occupied West Bank, and interactive forums.

SJP explained the reasons for its actions in a statement:

Traditionally, Hampshire College has advocated for the oppressed. In 1977, Hampshire College was the first college in the U.S. to divest from apartheid South Africa. In 2001, Hampshire was the first college to object to the war in Afghanistan.

In this spirit and in light of the fact that the Israeli occupation is the longest ongoing occupation since World War II, we state our objection to the oppression of the Palestinian people. The Hampshire community hereby declares its commitment to work toward the end of this occupation. Furthermore, we call upon Israel to end its policies of discrimination and to respect international law and Palestinian rights, including the right to self-determination. We support the Palestinian right to resist the occupation in accordance with international law.

In recent weeks, the SJP at Hampshire joined with students from area colleges and the community in the recently formed Pioneer Valley Coalition for Palestine, which organized protests against the Israeli bombing and ground assault in Gaza that killed over 1,300 people, including hundreds of children. The protests, on January 10 and February 7, drew hundreds of people each time.

The banner at the front of the February 7 march proclaimed "From Amherst to Gaza: Abolish Racism." That was a reference to the "Justice for Jason" movement against the prosecution of University of Massachusetts Amherst student Jason Vassell for defending himself from racist attackers. It was also meant to express the links between racism against African Americans and the Islamophobia used to justify the occupation of Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The rallies were the largest antiwar actions in Amherst in recent years and were heavily attended by Arabs and Muslims. Student activists from SJP, Palestine solidarity organizations on other local campuses, the Campus Antiwar Network, the UMass Muslim Students Association and the International Socialist Organization added their voices to the call for divestment from Israel.

SJP hopes their success will be an inspiration and a call to action for others who support justice for the people of Palestine. With students occupying buildings and winning concessions in support of Palestine across Britain--and now in the U.S. at the University of Rochester, divestment at Hampshire College is an important victory for a growing movement.

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BUILDING A movement that calls on U.S. institutions to divest from Israel is a key component of the struggle for justice for the people of Palestine.

The ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 to make possible to foundation of the state of Israel and the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip that began in 1967 have created a horrific reality for Palestinians, which anti-apartheid activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu described after a 2003 visit as "much like what happened to us Black people in South Africa."

Israel's illegal occupation and slaughter of innocents would not be possible without the vast funding and political support it receives from the U.S. government. Israel has been the top recipient of U.S. foreign aid for years--a total of more than $100 billion since 1948, over half of which is military aid.

Hampshire College's divestment of funds from Israel has set a precedent for a movement that could play an important role in ending apartheid in Israel.

Hampshire played a similar leading role in the struggle against apartheid South Africa. In 1977, students in the Committee for the Liberation of Southern Africa occupied the college's administrative offices. They won their demands, and Hampshire became the first U.S. college to divest from apartheid South Africa.

By 1982, similar struggles won divestment at other colleges and universities, including the nearby UMass Amherst, the University of Wisconsin, Ohio State University and the entire University of California system (which withdrew $3 billion in investments). By 1988, over 150 institutions had divested from South Africa.

By the end of the 1980s, as well, dozens of cities, states and towns across the U.S. had put in place some form of economic sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa. Inspired by the resistance of Black South Africans, the U.S. movement pressured Congress to pass (over a veto by President Ronald Reagan) sanctions against the racist regime. The solidarity movements around the world provided important support to the struggle of Black South Africans that defeated apartheid.

Hampshire College's role in the campus anti-apartheid movement was an inspiration and a tool for SJP's movement for divestment from corporations that support Israeli apartheid, according to SJP member Brian Van Slyke. "That Hampshire was the first college to divest from apartheid South Africa was really a rallying cry for us on this campus," he said.

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HAMPSHIRE SJP is hosting a rally outside the campus library at Noon on February 13 to celebrate this historic victory and have an open discussion about the next steps for the movement for justice in Palestine.

According to Van Slyke, these include defending this gain by "getting the word out to other activists and community organizers" to "make sure that people like [rabid pro-Israel supporter] Alan Dershowitz don't succeed in smearing us or shutting us down." SJP members plan to continue organizing to push for Hampshire to provide resources for an exchange with Palestinian students.

SJP has received numerous invitations from activists on other campuses and is considering sending members on a tour to share the story of their victory and the lessons they've learned to inform and inspire other students to push for and win divestment from Israel.

"SJP has proven that student groups can organize, rally and pressure their schools to divest from the illegal occupation," SJP said in a press release. "The group hopes that this decision will pave the way for other institutions of higher learning in the U.S. to take similar stands."