II. Boycott Divestment Sanctions

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice, and equality; upholding the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity.8 BDS is an inclusive, anti-racist human rights movement that is opposed to all forms of discrimination, including Islamophobia and antisemitism. BOYCOTT involves withdrawing support from Israel's apartheid regime, complicit Israeli institutions, and all Israeli and international companies engaged in violations of Palestinian human rights. DIVESTMENT urges universities to withdraw investments from the State of Israel and all Israeli and international companies that sustain Israeli apartheid. SANCTIONS pressure governments to fulfill their legal obligations to end Israeli apartheid and not aid or assist its maintenance by banning business with illegal Israeli settlements, ending military trade and free-trade agreements, and suspending Israel's membership in international forums.

The Palestinian-led BDS movement is inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement and urges non-violent pressure on Israel until it complies with international law and meets the following three demands. (1) End the occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantle the apartheid wall. (2) Recognize the fundamental right of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to have full equality under law. (3) Respect, protect, and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.9 As long as Israel maintains a genocidal regime of settler colonialism, apartheid, and population over the Palestinian people, it is our obligation to call for BDS and end our complicity in this genocide.

In 2021, CUNY School of Law's Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Law Student Association (JLSA) developed the “CUNY Law BDS Resolution.”10 The BDS Resolution was drafted based on the CUNY system, including CUNY School of Law's direct complicity in the ongoing apartheid, genocide, and war crimes perpetrated by the state of Israel against the Palestinian people through its investments in and contracts with companies profiting off of Israeli war crimes. The resolution passed unanimously with overwhelming support of the student body as well as faculty endorsement.

CUNY BDS RESOLUTION:

  1. As of 2014, CUNY had close to $1.1 million invested in companies profiting off Israeli war crimes, including weapons manufacturers (Boeing, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon), tech and security companies (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, G4S8, and Motorola Solutions), and construction firms (Caterpillar and Cemex).
  2. CUNY has over $8.5 million in contracts with companies that aid in or profit from Israeli colonization, occupation, and war crimes, including Dell, IBM, HP, Lenovo, Cisco, and BMC Software
  3. CUNY collaborates with the NYPD, including through security MOUs, and academic programs that offer tuition-free, guaranteed admission to NYPD officers. The NYPD participates in Deadly Exchange programs with Israel, in which the NYPD sends officers to learn from Israel's military.
  4. CUNY offers food and beverage products for purchase on campus that are notorious for violating Palestinian human rights, including PepsiCo and Sabra Hummus.
  5. CUNY Law contracts with legal research 'data cartels' selling surveillance data and services, such as Thomson Reuters (Westlaw) and Reed Elsevier/RELX (LexisNexis). Through its LexisNexis Risk Solutions arm, LexisNexis contracts not only with the Department of Homeland Security/ICE, but also BioCatch, whose founder, Avi Turgeman served as head of innovation for the cyber-intelligence unit of the Israel Defence Forces.
  6. CUNY campuses receive grants from US-Israel Binational Foundations, which “promotes scientific relations between the U.S. and Israel by supporting collaborative research projects” between complicit Israeli academic institutions and US academic institutions.

The Resolution calls upon CUNY to “cut all ties with organizations that repress Palestinian organizing and end its complicity in the ongoing censorship, harassment, and intimidation of Palestine solidarity activists, including through ending contracts, academic collaborations, and refusing to be complicit in the targeted harassment and silencing of Palestine solidarity activists.” The CUNY BDS Resolution continues to be heavily supported by current and graduating students and alumni.