Calls for the U.S. to end military aid to Israel, and for corporations to divest their financial interests in Israel
Accuses Israel of abusing, torturing, and humiliating Palestinians, but ignores Palestinian terrorism
DukeDivest describes itself as "a group of concerned students, faculty, staff, and alumni calling upon Duke University to … divest from companies that do military business with Israel." "We understand the enormous role the United States plays in this conflict," adds DukeDivest, "providing diplomatic, military, and financial support to Israel's brutal occupation of Palestinian lands. ... Standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for self-determination, we believe that divestment is an effective means of non-violent resistance that can pressure the Israeli government to comply with international law."
"We, the undersigned members of the Duke University community, are appalled by the human rights abuses against Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government, the continual military occupation and colonization of Palestinian territory by Israeli armed forces and settlers, and the forcible eviction from and demolition of Palestinian homes, towns, and cities. ... We believe that our university ought to use its influence—political and financial—to encourage the United States government and the government of Israel to respect the human rights of the Palestinian people. We call on Duke University to divest from all companies with military ties to Israel, until these conditions are met: Israel is in compliance with United Nations Resolution 242, which notes the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war, and which calls for the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from occupied territories; Israel is in compliance with the United Nations Committee Against Torture 2001 Report, which recommends that Israel's use of legal tortures be ended; Israel is in compliance with the Fourth Geneva Convention … [and] ceases building new settlements, and vacates existing settlements, in occupied Palestinian territories; Israel acknowledges in principle the applicability of United Nations Resolution 194 with respect to the rights of refugees; [and] Israel accepts and implements the principle of a viable, internationally recognized state acceptable to the Palestinian people."
The DukeDivest website purports to inform readers about the Israeli/Palestinian issue, but the answers provided in its "Frequently Asked Questions" section are replete with misinformation. For example, its account of the 1967 Six Day War reads as follows: "In the June 1967 war between Israel and Arab states, Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ... Prior to the war, these areas were under Jordanian and Egyptian rule. It also took the Golan Heights, which were part of Syria, during the June war. In conquering these territories, Israel expelled 350,000 people." This narrative, which characterizes the war as a manifestation of Israeli aggression, makes no mention that the conflict was sparked when Egypt, Syria, and Jordan were poised to launch a war of annihilation against the Jewish state and rejected all Israeli overtures for peace.
