Re: Opportunity to sign a letter supporting SFU's divestment from firms associated with the Israel Defence Forces

Thank you so much, James, for sharing your thoughtful piece. You have perfectly articulated the experience of so many of us who are "Israelish".

As for the letter:

Demanding divestment from companies that support the IDF is demanding that SFU take sides on a political issue. Doing so would contravene the BC University Act, which states that "A university must be non-sectarian and non-political in principle".
The statement "These actions of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are `deliberately inflicting on the group [the people of Gaza] conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part’" is factually incorrect. The IDF is targeting Hamas, the terrorist organization responsible for the brutal massacre (including torture, rape, and burning alive) of 1200+ Israelis and the kidnapping of hundreds more, not the people of Gaza.

I would also like to point out that I only ever see letters targeting Israel, the world's only Jewish state, circulating on our university mailing lists. Do the signatories to these letters have nothing to say about China's actions against the Uyghurs? Ethiopia's actions against the Tigrayans? Russia's actions against the Ukrainians? The hypocrisy that we've seen during the US Congressional hearing on antisemitism is on full display on our campus as well.

Rachel Altman

Associate Professor

Statistics & Actuarial Science

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby BC Canada

From: James Fleming <james_fleming@sfu.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2023 1:19:50 PM
To: Eugene McCann; Faculty Forum Mail List
Subject: Re: Opportunity to sign a letter supporting SFU's divestment from firms associated with the Israel Defence Forces

It seems to me this initiative could and perhaps should be much more frankly rephrased in terms of the outcomes at which it aims. JDF

https://libberleeber.com/2023/12/01/ite-ish/

James Dougal Fleming

Professor, Department of English

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby/Vancouver,

British Columbia,

Canada.

The truth is an offence, but not a sin.

-- Bob Marley

From: Eugene McCann <emccann@sfu.ca>
Sent: December 13, 2023 12:31 PM
To: Faculty Forum Mail List
Subject: Opportunity to sign a letter supporting SFU's divestment from firms associated with the Israel Defence Forces

Hi all,

I’ve been asked to forward the following link to this list. It’s a letter to the Board of Governors, arguing that SFU should divest from the following five companies that support the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

You can sign the letter, if so inclined, by filling in the box at the bottom (scroll down to the end of the list of signatories). If you’re having any technical issues signing, contact Roxanne Panchasi: panchasi@sfu.ca.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6_nvSc3atONlpau7vqrD0kC9wtrzkvTmjAPktpET-hLfc2w/viewform

Best,

Eugene

_______________________________________________________
Eugene McCann (he/him/his)
Professor, Geography
Associate Faculty, Sociology & Anthropology
Simon Fraser University

Managing Editor, EPC: Politics & Space
https://journals.sagepub.com/home/epc

Minor Revisions podcast
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Personal website: https://emccanngeog.wordpress.com

Contact information:
Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University,
8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada
Unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Email: emccann@sfu.ca; Phone: 778-782-3321