As we approach the one-year anniversary of the first National SJP Conference at Columbia University,

The 2012 National Students for Justice in Palestine Conference starts November 2nd at the University of Michigan. Organizers are asking for donations to help students attend the conference. cheap air line ticket They're hoping to raise $15,000 for travel support, and are roughly 1/3 of the way there.
cheap air line ticket As we approach the one-year anniversary of the first National SJP Conference at Columbia University, it is worth reviewing developments in the campus Palestine solidarity cheap air line ticket movement. cheap air line ticket Since October, 2011 students have 1) formed new SJP chapters from California to Kansas, 2) helped form regional solidarity cheap air line ticket networks like Chicago Divests, 3) joined BDS campaigns such as TIAA-CREF and De-Rail Veolia, 4) established important ties to MEChA, including their landmark national endorsement of BDS, 5) and passed BDS resolutions at three universities. These accomplishments reflect the growth of our movement and highlight the importance of creating national solidarity networks. We look forward to building on this progress during our upcoming conference at the University of Michigan from November 2 to 4, 2012.
As with any student-organized conference, cheap air line ticket we need the support of allies and donors to help offset travel costs for student activists. Please help students across the country attend this conference by making a donation at www.sjpnational.org/donate .
We held a workshop at our first conference cheap air line ticket on "How to start and successfully run an SJP." We did not know who would attend the session before we designed it, but that morning several students cheap air line ticket from small states walked in the door, eager for advice about how to create a sustainable student group, handle difficulties with their administrations, and withstand attacks and criticism from campus and local opponents of Palestinian rights. Those SJPs persist today and several more have formed in the past year. We recognize that helping students build strong SJPs is a vital function of the national conference, so this year we are again reserving conference space for students who wish to start an SJP and we will hold another workshop cheap air line ticket designed to help them get started. As we work to form a concrete national cheap air line ticket structure, we will continue to solidify and build resources that will help students build and sustain groups across the country.
Another trend thathas continued over the past year is the increasing integration of SJPs with local activists. This has led to the formation of regional solidarity networks such as Chicago Divests and informal collaborations on events and campaigns. One example is the growth of Israeli Apartheid Week, during which campuses and local organizations hold joint events throughout cities from New York to San Francisco. This helps both groups cheap air line ticket reach larger audiences cheap air line ticket while pushing the question of Palestine into the public debate. It also helps SJPs stretch our limited budgets even farther, as groups can collaborate to bring speakers to multiple local events and share program and event costs.
AsSJPs increasingly collaborate with local groups, we have begun to see the growth of shared campaigns between students and community activists. The best example of this collaboration is the campaign to get the investment fund TIAA-CREF to relinquish holdings cheap air line ticket in companies that are complicit with the Israeli occupation. Students have become important partners in this campaign, because TIAA-CREF administers retirement funds for many universities. SJPs at universities like NYU are working to get professors to sign divestment petitions and hosting events that call the company to task for its practices. On the West Coast, Los Angeles area schools have been involved with De-Rail Veolia, cheap air line ticket a campaign to deny city bus contracts to Veolia on the grounds that it facilitates violations of international law and discriminatory policies. Student groups have hosted events, signed petitions, joined marches, and given testimony to public officials in support of this campaign.
In March, the largest association of Latin@ students in the country, MEChA (Movímíento Estudíantíl Chícan@ de Aztlán) overwhelmingly passed a resolution supporting the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions. This is an exciting and meaningful development for SJPs; this year we hope to welcome MEChA's delegates to the National SJP conference and to create increased collaboration between SJP and MEChA chapters around the country. Endorsements from allies such as MEChA are critical to the transformation of Palestine solidarity work into a central focusof campus politics.
cheap air line ticket Students know that the strongest and clearest expression of solidarity we can make is the passage of BDS resolutions through our student governments, as was done in the campaign against apartheid cheap air line ticket South Africa. The growth described above - more SJPs and stronger connections to community organizations and allied struggles - is producing clear progress in our struggle towards that goal. This year, SJPs marked BDS victories at Arizona State University (supported by MEChA), Earlham College , the University of Massachusetts - Boston , and Evergreen State College . Though there have been attempts to censor SJPs, particularly at the University of California, we view this as a sign of our increasing strength and confirmation that the debate on campus has shifted cheap air line ticket from whether Israel's behavior is acceptable to what students must do to stop it. BDS campaigns at universities will continue to grow as long as students continue to share their skills and knowledge through movement building opportunities like the National cheap air line ticket SJP conference.
Support our growing cheap air line ticket student movement! We've made important strides in the past year, but with your help, we can and will do more. Every dollar you give helps students attend this important conference.
hey, great to see danya from SJP in albuquerque cheap air line ticket in the video. she s an up and coming star, just an amazingly talented powerhouse and great speaker. sjp was raising funds to get their group to the conference while i was at sabeel and also by hosting a fantastic event w/josh from end the occupation at UNM.
The Wayne State University student council also passed a divestment resolution passed in April 2003. That followed a lot of protesting and confronting Zionists. Hardly any conferences were attended by WSU s activists. Conferences are valuable, but not without demonstrations.
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