The Faculty Senate of the University of Wisconsin at Platteville has just become the first faculty of an American university to vote to divest from Israel.

ACTIONS
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Please remember that one thoughtless letter can undo all the impact of a thousand thoughtful letters. Last fall, the Office of the President at Duke diverted attention from the fact that they were permitting a group that openly endorses terrorism to meet on campus by complaining about the hate-mail that he was receiving from supporters of Israel. The Presbyterian Church received a single, anonymous letter threatening violence and has been able to spin that letter into a string of "balanced" articles in newspapers that excuse the church's anti-Israel actions by pointing out that the Presbyterian Church has been threatened with arson.

You are entitled to be hopping mad to learn that the faculty of a state university in Wisconsin has taken an action that is intended to destroy the Jewish State. But please don't let your justifiable anger undermine the effectiveness of your protest.

1. Write to the Chancellor of UW Platteville, Dr. David Markee, asking that he condemn the vote taken by his Faculty Senate. email address: markee@uwplatt.edu

2. Write to the Chairman of the Faculty Senate, Professor Mark Evenson, demanding that the Faculty Senate reconsider the divestment decision. email address: evensonm@uwplatt.edu

3. Send a letter to the editor to the UW student newspaper, the Exponent. email address: exponent@uwplatt.edu

4. Sign the petition asking UW Madison to refuse to host the PSM National Conference. http://www.petitiononline.com/stopPSM/petition.html

5. Write to University of Wisconsin Chancellor John D. Wiley asking that he take action to end the racism being perpetrated by anti-Israel activists on his campuses. email address: chancellor@news.wisc.edu

BACKGROUND
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The State of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin share a long tradition of progressive politics. Sadly, that tradition is being hijacked by anti-Semitic, pro-terrorism activists who support the violent destruction of the State of Israel.

The "Wisconsin Divestment Project" is affiliated with Al Awda, a radical group that uses the racist language of "Jewish control" of the universities and media, refers to Jewish national aspirations as a "disease," and works toward the destruction of the State of Israel "by any means necessary." Al Awda is explicit in its demand for a Palestinian state "From the River to the Sea."

Fayyad Sbaihat is a leader of the Wisconsin Divestment Project, Al Awda, and the Palestine Solidarity Movement. He was a co-chair of the recent PSM National Conference at Duke. This is the third year during which Sbaihat has described himself as a "senior majoring in chemical engineering" at UW Madison. Given his lack of visible means of support, freedom to spend much of the semester in Durham and Platteville, and ability to devote most of his time to anti-Israel politics, observers presume that Sbaihat is among the cadre of anti-Israel "students" paid by anti-Israel organizations to devote their time to anti-Israel activism.

In January, UW Madison allowed Sbaihat to book a room on campus in which to hold a "Winter Planning Session" of the Palestine Solidarity Movement. In the end, Sbaihat held the meeting at a secret location to prevent observers from attending.

Last fall Sbaihat selected UW Platteville as a target, presumably because the Faculty Senate there includes a number of anti-Israel professors. Professor Osama Jadaan moved to approve the divestment resolution seconded by Professor Abulkhair Masoom. It was passed at a meeting the last week of January by a vote of 6-6 with one abstention and with the Chair, Professor Mark Evenson, casting the deciding vote for divestment. We believe this to be the first time that an American university faculty has resolved to divest from Israel.

The Faculty Senate has, of course, no actual control over the UW investment portfolio. That power is held by the UW Board of Regents, which is extremely unlikely to vote to divest. The danger of the resolution taken by the faculty at UW Platteville is that it will encourage other institutions to divest, and help the divestment movement to gain momentum.

REFERENCES
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For further information about the "Wisconsin Divestment Project", see the following URL:

http://alawda.rso.wisc.edu/

For further information about the Faculty Senate vote, see the following URL:

http://www.uwplatt.edu/fsenate/f041214m.html

The JAT website at http://JAT-Action.org/ has general information about anti-Israel organizations such as Al-Awda and the International Solidarity Movement. See especially:

http://JAT-Action.org/ISM_essay.htm