Three Reasons to Support Divestment From Fossil Fuels

by Jared Naimark, ’14

Last Monday March 4^th, student activists from Fossil Free Stanford, Students for a Sustainable Stanford, and a host of other environmental groups gathered in White Plaza in a day of solidarity with hundreds of campuses all over the country, to show their support for the movement to divest from fossil fuels.  This day of action, punnily dubbed “March Forth on Climate Justice” was the kick-off of our first ever Environmental Justice Week, a series of events aimed at raising awareness about the ways environmental issues intersect with issues of social justice and human rights.  Below is a version of a speech I gave at the rally, explaining three reasons why I support divestment from fossil fuels.

Students Hail Significant Milestone in Push for Divestment

by Students for Palestinian Equal Rights

In a powerful show of solidarity, over 75 Stanford students turned out Tuesday evening to express support for the campaign calling for Stanford University’s Board of Trustees to divest from a set of companies that violate international law and abuse human rights in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (see photos and videos here).

The students hailed over the two dozen student groups, including the NAACP, Stanford Students for Queer Liberation, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), Stanford Says No to War, Asian American Student Association, the Stanford Labor Action Coalition, and the Black Student Union.

Social Justice Activists Worldwide support the ASSU Divestment Bill

by Students for Palestinian Equal Rights

Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

The campaign to end Stanford’s complicity in violations of international law and abuses of human rights in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories is coming to a historic juncture.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7 PM in Nitery 209 the ASSU Undergraduate Senate is voting on a bill that calls on the Board of Trustees to specifically reevaluate its investments in companies that violate  international law and abuse human rights in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

In the last few days we have received statements of support for our selective divestment campaign and for the bill in front of the ASSU UG Senate from some of the most prominent social justice advocates and heroes hailing from all corners of the world: from Northern Ireland to South Africa, Palestine to the Bay Area!

We have been deeply humbled by this outpouring of international support and are really excited to share with the rest of campus.

Fossil Fuel Divestment Dinner

by Sophie Harrison, ’16 + Graham Provost, ’13

As Stanford students, we are surrounded by research that brings into stark relief the profound implications of climate change. With ever-increasing clarity we recognize the disastrous impact it will have on the natural world, on humanity, and particularly on vulnerable communities in the developing world. Climate change poses a threat to future quality of life worldwide, and as our society continues to head down a calamitous emissions trajectory, we cannot postpone action any longer.

Amidst this gloom there is a ray of hope: a growing movement. Last weekend, 50,000 people gathered in front of the White House, and thousands more assembled in solidarity across the country. We called on President Obama to move forward on climate and reject the disastrous Keystone XL pipeline. And, in the past few months, a movement has spread to more than 250 colleges. Students across the country are calling on our schools to divest from the fossil fuel industry.

My Problem with Having a Problem With Activism

by Conor Doherty, ’13

The efficacy of Stanford’s student activist movements has been a frequent topic of conversation around campus and in the editorial pages of The Daily the last few weeks. Most prominently, outgoing Executive Editor Brendan O’Bryne wrote an article questioning our “campus’s definition of activism” and raising important concerns about troubling events and policies that have received little attention. While I disagree with some of Brendan’s comments about our the insularity of Stanford’s activist community and narrowing the scope of issues we should be addressing, I appreciate his call for more focused and effective engagement with pressing on-campus problems.

Others have been more dismissive of Stanford’s student activist movements. Toward the end of Fall Quarter, The Daily published an editorial explaining one student’s “problem with activism.” More recently, another writer went so far as the say that the word “activist” should be “banished” from the Stanford lexicon. On the surface, these “critiques” are broad and ambiguous. I recognize that, if you look past the dismissive facades, their author’s are (I think) calling for “better” activism, rather than no activism at all. However, their reductive use of straw man arguments is frustrating and undermines substantive discussion. I get that the “panel on muskrat rights in 19th-century Bulgaria” line was supposed to be funny but, as someone who has written a lot of bad satire, I know it when I see it.

Stanford Students Protest Gaza Offensive, Demand Student Action & University Divestment

 by a coalition of students concerned about the siege on Gaza

Stanford students, faculty and alumni will gather at White Plaza  Friday, November 16 at noon to sit in solidarity with the residents of Gaza currently under siege by Israeli military forces. They will protest the Israeli assault and economic chokehold on Gaza, and will rally students to demand that the University divest from companies implicated in the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine.

A coalition of concerned students have been meeting since  Wednesday, when Israel first commenced the “Pillar of Defense” – a naval, air and artillery offensive on the besieged territory of Gaza. The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated civilian regions in the world.

The coalition has planned a sit-in that will symbolize the Israeli blockade and siege of Gaza. Allied faculty have confirmed their attendance in support.

Given the death of many Palestinian civilians and our complicity in this violence as Stanford students, we have a responsibility to do something about it.

Since  November 8 – when Israel first began violent aggression against Gaza, killing six civilians, including three children – at least 23 more Palestinians have died as a result of Israeli attacks, including another six children. Israeli strikes have injured over 300 Palestinians in this time.  The IDF has attacked over 500 targets in Gaza since the formal Israeli offensive began.

The blockade of Gaza – created by crippling sanctions from Israel and Egypt – limits Palestinian access to the outside world, including access to food and medicine. Such conditions constitute what can only be described as an open air prison.