Students for a Free Palestine commends Student Senate for passing an edited version of the Oberlin Divest resolution. We are grateful for their thoughtfulness, and for the chance to engage critically in dialogue about about Oberlin’s role in working towards justice in Israel and Palestine. We recognize the courage such work requires, and we thank each Senator for their commitment to the task brought to them. We would also like to take this time to express our gratitude to the many organizations and individuals, on and off of campus, that have lent us both organizational and personal support. These organizations do amazing work all over the world, and we are grateful that they took the time to support us. We encourage any other organizations interested in officially co-sponsoring this campaign or learning more about getting involved to contact us.

We have enjoyed all of the challenging and fruitful conversations of the last several weeks. Oberlin Divest has allowed people to come together to discuss the broader issues and our implication in them at various venues including: Divestment 101; Why Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions; Why Divestment; Oberlin Divest: FAQs; two joint student organization luncheon conversations; several co-op announcements and discussions; a lunch conversation with faculty and staff; and our weekly tabling in Mudd Library and at community events.

We encourage all those who would like to learn more about our campaign and what it means for Oberlin to contact us or check out our website, oberlin.edu/stuorg/sfp/pages/divest.html. Or, come speak with us at our office hour this Sunday May 12, Wilder TBA. We are still accepting new signatures to the petition, so please feel free to sign. Because this work is ongoing, there will be even more opportunities for collaboration in the future. A Student Senate resolution was a crucial but early step in the process of creating an ethical investment policy here at Oberlin.

Today, we are especially proud to be Oberlin students, and look forward to the coming months and the opportunities they bring for hard work and communication. We hope this will be a chance for more members of the Oberlin community to join Student Senate and many others in this important step towards justice.