By Julian Bender, Weather Vane student newspaper <\/p>\n
An unusual combination of attendees united in Common Grounds Wednesday night. The topic of divestment from the Israeli occupation of the West Bank brought these people together. <\/p>\n
David Hosey, working for the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation, presented a brief overview of the Israeli occupation and its effects on Palestinians: The West Bank is best described as a giant prison with movement in and out of it, heavily restricted by Israeli checkpoints, barriers, and military actions. The Israeli government is continually developing settlements, which are Jewish-only neighborhoods on land often confiscated from Palestinian owners. Their function is a de-facto annexation of land intended for a future Palestinian state. Arbitrary arrests and killings, deprivation of economic resources and opportunities, and house demolitions plague the two-and-a-half million Palestinians living under occupation, making normal life all but impossible and filling day-to-day existence with frustration, oppression and fear. Both the occupation and the Israeli settlements are illegal under international law; both Israel and its ally the United States have consistently ignored this fact. <\/p>\n
Hosey listed a number of the tools used by the occupation: surveillance cameras, military equipment, and concrete for the separation wall which divides portions of the West Bank from Israel, to name a few. Many of these products, he went on to show, are manufactured by American companies. He then made the point that not only is the US a major contributor of military aid to Israel (starting in 2007, US military aid to Israel will total $30 billion over a decade), but that American corporations are heavily involved in, and profiting from, the occupation. <\/p>\n
He made the case for morally responsible investment <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"