NEW YORK (JTA) — A scheduled vote to overturn the veto of a divestment bill at the University of California, Berkeley has attracted high-profile supporters.
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and author and activist Naomi Klein both have spoken out in favor of the university divestment bill, which was vetoed last month by Will Smelko, president of the Associated Students of the University of California, Berkeley. A vote to overturn the veto reportedly is scheduled for Wednesday.
In his letter to Berkeley student leaders, Tutu urged them not to believe the detractors who tell them they are doing the wrong thing.
"In South Africa, we could not have achieved our freedom and just peace without the help of people around the world, who through the use of nonviolent means such as boycotts and divestment encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the apartheid regime," Tutu wrote. "Students played a leading role in that struggle, and I write this letter with a special indebtedness to your school, Berkeley, for its pioneering role in advocating equality in South Africa and promoting corporate ethical and social responsibility to end complicity in apartheid."
Klein, whose open letter was published in The Nation, urged the senate to "be brave" and to push ahead partly for the galvanizing impact the Berkeley investment bill could have at other schools.
The original bill was passed 16-4 by the student senate, though some senators reportedly are said to be reconsidering their vote. A two-thirds majority is required to overturn the veto.
Jewish groups opposed to the divestment bill have charged that the measure is not aimed at promoting peace but at delegitimizing Israel’s existence.
