Concordia Students Union Votes on Boycotting Countries Complicit in Apartheid

The Concordia Student Union, also known as the CSU, held a student council meeting this week to pass a motion which would lead to a vote among Concordia students.

The motion voted upon asked: “Do you support the CSU to adopt a position against the practice of apartheid (as defined by leading human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International) and to divest from any investments and withdraw any financial or vocal support from states or businesses that are involved in apartheid?”

This motion was approved, and as a result, it will be presented as a referendum question in the upcoming student council election.

So why is this a local issue?

The contention between differing opinions on Israel-Palestine as been a hot topic on Concordia’s campus for a long time.

In 2002, then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to visit Concordia campus, invited by Jewish student Organization Hillel Concordia.

Netanyahu never made it to the campus, as a protest broke out, leading to one of the windows of the hall building being broken.

This motion follows last years bombing of Gaza by the Israeli military, which not only lead to international protests against the Israeli occupation, but thousands in the streets protesting in downtown Montreal.

Amnesty international recently summarized a 300 word report, published on the first of February, assessing the Israeli occupation in Palestine. The summary read:

“Massive seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians are all components of a system which amounts to apartheid under international law.”

Stay tuned to watch what happened at the CSU council.