sjp press release 2013

7/22/2019 SJP Press Release 2013

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Copyright 2013 Students for Justice in Palestine at University of South Florida, All rights reserved.

Introduction: Whos Who

University of South Florida (USF) had a recent initiative to divest that was sponsored by Students for

Justice in Palestine (SJP).

What is the structure of the 2012 2013 student government?

President Brian Goff

Vice President George Papadeas

Senate President Helin Jeff Gao

Senate Pro Tempore Scott Sandoval

The Senate is composed of 60 senators. Senate attendance is usually at 39 members. The Senate elects

the Senate President, who decides what will be placed on the agenda for the Senate meeting. The #2

person in the Senate is the Senate Pro Tempore who assists the Senate President in fulfilling his

responsibilities.

Brian Goff and his affiliation with Zionism

During the height of the Gaza bombings in November 2012, SJP led campus demonstrations against

Israels airstrikes. To everyones surprise, President Goff sent a letter on USF letterhead with gold

embossment saying he would commit himself to support U.S.-Israeli relations and Israels right to self-

defense, signing off in Bull Pride as student body president. Reference 1

During his term in office, Goff has attended multiple AIPAC conferences including conferences in

October and January. Reference 3; Reference 4 In December, Goff and Papadeas went on a trip to Israel

paid for by AIPAC. Reference 5 Goff went to the AIPAC Policy conference in Washington D.C. on March 3

to March 5, 2013 which occurred two days after the conclusion of election week at USF.

Who forms the USF administration?

The President of USF is Judy Genshaft since 2000. She is from Ohio. She has donated to Hillel

organizations in Kentucky. The Genshaft Family Foundation has investments in the Industrial

Development Bank of Israel. She actively supports the USF Hillel organization and attends its functions.

Genshaft and the USF Board of Trustees gained notoriety for their quest to fire Dr. Sami Al-Arian. From

2001 to 2003, USF placed Al-Arian on administrative leave without a pretense. The university was in a

predicament and was liable for a multi-million dollar lawsuit. It was being severely criticized by the

faculty union and the national teachers union.

In February 2003, the Bush Administration indicted Al-Arian on terror charges. Following the indictment,

the university fired Al-Arian and used it as legal cover. It is interesting to note that a grand jury would

acquit Al-Arian and his co-defendants. The federal prosecution failed to deliver a single guilty verdict

despite spending $50 million of taxpayers money.


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The beginning: Senate legislation fails

In early January 2013, SJP drafted a resolution modeled after the UC Irvine BDS legislation. Nine

senators had privately endorsed the legislation and were willing to sponsor it on the Senate floor. On

January 15, SJP contacted Senate Pro Tempore Scott Sandoval to ensure the correct format was used in

writing the resolution. SJP learned that its format was correct but Sandoval advised shortening the

resolution.

A week later on January 22, Goff approached an SJP member and called the resolution dead on arrival.

Goff called it a political statement and stated the university does not participate in political statements.

SJP wanted more discussion and met with Senate President Gao. Gao stated he would not even allow

the resolution to enter the Senate floor for discussion. SJP learned through a public records request that

Gao had consulted legal counsel on how to handle the legislation. The universitys associate legal

counsel Joanne Adamchak was an opponent of the legislation and was actively working in the

backgrounds to prevent the legislation from being discussed.

Although Adamchak was identified as an early opponent of the legislation to divest from corporations

affiliated with human rights violations, she was working only in the background. She would later overtly

begin threatening members of student government to prevent the BDS initiative from succeeding.

Needless to say, the Goffs hypocrisy was exposed from the beginning. Goff was the same person who

wrote a letter with USF letterhead in November 2012 to USF Hillel endorsing Israels right to self-

defense as hundreds of Gaza civilians were being massacred by Israeli airstrikes. He wrote the letter in

response to on-campus student demonstrations For Goff to state that the university does not

participate in politics was an example of the clear hypocrisy that pervaded his leadership.

Students rally for BDS

After learning about the significant biases involved in the student government leadership, SJP decided to

pursue a different course of action. The new plan was a student referendum on a non-binding

resolution.

On the afternoon of Monday, February 4, SJP learned the details in how to initiate a referendum. The

statues were clear and unambiguous. Any student had the right to class a referendum election with a

petition of at least 20% of the number of students that voted in the most recent general election. This

meant 1,541 signatures were needed for the referendum to be put on the ballot.

In order for the referendum election to be on the ballot for General Elections, SJP had to collect 1,541

signatures by the end of the week. SJP drafted the referendum on the night of February 4.

SJP had three full days to collect 1,541 signatures. SJP put in a full-blown effort and gathered over 2,500

signatures and submitted the petition on Friday, February 8 at 3:55 PM.


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SJP fights to put referendum on ballot

There are four rules in a referendum election at USF. The rules for referendum are clear:

1. Get 20% of population that voted in last election. That meant 1,541 signatures.2. Submit it 10 business days before election. That meant the signatures had to be submitted by

February 8.

3. Student government must verify signatures.

4. Student government must make the referendum public and accessible 1 week before elections.

Students government responsibility is to verify the signatures on the petition and confirm they are

signed by university students with their valid ID numbers. This process does not take long and the

Election Rules Commission (ERC) had verbally informed us that the signatures were verified within a

week.

On the Thursday before Election Week, Joanne Adamchak contacts student government advisor at 1

PM. The advisor emails SJP at 2 PM and writes, I regret to inform you that the student referendum will

not be placed on the election ballot next week. I have been advised that since SG is an arm of the

university and since the university does not take on political referendums, SG does not as well.

This email was horrifying. It was readily apparent that Adamchak had delayed this to the Thursday

before elections to make it difficult to arrange a meeting with legal counsel for it to explain her

argument. SJP approached student government leaders and explained that Adamchaks argument in the

email was wrong on three counts.

1. Adamchak did not provide where it was written that USF does not take political stances.2. This referendum is strictly humanitarian not political.

3. It is illegal to restrict a referendum based on its content, regardless of whether it is political or

not. Student government had previous referendums on the ballot which were political in nature

as well. For example, the Real Food referendum and the Health Care referendum were both

political and on the ballot

It was readily apparent that Adamchaks argument was baseless. Even student government leaders

conceded that the referendum had to be placed on the ballot. Gao emailed Adamchak, At this point it

would be ill-advised of me to stand between the student [sic] and their right to the referendum.

On the Sunday night before elections, SJP received a phone call from President Goff asking whether SJP

wanted to change the contents of the referendum questions to a question about a two-state solution.

SJP denied the request because that was not the question that over 2,500 students had petitioned for.


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Content of the referendum

These referendum questions were placed on the ballot with the title, Divestment from Corporations

with Human Rights Violations

Question 1:

Would you support the USF student government in adhering to the principles of Dr. Martin Luther King

Jr. that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere?

Question 2:

Would you support boycotting, divesting, and sanctioning corporations affiliated with human rights

violations by replacing them with ethical alternatives at University of South Florida?

The explanations for the questions written by SJP also appeared on the ballot. This is an excerpt of it:

Corporations affiliated with the oppression, occupation, and apartheid of the Palestinian people

includes:

Sabra Hummus Sabra is owned by parent company Strauss Group Ltd. It actively provides

financial support and supplies to the Golani Brigades. The Golani Brigades in particular are

notorious for their record of grave and systematic human rights abuses. Sabra Hummus is

provided in USF dining halls.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) HP is a primary contractor of Basel System, Matrix, Tact Testware

and Israels biometric ID card system. Approximately 4 million Palestinians are affected daily

by the checkpoint system and the separation wall that are supported with technology from

HP. HP provides technology services to Israels army and participates in businesses in the

illegal West Bank settlement of Ariel. Hewlett-Packard products are sold at USF venues,

including the USF computer store.

Wellington Small Cap and Value Wellington Management, the parent company of

Wellington Small Cap Value, is a major owner of Rapiscan Systems, which manufactures

security scanners through its Israel representative, Hashmira (also known as G4S Israel).

Wellington Management is also the largest shareholder for Terex, which produces trucks,

floodlights and other construction equipment for the building of the Separation Wall.

Terexs equipment is also used for the development of checkpoints near the Ofer prison and

detention center and the Deir Sharaf checkpoint in the West Bank. As of September 30,

2012, USF Foundation had investments worth $9.0 million in Wellington Small Cap Value.

The ballot and the university news outlets made it clear that this was a vote on whether the student

body wanted to divest from corporations with known affiliations to Israeli apartheid Sabra Hummus,

Hewlett-Packard, and Wellington Small Cap and Value.


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Legal counsel and Goff pressure ERC

Student government contacted SJP again on the last day of elections Thursday, February 28.

Adamchak had met with student government at 8 AM on the morning of February 28. She ridiculously

compared the divestment legislation to KKK activity by stating, What if the KKK proposed a referendum

on whether black people should not be allowed at the university? The question not only showcased the

Adamchaks limited critical thinking skills but also displayed the dramatic steps she was undertaking to

suppress the student voice.

Adamchak introduced a new argument with her convoluted interpretations of Florida statutes and

university statues:

She said it was illegal for a student employee to directly or indirectly advice where a

government entity spends its commodities.

She claimed was illegal for the university to discriminate against corporations.

Goff simultaneously released Executive Memorandum #12 which formally pressured the Election Rules

Commission (ERC) to declare the results invalid.

SJP called in lawyers from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). CAIR brought in its legal

team. The legal team also consulted the American Civil Liberties Union and the First Amendment Center.

The legal team made it clear that the argument was invalid on several counts.

The student body is not composed of government employees, therefore this law does not apply

to the non-binding student referendum.

The referendum is non-binding.

The referendum is legal and simply an outlet to exercise first amendment right as Americans to

freedom of speech.


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Election results

On March 1st, it was still unclear whether the results would be announced and the results certified. The

election results were set to be announced at 3:00 PM.

At 2:46 PM, a mass email by the Goff was released to the entire university student body and faculty. The

email announced that the referendum would not be certified and the results would be annulled.

At 3:00 PM, the results of the election were announced. This was a surprise victory for SJP.

Referendum #1

Yes 2575 60.45%

No 454 10.66%

No Preference 1231 28.90%

Total 4260

For Referendum #1, 2130 votes needed for passage

Referendum #2

Yes 2111 49.55%

No 609 14.30%

No preference 1540 36.15%

Total 4260

For Referendum #2, 2130 votes needed for passage

But the results were not certified. Goffs email did not explain why the results were decertified and

attacked the referendum allegedly due to a large amount of confusion, the lack of notice and the

inconsistencies in the referendum.

Goff hid the actual reason it was decertified. It was decertified by a technicality that Student

Government failed to follow. One of the requirements for a referendum was publicly announcing the

referendum 1 week before elections and informing the student body. But student government was

never interested in explaining the referendum to the student body. It was too busy doing everything it

can to prevent the referendum from entering the ballot.


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Furthur information

Kumar, Divya. "Hillel lecture supports Israels right of defense." The Oracle. University of South Florida,

20 Nov. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. .

Rosenthal, Alex. "Group petitions for Palestinian resolution in SG senate." The Oracle. University of

South Florida, 2 June 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. .

Kumar, Divya. "Divestment referendum ignites debate ." The Oracle. University of South Florida, 28 Feb.

2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. .

Kumar, Divya. "Divestment referendum discounted from ballots." The Oracle. University of South

Florida, 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. .

Tarabishy, Dana. "Students should be able to decide where the money ... goes." The Oracle. University of

South Florida, 4 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. .

sjp press release 2013

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