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According to a new poll released by the Israel Democracy Institute, 53 percent of Israeli citizens think the government should encourage Arab emigration out of the state. Additionally 51 percent of practicing Israeli Jews think that Jews and Arabs should not have equal rights. Most shocking of all, the poll revealed that 33 percent of Israeli Jews would favor placing Arabs in internment camps if the two populations were to go to war. These sentiments are revealed at a time when the US has all but failed to convince Prime Minister Netanyahu to reinstate a moratorium on Israeli settlements in disputed Palestinian areas. Here in California, a proposed ballot measure would offer voters a pathway to place economic sanctions on corporations that provide equipment and services to Israel that are used in the construction of the settlements and the so-called “Separation Wall.” The effort is inspired by the international movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against the state of South Africa during Apartheid. The measure, know as the Israel Divestment Campaign (IDS), would require retirement groups such as the Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) to divest from corporations that benefit from Israeli occupation. According to the IDS, such a divestment would ensure that the state’s tax dollars do not contribute to human rights violations. Currently members of the campaign are petitioning registered Californians for the 434,000 signatures necessary for the measure to be approved for the next statewide ballot. The deadline for gathering signatures is January 31st 2011.

GUEST: Chris Yatooma, Director of Fiscal Services for the California Community Colleges and a proponent of the Israel Divestment Campaign

Find out more at www.israeldivestmentcampaign.org.