SJP UCR Sabra Press Release
2
PRESS RELEASE STUDENTS FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 25 TH , 2015 [email protected] University of California, Riverside Students Get Sabra Removed from Campus Dining: After students express their concerns to the dining staff of the products connections to human rights abuses, UCR provides alternative hummus brand in its campus store. Riverside, CA (April 22, 2015)— University of California, Riverside (UCR) Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) declare a major victory in their efforts to remove the Sabra hummus brand off the shelves after the University dining services introduced an alternative brand of hummus to campus this spring quarter. The decision to remove the product was based on the passing of last years’ divestment resolution. The school began selling Sabra hummus in fall of this academic year. This came as a surprise to the students seeing as how just a few months prior, the student senate passed a divestment resolution stating that the students of UCR do not want their tuition dollars going towards funding the occupation of Palestine. Since Sabra’s parent company, the Strauss Group, is complicit in Israel’s military occupation of Palestine, students were very upset. The Strauss Group provides material and financial donations to two Israeli military units, the Golani and Givati brigades, which have been found by the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to have committed egregious violations of human rights and international law in Palestine. After explaining in a letter to the heads of dining why students were upset with Sabra, they agreed to meet with us [letter] . During this meeting, dinning agreed to change the brand of hummus being served at the campus store, stating stated that the request was easy since there are so many alternative brands and that they don’t want to sell products that upset or offend any students on campus. SJP President Tina Matar said, “I was surprised at how easy it was to change brands. Other schools had a much more difficult time so we thought we were going to have one too. We walked into that meeting expecting to be rejected, but to our pleasant surprise, they were very open to the idea.”
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SJP at UCR removes Sabra Hummus from UCR Dining due to occupation ties.
Transcript of SJP UCR Sabra Press Release
PRESS RELEASE
STUDENTS FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 25TH, 2015
University of California, Riverside Students Get Sabra Removed from Campus Dining:
After students express their concerns to the dining staff of the products connections to human rights
abuses, UCR provides alternative hummus brand in its campus store.
Riverside, CA (April 22, 2015)— University of California, Riverside (UCR) Students for Justice in
Palestine (SJP) declare a major victory in their efforts to remove the Sabra hummus brand off the
shelves after the University dining services introduced an alternative brand of hummus to campus
this spring quarter. The decision to remove the product was based on the passing of last years’
divestment resolution.
The school began selling Sabra hummus in fall of this academic year. This came as a surprise to the
students seeing as how just a few months prior, the student senate passed a divestment resolution
stating that the students of UCR do not want their tuition dollars going towards funding the
occupation of Palestine. Since Sabra’s parent company, the Strauss Group, is complicit in Israel’s
military occupation of Palestine, students were very upset. The Strauss Group provides material and
financial donations to two Israeli military units, the Golani and Givati brigades, which have been
found by the United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to have committed
egregious violations of human rights and international law in Palestine.
After explaining in a letter to the heads of dining why students were upset with Sabra, they agreed to
meet with us [letter]. During this meeting, dinning agreed to change the brand of hummus being
served at the campus store, stating stated that the request was easy since there are so many alternative
brands and that they don’t want to sell products that upset or offend any students on campus.
SJP President Tina Matar said, “I was surprised at how easy it was to change brands. Other schools
had a much more difficult time so we thought we were going to have one too. We walked into that
meeting expecting to be rejected, but to our pleasant surprise, they were very open to the idea.”
After our meeting, the transition from Sabra to the new brand, Tapaz2Go, was quick and smooth.
Sabra came off the shelves, and Tapaz went up without a fuss.
SJP members say they are excited that the school listened and adhered to their concerns, bringing
UCR one step closer to becoming a more socially responsible campus. This victory was not only a
victory for SJP and their efforts to raise awareness about Israel’s occupation of Palestine, but it also
paved the way for other students groups to bring up boycotts of their own on products.
