April 14, 2010 Dear Members of the Berkeley Senate, We hope that our names are not unknown

to you. We have been invited to lecture at Berkeley on many occasions, and have been graciously received by your faculty and students. Since the Six-Day War in 1967, the two of us along with other authors, artists and intellectuals, have struggled incessantly to advance the notion that the territories captured by Israel during the Six day War must not be annexed into the Jewish state; but rather returned in their entirety to Egypt, Syria, and of course to the Palestinians in exchange for full peace and appropriate security arrangements, in the spirit of UN Security Council Resolution 242, adopted unanimously by the international community. In the ensuing years of war and upheavals, Israelis, Arabs, and particularly the Palestinians, often rejected this approach. However things have changed in Israel. Backed by only a minority of Israelis in 1967, the idea of return of territory in exchange for peace has earned wide support within Israel today, and has become the cornerstone of many Israeli political party platforms. This concept is supported today even by the current government of Israel, considered by many to be right-leaning. Egypt and Jordan signed peace agreements with Israel on the basis of this UN resolution, and since 1993, the Israelis and the Palestinians have been engaged in difficult and complicated peace negotiations on the basis of two states for two peoples. It is true that the path is not easy, and there have been many regrettable setbacks for which both sides must bear responsibility but our fundamental direction remains clear. Therefore, instead of launching a divestment campaign against Israel, you need to work to encourage and support Israel and the Palestinians to continue moving towards two states for two peoples, a goal to which they have both formally committed themselves. In todays world, we are witness to waves of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel antipathy from right-wing racists and Holocaust deniers, who seek not peace to the Middle East, but rather to condemn Israel and the Jewish people no matter what. In addition, we are witness to absolutist threats to Israels existence from Iran and its allies who threaten to use nuclear weapons to achieve this aim. It will be a tremendous misfortune if UC Berkeley, a liberal progressive community, joins with reactionary anti-Semitic forces by advancing hatred and sanctions against Israel.

Moreover, sanctions by the left will only strengthen the hawkish extreme in Israel, and will weaken the peace efforts of the Israeli liberal camp. Therefore we call on you to desist from any form of divestment against Israel, and to join us Israelis in advancing and keeping faith with the one real option for peace the establishment of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders living in peace and security alongside the State of Israel.

Sincerely, A.B. Yehoshua Amos Oz