The Critical Pacific Islands Studies Collective (CPISC) stands with the BDS movement at UC Berkeley and the struggles for justice and liberation in Palestine and across the world. We are actively supporting and participating in the UC Berkeley BDS Coalition’s work to demand that this university sever ties with the settler-colonial state of Israel and end its role in enabling the genocide in Gaza.

As Pacific Islanders and allies working towards the demilitarization of the Pacific and attainment of environmental justice for marginalized communities across islands, we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle towards liberation under the same military colonial structures that exploit the peoples and environments of the Pacific. The military industrial complex and atrocities committed through perpetual violence necessitate collective action across oceans and lands. Divestment is a crucial step, as words alone fall far short when an institution claims to support equity and justice but funds and produces knowledge in service of the United States-Israel war machine.

Our fight is to emphasize the importance of research, education, and activism that centers the under-represented voices of marginalized peoples. This mission unifies our collective and requires that we fight for justice across the Pacific, in Palestine, and worldwide.