Joanna Swanger

Overview

Joanna Swanger is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and the director of and an associate professor in the Peace and Global Studies Program at Earlham College (Earlham), in Richmond, Indiana.

Supporting BDS

Swanger is a signatory to a list of individuals endorsing the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI).

Swanger signed a letter to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, published in June 2016, demanding that he “ensure that individuals, groups, associations, public and private institutions and local governments participating in the boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement can freely express their opinion and act for Palestinian human rights without unlawful interference or repression.”

Signatories went on to demand that the U.N. High Commissioner “Issue a public statement strongly condemning all intimidation and unlawful restrictions on BDS campaigners and affirming that the right of citizens to advocate for and carry out BDS campaigns.”

In April 2015, Swanger signed her name to a BDS resolution proposed to and passed by the Earlham Student Senate. 

The resolution, proposed by the student organization BDS Earlham, stated that “Earlham College students are inspired by the intention of the global Boycott Divestment Sanctions campaign and have designed a divestment campaign that is tailored to our campus.”

The resolution went on to state that “the Earlham Student Senate endorses BDS Earlham’s request of Earlham College...to remain committed to ensuring that its assets will not include companies materially supporting or profiting from Israeli violations of International Law and the universal Human Rights Principlesby constructing and sustaining illegal settlements, exploiting Palestinian resources, markets, and labour, and/or supplying equipment, knowhow, and services towards the repression of the occupied Palestinian population through the separation wall and checkpoints.”