Full disclosure: I am not taking sides. I am just answering your question.
Why not protest at the Israeli embassy? Why attack a college building?
EDUCATION
Students protesting on campuses across US ask colleges to cut investments supporting Israel
Students at a growing number of U.S. colleges are gathering in pro-Palestinian encampments with a unified demand to end investments supporting Israel’s war in Gaza.
BY COLLIN BINKLEY, STEVE LEBLANC AND BIANCA VÁZQUEZ TONESS
Updated 5:47 PM EDT, April 24, 2024
Students at a growing number of U.S. colleges are gathering in protest encampments with a unified demand of their schools: Stop doing business with Israel — or any companies that support its ongoing war in Gaza.
The demand has its roots in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, a decades-old campaign against Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians. The movement has taken on new strength as the Israel-Hamas war surpasses the six-month mark and stories of suffering in Gaza have sparked international calls for a cease-fire.
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WHAT DO THE STUDENTS WANT TO SEE HAPPEN?
The students are calling for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza — and in some cases from Israel itself.
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The demands vary from campus to campus. Among them:
— Stop doing business with military weapons manufacturers that are supplying arms to Israel.
— Stop accepting research money from Israel for projects that aid the country’s military efforts.
— Stop investing college endowments with money managers who profit from Israeli companies or contractors.
— Be more transparent about what money is received from Israel and what it’s used for.
Student governments at some colleges in recent weeks have passed resolutions calling for an end to investments and academic partnerships with Israel. Such bills were passed by student bodies at Columbia, Harvard Law, Rutgers and American University.
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Columbia student protesters are demanding divestment. Here’s what the university has divested from in the past
By Clare Duffy and Ramishah Maruf, CNN
5 minute read • Updated 4:57 PM EDT, Mon April 29, 2024
New York (CNN) — One of the core demands over the past week by the pro-Palestinian student groups at Columbia University has been for the school to withdraw investment funds from what they describe as companies profiting from Israel’s military action in Gaza. ... Columbia’s endowment is worth $13.6 billion and is managed by a university-owned investment firm.
The request from Columbia University Apartheid Divest — a coalition of student groups behind the movement — includes, among other steps, divesting endowment funds from several weapons manufacturers and tech companies that do business with Israel’s government. The group has described those companies as profiting “from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of Palestine.” Israel denies accusations of genocide.
This is not the first time such demands have been made. Columbia has a history of student activism, from the now-famous 1968 student occupation of multiple campus buildings to raise awareness of the Vietnam War, to hunger strikes over issues such as the university’s expansion in Upper Manhattan. ... And protesting students also have a history of pushing for Columbia to divest in different movements.
In 2000, the university established an advisory committee on socially responsible investing, made up of students, faculty and alumni, to provide feedback to the managers of Columbia’s endowment investments. The group has a formal process for submitting divestment proposals. ... Columbia University Apartheid Divest submitted a formal proposal to the committee for withdrawing investments related to Israel in December, which has yet to yield success. Students at Columbia College, the university’s undergraduate school, voted to support the divestment proposal last week. ... And students are continuing to push for the university to adopt the proposal.
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