George Washington Scraps Student Vote On Israel Boycott Resolution
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — Leaders of the student government at George Washington University cancelled a vote on a resolution calling for the school to divest from companies that do business with Israel, citing security concerns.
The vote in the Student Association Senate on the pro-Palestinian resolution was cancelled about ten minutes before the meeting’s scheduled start on Monday evening, the student newspaper The Hatchet reported.
The resolution supporting BDS, or the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, was supported by the Divest This Time GW, a student-led campaign for Palestinian rights, and was endorsed by seven student organizations: Queer Radicals; GWU Students for Justice in Palestine; GWU Muslim Students’ Association; Jewish Voice for Peace GWU; Young Democratic Socialists of America GW; GWU Students for Indigenous and Native American Rights; and the Association of Queer Women and Allies.
The resolution calls on the university to divest its investment from companies: The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin, Elbit Systems Ltd., Caterpillar Inc., CEMEX, General Electric, Northrop Grumman Corporation, The Raytheon Company, and Motorola Solutions, Inc., which the groups say allegedly contribute to the human rights abuses of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
It is not known if George Washington University has holdings in any of the companies in its $1.7 billion endowment. University officials have so far declined to provide information about its investment portfolio, according to the student newspaper.
A similar version of the proposal failed by one vote in the student Senate last spring.
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