Divestment Bills Fail at Two Calif. Universities
The student government at the University of California, Berkeley fell a vote short in a bid to override a veto against a divestment bill.
Meanwhile, a vote early Thursday morning by the Associated Students at the University of California, San Diego reportedly was unsuccessful in passing a similar measure.
At Berkeley, 13 senators voted early Thursday morning to override the veto, with five voting to uphold it. Fourteen votes were necessary for the override.
The vote at about 4 a.m. followed a meeting that began in the evening attended by about 200 people, according to reports.
“We lost the vote, but won the night,” read a statement on the CalDivest from Apartheid Web site. “We made a statement recorded for posterity and forced everyone to listen and watch what the nature of Israeli occupation is, to listen to Palestinian voices, from Palestine and from the US, telling their stories. These transcripts will stay preserved in recorded history, and we shall overcome.”
A vote April 15 failed to overturn student government President Will Smelko’s veto of the Associated Students’ bill, which was adopted 16-4 in March. However, following several procedural votes the bill was tabled, making it available again for reconsideration.
The bill would have required divestment of students’ association assets from General Electric and United Technologies, two companies cited frequently by Israel’s detractors for complicity in alleged war crimes and perpetuating Israel’s occupation.
Four female Nobel peace laureates had sent a letter Wednesday to the Associated Students at Berkeley in support of the divestment bill.
The San Diego bill was sponsored by several campus organizations, including Students for Justice in Palestine and the Student Sustainability Collective. The resolution identifies by name General Electric and United Technologies, “companies that materially support the occupation of the Palestinian territories.”
Unlike the Berkeley measure, the San Diego resolution also condemns human rights violations around the world, though seven of the resolution’s 13 points specify Israel and its conflict with the Palestinians.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward In first Sunday address, Pope Leo XIV calls for ceasefire in Gaza, release of hostages
-
Fast Forward Huckabee denies rift between Netanyahu and Trump as US actions in Middle East appear to leave out Israel
-
Fast Forward Federal security grants to synagogues are resuming after two-month Trump freeze
-
Fast Forward NY state budget weakens yeshiva oversight in blow to secular education advocates
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.