California Students Call for Israel Divestment
Image by milesgehm/via flickr
The student senate of the University of California, Irvine unanimously passed a non-binding resolution calling on the school to divest from companies doing business with Israel.
All 16 members of the legislative council of the Associated Students of UCI voted for the resolution on Tuesday that calls on the university to divest from companies that “have promoted and been complicit” in “ongoing human rights violations systematically committed by the Israeli government.”
The companies are Caterpillar, Cement Roadstones Holding, Cemex, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Raytheon, Sodastream and L-3 Communications.
The measure also calls for a further examination of university assets” for investments in companies that profit from human rights abuses anywhere in the world.” It refers to what it calls “Israel’s system of apartheid,” saying that “as the example of South Africa shows, it is imperative for students to stand unequivocally against all forms of racism and bigotry globally and on campus.”
The student government’s executive board must pass the resolution before it advances for consideration by the Irvine administration.
Irvine would become the first California university to divest from companies doing business with Israel.
“Our work today stands tall in the noble tradition of students advocating for justice, joining the ranks of those brave and visionary students who demanded that our Universities divest from the terrible crimes of South African apartheid,” said Sabreen Shalabi, a co-author of the legislation, in a statement issued by the council.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
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 the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
