Headline Roundup • April 30th, 2024
What's Behind Campus Protesters' Calls For 'Divestment' From Israel?
Education,Colleges And Universities,Israel Hamas Violence,Israel,Banking And Finance,Gaza,Palestine,Pro-Palestine Protests
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Student protesters on campuses across the country are calling for their schools to divest from Israel. What does this mean, and what impact would it have on the Israel-Palestine conflict?
What is Divestment? An article in the Washington Post (Lean Left bias) described the divest movement. Student protesters are calling for schools to alter their endowments, the “vast financial holdings that fund anything from financial aid to new buildings,” to not include Israeli stocks or stocks of certain companies, such as Google, that have contracts with the Israeli government. The article highlights the logistical challenges that would come with divestment given the “extremely complex investment arms” that governs colleges’ endowments.
What’s the Impact of Divestment? An analysis in the Wall Street Journal (Center bias) determined the financial impact of widespread divestment from Israel would be minimal, and the only potential win for the protesters would be Israelis being culturally isolated and “fed up with being treated as the bad guys,” leading to potential government change. But in terms of stocks, colleges divesting their endowments would be negligible for three reasons: there are enough “deep-pocketed supporters of Israel” to buy up the colleges’ stocks, it would most likely not compel companies to change course, and it would not stop Israel from waging its war in Gaza. The analysis concluded, “Weapons will continue to flow no matter what private investors do—only Congress or the White House can stop them.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
Sophie Park for The Washington Post
The turmoil at Columbia University ratcheted up early Tuesday when protesters barricaded themselves inside the campus’s Hamilton Hall, with students planning to stay inside until the school divests financially from Israel.
The rising tensions have put particular focus on Columbia’s campus in New York City. But at pro-Palestinian protests and demonstrations nationwide, campus activism is focusing intensely on university endowments — the vast financial holdings that fund anything from financial aid to new buildings.
From Boston to California, students are calling on universities to cut ties with Israel’s economy, and...
timothy a. clary/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Student protesters who have brought Columbia University to a halt want the institution to sell its investments in companies linked to Israel. Their demands appear to be about finance, but to the extent the money makes a difference—not much—it would leave them worse off and Israel’s friends better off.
The divestment campaign, along with the student demand to break academic ties to Israeli universities, can only succeed by isolating Israel culturally. It can’t work financially, so its only chance is that Israelis fed up with being treated as the bad...
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Columbia University will not divest from Israel, a top official at the Ivy League school said on Monday, rejecting a key demand of pro-Palestinian protesters who have set up camp at the New York City campus over the past couple of weeks.
In a statement posted on the university’s website, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik said that talks between a small group of academic leaders and student organizers that began last week had broken down.
“Regretfully, we were not able to come to an agreement,” Shafik said, noting that the...
