Pro-Palestinian Protests on College Campuses Demand Divestment from Israel Amidst Anti-Semitic Incidents

The recent unrest on college campuses in America has led to confrontations with police and closures of certain classrooms, garnering nationwide attention due mainly to anti-Semitic incidents during demonstrations and universities’ reactions thereto. However, the fundamental question that arises is what exactly do pro-Palestinian protestors aim for? Although their specific demands vary from school to school, there are common threads such as requesting colleges divest from companies linked with Israel or those profiting off its war against Hamas being central to this demand. Experts believe the impact on businesses of possible implementation will be relatively marginal and the pressure groups urgently looking for the schools’ disclosure about their investments have been incessant over decades now, such as during anti-apartheid campaigns by students that succeeded in making Columbia University divest from South Africa’s regime. Charlie Eaton opines universities may easily consider divesting according to values and not necessarily yield exclusively better financial results based on equitous norms of justice and fairness. However, Mark Yudof, the former president at UC Berkeley, doubts that any university will actually do so since it’s often tricky identifying Israel-linked investments as well as their connection with warfare. Lauren Post from ADL considers divestment campaigns a part of BDS (Boycott Divest Sanctions) movement whose ultimate goal is to dismantle the state of Israel, which she deems antisemitic since it targets only Israeli citizens and not other undemocratic regimes worldwide such as Iran or Russia. Cary Krosinsky argues that university endowments hold roughly 0.1% ownership in public companies, implying divestment may hardly make a significant difference to the affected businesses; someone else will buy their shares anyway. The protesters’ demands for financial transparency and punishment of students participating are also interconnected since they believe universities have been complicit in activities conducted through investments as these charges attract tuition fees from learners. Graduate student Basil Rodriguez believes that divestment is just a symbolic victory to support justice, equality, and the truth behind opaque financial dealings by educational institutions worldwide should also be revealed to stakeholders including students, faculty members, and staff who might perceive it as hostile or threatening otherwise.