The agreement to also discuss the sale marks a major shift in a long-controversial issue that opponents of the long-running campaign to boycott Israel say has anti-Semitic leanings. However, although the university has made concessions such as amnesty for demonstrators and funding for Middle East research, it has not promised to change the amount of investment.
“I think for some universities this may just be a delaying tactic to diffuse the protests,” said Ralph Young, a history professor at Temple University in Philadelphia who studies American dissent. “It’s almost the end of the school year. And perhaps by the start of the next school year there will be a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Some university boards may not even vote on divestment from Israel, which can be a complicated process, Young said. He also claims some state schools don’t have that authority.
But Young said dialogue is a better tactic than arrests, which could inflame protesters.
Talking “at least gives the protesters a sense that they’re going somewhere,” he says. “Whether they’re getting anywhere is another question.”
Israel has called the protests anti-Semitic. Critics say the country uses such claims to silence opponents. Some protesters were caught on camera making anti-Semitic remarks and threats of violence, but protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, said It claims to be a peaceful movement to protect human rights and protest war.
Administrators at the University of California, Riverside announced an agreement with protesters Friday to close encampments on campus. The agreement includes removing Riverside’s endowment from broader University of California system control and distributing those funds “in a manner that is fiscally and ethically sound for the university, with consideration for companies involved in the manufacture and delivery of weapons.” This included the establishment of a task force to consider investing in ”
The announcement marked a clear break with the policy of the 10-campus UC system, which announced last week that it opposes “calls to boycott and divest from Israel.”
“While the university recognizes the right of community members to express diverse views, this type of boycott violates the academic freedom of students and faculty and the free exchange of ideas on campus,” the university said in a statement. There is,” he said. “UC tuition and fees are the primary source of funding for the university’s core operations. None of these funds are used for investment purposes.”
Protesters similarly packed a tent Thursday afternoon at Rutgers University, where finals were suspended due to protests on the New Brunswick campus. The state university established an Arab Cultural Center and agreed not to retaliate against students involved in the camp.
In a statement, Prime Minister Francine Conway cited protesters’ demands for capital to be divested from companies doing business with Israel and for Rutgers University to sever ties with Tel Aviv University. He said the request was under consideration, but “such decisions are outside of our control.”
Protesters at Brown University in Rhode Island agreed to clear their camp on Tuesday. School officials said students may advocate stripping Mr. Brown’s donations from companies contributing to and profiting from the Gaza war.
In addition, Brown President Christina Paxson asked the advisory committee to make a recommendation regarding the sale by Sept. 30, which will be submitted to the school’s governing body for a vote in October. .
Northwestern’s Deering Meadow, a Chicago suburb, also went quiet after Monday’s agreement. The deal curtailed protests in exchange for re-establishing an advisory committee on university investments and other commitments.
This arrangement provoked opposition from both sides. Some pro-Palestinian protesters denounced this as failing to stick to their original demands, while some Israeli supporters said it was a “despicable” surrender.
Later, seven of the 18 members of the University Commission, which advises the government on combating anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and hate speech on campus, said, “There has been no evidence of anti-Semitism at Northwestern in public over the past week.” He resigned, saying that he could not continue to serve because of the existence of so many people.
Michael Simon, executive director of the Jewish student organization Northwestern Hillel, said he resigned after coming to the conclusion that the committee’s goals could not be achieved.
Faculty members at Pomona College in California have voted to divest from companies accused of funding Israel’s war in Gaza, a group of faculty and students announced Friday.
Thursday’s vote is non-binding at the liberal arts school, which enrolls about 1,800 students in East Los Angeles. But supporters said they hope it will encourage boards to stop investing in these companies and start disclosing their investments.
“This non-legally binding faculty statement does not represent the official position of Pomona College,” the school said in a statement. “We continue to encourage further dialogue within the community, including consideration of counter-arguments.”
Meanwhile, arrests of demonstrators continued elsewhere.
About 10 protesters who refused police orders to leave the NYU campus were arrested early Friday, and about 30 more left voluntarily, NYU spokesman John Beckman said. That’s what he said. The school reportedly asked the city police to intervene.
NYPD officials also cleared an encampment at The New School in Greenwich Village at the request of school administrators. No arrests have been announced.
Starting late Thursday, police destroyed a camp at the State University of New York at New Paltz and arrested another 132 protesters, authorities said.
And nine people were arrested at the University of Tennessee, including seven students who President Donde Plowman said would be sanctioned under the school’s code of conduct.
The movement began on April 17 in Colombia, where student protesters set up an encampment demanding an end to the Israeli-Hamas war.
Police destroyed an encampment in Colombia and arrested more than 100 people late Tuesday. The New York City Police Department announced late Thursday that an officer accidentally fired a gun inside Hamilton Hall during the operation, but no one was injured.
According to the Gaza Strip Ministry of Health, more than 34,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Israel launched an offensive after October 7, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages.
Foody reported from Chicago, Catalini from Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and Hill from Altamont, New York. Amy Taxin, Hannah Schoenbaum, Ben Finley, Julie Watson, Carolyn Thompson, Kavish Harjai, John Antozak, Lisa Bauman, Colleen Long, Sarah Brumfield, Philip Marcello, Steve Karnowski , Cedar Attanasio, Stephanie Dazio and other AP journalists from around the country contributed. Gene Johnson.
