“The production of munitions intended for authorized sale does not meet the criteria for serious social harm, which is a precondition for sale,” the university said.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Yale University students erected a 27-tent “Books Are Not Bombs” encampment Friday night outside a board dinner and Beinecke Plaza seeking military weapons sales. occupied.
University officials told FOX61 no arrests were made and the occupation continued Saturday.
Student protesters have launched an ongoing campaign demanding that Yale, the university’s board of trustees, disclose its investments in and divestments from munitions manufacturers.
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On Saturday morning, a release from the “April Action” group and the @occupybeinecke Instagram page announced the development, citing the Yale Daily News.
On Friday, students camped outside a dinner honoring outgoing President Peter Salovey to express solidarity with recent protests at Columbia University. They were able to finish the dinner early, according to the release.
Police arrived with zip ties and riot gear, and although they expected the square to be cleared, more than 400 people were on the scene within an hour to support the protesters, Yale said.・Told the Daily News. It is estimated that about 75 students and local residents slept in the square overnight, according to the statement.
The encampment came after a week of daytime occupations by students of the plaza, which hosted educational programs ranging from faculty teach-ins to zine-making sessions, and Friday night’s People’s Court, according to the release. Hundreds of people reportedly attended to protest Yale University’s investment. At a weapons manufacturer.
The plaza has a long history of divestment activity, with students occupying the space in 1986 to demand that Yale University withdraw from apartheid South Africa, the statement said. be.
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According to the statement, administrators offered students the opportunity to meet with Yale Dean Pericles Lewis if they were to pass through the plaza, but the students declined the offer.
“We are tired of directors hiding behind administrators and advisory boards. Only if the board itself agrees to confront us will we begin to consider dissolution.” the release quoted protesters as saying.
As of Saturday, meetings with trustees had not yet been permitted, and the Beinecke “Books Are Not Bombs” camp occupation comes at a time of wave of divestment, ceasefires, and pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the United States. are doing the same.
“More than 100 Columbia University students were recently violently arrested by the New York City Police Department for their peaceful ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment,'” the statement said.
Organizers have made it clear to participants that mobilization efforts must be carried out peacefully and non-violently, and the release states that they must do so at this time.
“We are here to protect students’ right to peacefully protest. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues who have been arrested and suspended at Columbia University,” said protester Lumisa, a 25-year graduate of Yale University.・Vista stated in a statement. “We condemn the police action against students who were demonstrating for peace.”
On Wednesday, Yale University’s Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility “concluded that the production of military weapons for authorized sale does not meet the standard of significant social harm, which is a precondition for sale.” Therefore, he said that he would not recommend that the trustee sell the property.
ACIR said the production “supports socially necessary applications such as law enforcement and national security.”
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According to the report, the students responded by “refusing to accept a decision from a body over which they had no decision-making authority” until the trustees announced disclosure and divestiture or publicly justified their failure. He said he would continue to occupy the square. release.
The statement said the university owns thousands of shares in index funds with exposure to contractors and weapons manufacturers that facilitate the shelling of Palestine, and that protesters ) states that this is “the tip of the iceberg.”
They say 99% of the donations are controlled by Wall Street asset managers who invest in weapons.
“I’m here because Palestinian lives, and all lives, are precious,” said protester Adam Nussbaum, a 25-year graduate of Yale University, according to the statement. “We know that the massacre of 33,000 people at Giza, including more than 13,000 children, would amount to ‘grave social harm’ even if the Trustees were satisfied otherwise. There is.”
In less than six months, Yale students sent more than 2,000 letters to Yale’s president and ACIR demanding disclosure and sale of military weapons. According to the announcement, student protesters are hosting weekly rallies to honor the lives lost in Israel’s bombing of Gaza.
Students also rallied outside Yale’s previous conference. On April 15, they built the “Books, Not Bombs” library, which doubled as an apartheid wall, on Beinecke Square.
The announcement said the building was razed the same day at the behest of senior Yale administrators, but the Beinecke Occupy Coalition hosted educational and spiritual events in the plaza throughout the week, including James It is said that it included a lecture by Forman Jr. and a reading of a poem by Pulitzer. Friday Prayer with award-winning poet Natalie Diaz and the Muslim Student Union.
According to the release, three student groups scheduled to perform at the ongoing Trustees Dinner have canceled their performances in solidarity after hearing about the encampment. It also notes that local businesses and community members have donated food, water and other supplies, including 30 pizzas.
Wesleyan students drove in to deliver the blankets, the statement said, adding that the protesters had promised to remain at the camp until Yale promised disclosure and a sale.
In a statement to FOX61 on Saturday, a Yale University spokesperson confirmed that approximately 400 people gathered in the plaza on Friday to protest and support Yale University’s divestment from military weapons manufacturing companies. Some people announced their intention to stay overnight and continue occupying the plaza until the university withdraws from such businesses, a spokesperson said.
“One person was detained but not arrested. The university allowed the encampment to remain overnight in Beinecke Square. The safety and security of the Yale community is our top priority during protests and peaceful gatherings.” “This is a matter of concern,” the spokesperson said.
ACIR said Wednesday that one of its key tenets is to “provide a forum for the community to share views on investor liability issues.”
ACIR calls for community engagement through public meetings and on its website, stating that “community engagement will help sustain Yale’s long-standing commitment to ethical investing.”
Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. You can contact him at: dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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