Students at University of Minnesota launch divest campaign

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at University of Minnesota, along with 30 other student organizations have launched a divestment campaign in support of the international call made by Palestine civil society to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian human rights.

According to the press release, the resolution is targeting four corporations—Caterpillar, Elbit Systems, Group 4 Securicor (G4S), and Raytheon. These companies are complicit in various human rights abuses against Palestinians. So, the coalition of students and faculty want the University of Minnesota Students Association to pass the resolution that urges the University of Minnesota’s administration to remove, or divest the school’s financial investments in the aforementioned companies.  

“It is very connected to our campus in that we are actually invested in companies that profit off of the occupation and abuse of the Palestinian people’s rights. So we do feel very strongly that this is important to change on our campus. At the UMN, we have a history of divesting from situations of human rights violations, such as with South Africa and Sudan. We wish to continue that tradition with this as well,” UMN Divest and SJP member Sara Halimah told Palestine in America.

The proposal was presented in front of the University of Minnesota Students Association on March 1.

For more information, visit sjpumn.com.