Author: Anu Shukla
Affiliation: Independent
Organization/Publisher: The New Arab
Date/Place: January 2nd, 2020, U.K.
Type of Literature: Analysis
Word count: 1313
Keywords: UK, Universities, Israel, Ethical Investments, SDGs, Human Rights, Divest Colonialism
Brief:
Although spokespersons of various UK universities claim that their investment policy is ethical, FOI (freedom of information) requests revealed that 44 of 151 universities across the UK have invested £456m in companies claimed to be financing Israel’s military industry, illegal settlement industry, or production of technologies used in the surveillance of Palestinians. The Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) is the top abuser, with a £27.7 million direct investment in Barclays. Barclays is claimed to support companies that are supplying weapons to the Israeli military, including BAE Systems, Rolls Royce and Boeing. Number two on the list is the University of Glasgow with a £15.53 million investment in 30 companies, which are alleged to be complicit in the human rights violations of Palestinians. The Imperial College London follows third with its investment of £12 million, mainly invested in Check Point Software Tech. The University of Edinburgh (£7.3 million), the University of Manchester (£6.75 million), and the London School of Economics (£4.25 million) mainly support Israel Chemicals and Check Point Software. The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) also has investments in the British security company G4S with £129.2k. G4S is known to run Israeli prisons in which Palestinian activists are alleged to be tortured and held without trial; and for its services to Israeli military checkpoints. With this information disclosure, the question remains whether students will challenge these “ethical” investments of their universities in order to make a statement for justice and humanity?
By: Dilek Yücel-Kamadan,, CIGA Research Associate