San Francisco State Uni divests from firms aiding 'Israel' in genocide
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Lockheed Martin Corporation, Leonardo, Palantir Technologies, and Caterpillar are the four large corporations the university withdrew their investments from after months of demonstrations.
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Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally near Columbia University in New York on November 15, 2023. (AFP)
San Francisco State University (SFSU) has withdrawn its investments from four firms aiding aiding "Israel's" ongoing genocide in Gaza, a move celebrated by pro-Palestinian activists and considered a "major victory" for the divestment movement.
Students for Gaza SFSU announced during a press conference and rally on the campus's Malcolm X Plaza that the institution will divest its corporate bonds holdings from American aerospace and arms company Lockheed Martin Corporation, Italian defense firm Leonardo, US-based data analytics company Palantir Technologies, and construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar.
These corporations have been described as "profiting from the Gaza genocide" by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC).
The actions came after months of pro-Palestine demonstrations urging the university to pull out its investments from these firms complicit in aiding the occupation's genocide.
“It’s not that the university decided to divest from these four companies. It’s that the university decided on a new ethical investment policy, and when it screened its direct investments through this new lens, these are the companies that were flagged. So the policy would make sure the university cannot directly invest in these and other similar companies in the future," AFSC's strategic coordinator Noam Perry said, referring to the shift in the university's moral stance to reach the decision.
“As far as I know, this has been the most earnest process that a US university has had so far to respond to the divestment demands of its student’s encampment,” Perry added, asserting that SFSU respected its students' voices in its investment choices.
The role of the four corporations in the ongoing genocide
Lockheed Martin is one of the world's largest arms manufacturers, supplying the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) with F-16 and F-3 jets alongside Leonardo, which has been equipping the regime's navy with 76mm guns used to target Gaza from the sea.
Denver-based Palantir Technologies has assisted "Israel" in developing "kill lists," while Caterpillar provides the occupation with D9 armored bulldozers used for the demolition of Palestinian homes and civilian infrastructure.
“These bulldozers have also been crucial for Israel’s ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, accompanying combat troops and paving their way by clearing roads and flattening entire residential neighborhoods,” Perry stated.
“It’s important to note that divestment from both Palantir and Caterpillar was not due to SFSU’s commitment to divest from weapons manufacturers, but thanks to the other parts of the university’s investment policy, which now considers internationally-recognized human rights, in addition to the university’s prior commitments to racial justice and environmental issues,” he said, stressing that more week needs to be done by the university.
Pro-Palestine protests prompt closure of Israeli arms firm's US office
From university campuses to the crowded streets, US citizens have taken initiatives in an attempt to defund the occupation to halt its aggression on Gaza despite the government's explicit support for the Israeli regime, leading to boycotting and divestments of large companies complicit in the ongoing genocide.
A US branch of "Israel's" largest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems, has announced the termination of its office lease in Cambridge following months of pro-Palestinian demonstrations led by Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Boston.
A subsidiary of the Israeli-based company, KMC Systems, had moved into a building at 130 Bishop Allen Drive in December 2021, where the lease was expected to end next year.
The BDS organization described the end of Elbit's lease as "a testament to our collective power,” attributing “varied community efforts” for the disruption of Elbit and its landlord, Intercontinental Management Corp.'s operations and “forcing the early termination of the lease.”
The movement has pledged to keep fighting to “prevent Elbit from moving to another nearby location," as well as attempt to “sever Elbit’s ties with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other actors in the Boston area.”
“We will not consider ourselves victorious until Elbit Systems is dismantled and until Palestine is liberated,” BDS Boston asserted.
