UVA Students Want Vote on Israel Divestment

A student group at the University of Virginia is petitioning the student-run University Board of Elections at the University of Virginia to hold a referendum calling for an audit of UVA's endowment funds to determine how much are invested in companies "engaging in or profiting from the State of Israel’s apartheid regime and acute violence against Palestinians and to immediately divest all funds so identified."

The petition is backed by UVA Apartheid Divest (UVAAD), which seeks to unite UVA students in the struggle against "imperialism, colonialism, and militarism in pursuit of collective liberation."

The organization's vision states, "We envision a free Palestine, where everyone can live as free and equal citizens. We necessarily envision a world free from colonialism and imperialism, and from all the interrelated systems of oppression that hold them." The initiative mirrors other BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) initiatives aimed at Israel taking place at other universities around the country.

The petition contains the following resolutions:

RESOLVED That the University community asks that, at a minimum, acknowledging Israel as a victim of violence should not be separated from acknowledging Palestine as a victim of settler colonialism and apartheid; AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED  That while the damage of erasing Palestinian narratives in the University’s initial statement cannot be undone, the University community requests the University of Virginia to act on its claims of fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion for each of its students by not further ignoring the pain and existence of Palestinian students and community members; AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED That the University community asks UVIMCO to subject itself to an external auditing process to determine the extent to which the University’s endowment is financially implicated in corporations that profit from or engage in human rights violations, including but not limited to the State of Israel’s apartheid regime; AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED That the University community calls on UVIMCO to divest its stocks, funds, and endowment from companies that profit from any and all acts of human rights violations across the world.

The following student organizations have signed the petition:

Students for Justice in Palestine Divest
UVA Asian Student Union
Muslim Student Association
Dissenters
Minority Rights Coalition
Muslims United
Faculty for Justice in Palestine
Jewish Voice for Peace
Political Latinxs United for Movement and Action in Society
National Lawyers Guild
Black Muslims
Queer Student Union
Environmental Justice Collective
Organization of African Students
Med Students for Palestine
Black Student Alliance
UndocUVA
Arab Student Organization
Indian Student Association
Young Democrat Socialists of America
Palestine Culture Club
Hindu Student Council
Engineers for Palestine
National Organization of Minority Architecture Students
UDems
Bengali Student Organization
Central Asians Student Association
Iraqi American Union
Pakistani Students' Association
Central Americans for Empowerment
National Organization of Minority Architecture Students
Lebanese Club
Sikh Student Association
UVA Survivors

In 2022, Student Council was scheduled to vote on a measure condemning Virginia’s "Continued Normalization and Legitimization of the Israeli Apartheid State’s Occupation of Palestine." The resolution was withdrawn, however, after more than a dozen Jewish students campaigned against it.

The campus climate has changed since then. No comparable movement has arisen among Jewish students — or conservative, moderate, or independent students for that matter — to contest the UVAAD petition. With rare exceptions, the few Jewish students who do push back against the pro-Palestinian narrative do so anonymously. They have been cowed into silence.

"Civil dialogue" at UVA means listening passively to the demands of the militant, ideological minority.