On May 15, around 30 members of Alumni for Palestine and other USG student coalitions held a sit-in and delivered a five-minute presentation at the University System of Georgia Board of Regents meeting, urging divestment from Israel.
The speaker, Renee Alnoubani, linked USG’s financial ties to companies supplying weapons used in Gaza, citing ethical concerns and past divestments from South African apartheid.
Representing students across USG and “hundreds of thousands of students in Gaza who no longer have access to education,” the presenter accused Israel of “scholasticide,” referencing the American Historical Association.
Pamphlets distributed to board members included statistics and definitions from sources like the UN, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, citing ongoing “apartheid, genocide, and crimes against humanity.”
Alnoubani explained that this is why “we need to ensure that our institutions are not partnering or working with companies that are directly involved in human rights violations.”
The specific companies in the presentation that were listed were BAE systems, Lockhheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and RTX, who were sending defense weapons to Israel, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner.
“These companies produce weapons and machineries that have been used against civilians in Gaza,” Alnoubani said.
Divestment from Israel wouldn’t be the first time the USG divested from a country with human rights violations. “In 1986, the USG Board of Regents voted to divest completely from all companies operating in South Africa,” She said.
After the meeting adjourned, one organizer commented on how the presentation went.
Though many board members expressed sympathy, she explained, there was one who “was just sitting down, not even engaging [with the presentation].”
“How many death certificates are you going to sign before you come to the conclusion to stop supporting Israel?” She said.
