UCLA student government votes for divestment in Israel
The UCLA undergraduate student government has voted to support a measure that urges the UC system to sell off stock in companies that do business with the Israeli military and profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
The issue attracted about 250 people to the UCLA meeting Tuesday evening, according to the Daily Bruin, the campus newspaper. The council approved the measure on an 8-2 vote.
These resolutions, however, have no power in relation to UC finances, and the UC Regents have said they have no intention of making any divestments in Israel.
On Wednesday, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block released a statement against divestment, according to the Jewish Journal.
Block said that UCLA divestment decisions “should not hold any one organization or country to a different standard that any other.”
Similar efforts have been brought in recent years with varying results. Student governments at UC Irvine, UC Berkeley and UC San Diego have approved similar resolutions.
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