Roughly 100 professors and lecturers at Columbia University in New York are demanding that their pension funds not be invested with companies that also do business with the IDF or with civilian security providers in Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) or eastern Jerusalem.
| A very good way to ensure there won't be nearly enough money in the fund when it's wanted. I highly recommend the Columbia proceed along this course. But then, I'm not really a nice person. |
| University faculty (I have modest experience with this) generally have a 403b plan as the basis for their pension. It's a defined contribution plan that both the university and faculty contribute into. It's individually directed, and the faculty person has any number of options as to which funds are selected, etc. Many are with TIAA/CREF, and many more with Vanguard, which specialize in working with universities. Both have hundreds of funds available for investment. So if a professor wants to invest in a mid-cap anti-Israel fund, there should be one available. That professor doesn't have to force his will on me as I invest in the large-cap pro-Jooooz fund. |
Professor Katherine Franke of Columbia's Center for Gender and Sexuality Law explained the group's stance. Franke is also affiliated with the Center for Palestine Studies.
| Naturally. The two go together like Ernie and Bert. |
The faculty members calling for divestment are seeking to end pension fund involvement with the following companies:
| Dear Reader, consider this a Buy list: |
Elbit Systems, which sells UAVs to Israel that the boycotters argue are used for "extrajudicial assassinations."
Motorola, which has an Israeli daughter company that develops sensors which are used by Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria to prevent terrorist infiltrations.
Veolia transportation, which is involved in building the Jerusalem Light Rail train "which connects the western part of the city to the illegal settlement in eastern Jerusalem," according to the pro-divestmetn staff.
Hewlett-Packard, which operates a system used by the IDF "to limit Palestinian freedom of movement."
Northrop Grumman, which sells airplane and helicopter parts to the IDF. The pro-divestment staff said the parts were used in planes "that Israel used in the Cast Lead operation, which took the lives of more than 1,000 Palestinian civilians." They are apparently using Hamas' initial claims regarding the operation's civilian death toll; the group has since admitted that most of those killed were Hamas fighters.
| Wait -- where's Intel? I'm pretty sure they get a lot of new products from their Israel campus. |
Supporters of the boycott campaign say they are continuing "a rich tradition of protest at Columbia University against racial segregation in the United States and against the apartheid regime in South Africa."
| They're so cute when they're spouting unthinking cant! |
The Columbia University divestment call follows similar actions at the University of Toronto Mississauga and Oxford University. |