After 43 days of their ongoing protest, student activists are one step closer to meeting their goals. MUN Students for Palestine (MUN S4P), a grassroots student organization behind the courtyard encampment and occupation of the Arts and Administration building, is pushing the MUN administration to disclose their investments and to divest from “all holdings in any entities that sponsor or are complicit in Israeli occupation, apartheid and the current genocide in Gaza.” They also call for MUN to boycott institutions and companies that are complicit in Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the ongoing invasion of Gaza.
In a statement released by MUN Gazette on June 19th, MUN committed to annually disclosing all direct investments and the names of the pooled funds managed by external firms. Their first investment disclosure does not specify the amounts invested in each company; however, in their statement, they say that 0.297% of their total portfolio is on the boycott lists provided by MUN S4P.
Memorandum Reveals MUN Investments in Companies Connected to Israel’s Invasion of Gaza and Illegal Israeli Settlements
In a memorandum obtained by the Muse, Memorial University Provost Jennifer Lokash and VP of Finance Lisa Browne reveal that $7,144,370 of Memorial’s portfolio is invested in two companies with direct ties to Israel’s invasion of Gaza and a third involved in the establishment and maintenance of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territories. In January, the International Criminal Court ruled Israel’s invasion of Gaza to be a plausible genocide, and the United Nations Human Rights Office report refers to illegal Israeli settlements as war crimes.
Memorial has investments in Textron, an American conglomerate that provides aircraft to the Israeli air force, RTX (formerly Raytheon), one of the world’s largest weapons manufacturers that provide arms to the Israeli military, and Motorola, a company that according to a UN Special Rapporteur is “involved in the establishment and maintenance of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
On June 20th, experts from the United Nations said that the transfer of “weapons, parts, components, and ammunition to Israeli forces” put companies at risk of being in serious violation of international humanitarian law; this risk was heightened by the ICJ’s ruling in January that found that it is plausible that Israel’s invasion of Gaza constitutes a genocide.
The memo also writes that MUN is “not able to disclose” the investments in pooled accounts like the ‘Wellington International Opportunities Fund’ and ‘CIBC Canadian Bond Universe Index Pool’ but specifies that 0.152% of their pooled investments are also on the boycott lists provided by MUN S4P.
Meetings with MUN Administration Following Student Encampment and Occupation
Starting on May 10th with a ‘die-in’ on the steps of the University Centre, over the past month, MUN students have organized several actions on campus as part of their ongoing campaign for divestment and boycott. On May 21st, students erected an encampment that they dubbed ‘Yazans Yard,’ named after a ten-year-old Palestinian boy with cerebral palsy who died of malnutrition and pneumonia during Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Additionally, students continue to occupy the Arts and Administration building. Both protests are ongoing, as students continue to protest daily and sleep overnight at both sites.
After their first meeting with MUN Administration on May 24th, MUN S4P was disappointed with the response from the administration. However, according to MUN S4P and to MUN administrators the following meeting on June 13th yielded better results.
According to MUN S4P, in the meeting, MUN agreed to:
-disclose their direct investments
-review their investment policy
-require their external investment firms to sign on to the UN Principles of Responsible Investing
-work with MUN S4P to publish a statement for peace
-establish bursaries and supports for Palestinian students
-waive application fees for Palestinian students for 2024-2025
An official agreement between MUN and student protesters has yet to be finalized. Notably, this list does not include divestment from companies complicit in Israel’s occupation, a decision that has yet to be made by the MUN Board of Regents.
MUN ‘strongly encouraging’ Students to stop Occupying Arts Building, but Students feel ‘more determined than ever’
In a communication to MUN S4P, MUN Provost Jennifer Lokash and VP of Finance Lisa Browne wrote that as part of “good faith negotiation, we are strongly encouraging you to end the occupation in the Arts and Administration building. The university does not condone or support the occupation of any building,” but so far there is no sign that either the occupation or the encampment are ending.
Sadie Mees, an anthropology graduate student at Memorial and organizer with MUN Students for Palestine, says that student protesters are “feeling more determined than ever” and that they plan to continue their protest until MUN agrees to fully divest from the list companies tied to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
“It’s important to us as students that our institution not be complicit in genocide. We hear horrifying and heartbreaking stories pouring out of Palestine every day, from the perspective of humanity it is just unacceptable that we would be contributing to it.”
The Muse’s request for an interview with MUN was denied. In an email from manager of communications Chad Pelley “The university is actively working with the student group on items discussed in our last meeting, and it wouldn’t be right to share any information with media before sharing it with the student group first. Additionally, because there have been no developments since the last public update, there is nothing to share in an interview at the moment.”