UCI Student Panel Calls for Divesting from Firms Aiding Israeli 'Apartheid'

The decision shows the strength and integrity of students utilizing their collective power to protect human rights.

Israeli boycott and divestment

(IRVINE, CA) - The legislative council of the Associated Students of UCI [University of California, Irvine] voted 16-0, with no abstentions, to favor the resolution calling for university divestment from Caterpillar, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, Raytheon and other companies "profiting from human rights violations in the occupied territories," according to a statement from Irvine Divest.

"I am very proud of my fellow council members and of the students at our university," Sabreen Shalabi, the student representative on the legislative council for the school of social science and co-author of the legislation, says in the release.

"Our work today stands tall in the noble tradition of students advocating for justice, joining the ranks of those brave and visionary students who demanded that our universities divest from the terrible crimes of South African apartheid."

"The decision made by ASUCI's legislative Council tonight clearly shows the strength and integrity of students utilizing their collective power to protect human rights on a global scale," adds Traci Ishigo, ASUCI president.

Ishigo added, "and I stand firmly by the students who believe it is their responsibility to have a voice on matters that urge the UC to be an institution that treasures human dignity."