Columbia grad student union officials drop Israel divestment demand: Face the realities

The student union at Columbia University dropped its Israel divestment demand — marking a loss for anti-Israel protesters as their group leader admitted it must “face the realities.”The union on Tuesday scrapped part of a contract it had been negotiating with the Ivy League that called for the school to withdraw financial investments from companies that do business with Israel, The Columbia Spectator reported.“You start off a campaign with one thing, and then as you bargain, you have to face the realities of where you are,” Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers President Grant Miner told the paper.The union had included major demands, including that the school divest from companies in violation of “international law,” a measure targeted at Israel.The union, which is made up of 3,000 undergrads, has been negotiating a contract with the university since last year, with demands leading to a stalemate.A Columbia investment committee had rejected student protester demands that the university divest from Israel, saying some of the demands were too vague with no consensus on campus, according to the Times of Israel.It also said it was not financially viable.The “divestment” protest movement calls for withdrawing stocks, funds, and investments from companies that do business with Israel.Columbia became a hotbed for anti-Israel protests in the aftermath of Oct.

7, 2023, when Hamas attacked the Jewish state, sparking a war.Students spent weeks in the spring of 2024 taking over the university’s South Lawn for a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”...