Pro-Israel camp ramps up pressure ahead of historic Brown University divestment vote

Brown will become the first Ivy League university to hold a vote on divestment since the war on Gaza began

When the student encampment in support of Gaza was dismantled at Brown University in Rhode Island back in April, it was incumbent upon one request from protesters: that the university hold a vote to divest from companies engaged in Israel’s human rights violations against Palestinians.

That rare vote is scheduled to take place next month, and with the anniversary of the 7 October attacks approaching, pro-Israel voices on campus are now stepping up pressure on the Corporation of Brown University - its board and leadership - to avoid the vote entirely.

On Monday, a group of students made up of members of Brown Students for Israel, among others, are making the case in front of the Advisory Committee on University Resources Management (ACURM) that a vote on divestment is “functionally antisemitic” and that “there is no genocide in Gaza”, according to a memo that has not yet been released to the public.

Middle East Eye has examined the 39-page document drawn up by the students, entitled ‘The Case Against Divestment’. It insists that “investment in military equipment producers keeps Israelis… safe.”