On May 2, USF officially committed to full divestment from companies tied to Israel by June 1.
In a statement to the Foghorn, USF Spokesperson Kellie Samson wrote, “USF will be maintaining the Social Responsibility Considerations section of its Investment Policy State-ment, which has been revised recently to include that Ethical, moral and social considerations will be incorporated as part of the investment process.'”
“This is a singular step, a step that students all over the country are fighting for,” said Zana Lawrence, senior psychology major. “This is one step, but a major step towards the benefit of human lives during a time where human rights are continuously violated and souls are being removed from this earth.” The decision comes after a student-led protest on April 29.
The protest, which took place in Gleeson Plaza, featured around 30 students who linked arms in front of Gleeson Library’s atrium, chanting and calling for the university’s divestment from three companies supporting Israel’s military actions in the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. Both the federal court and the International Court of Justice agreed that it is “plausible” that Israel is committing a genocide.
“The University informed the [.) group [that they] couldn’t have a rally because they had not given [the University] 72 hours notice. I then offered to make it a Middle Eastern Studies event,” said Professor of Politics Stephen Zunes. “I negotiated that they could continue until one o’clock, but they had to cease at that time.” The Foghorn reached out to the student group on April 30, May 2, May 4 and May 5 for comment, but did not receive an answer in time for print.
Zunes continued, “While I don’t necessarily endorse every position taken by the pro-Palestinian students here, I do believe it’s very important that they point out and protest the ongoing Israeli war crimes and U.S. culpability and question the role of the University and its endowment and investments in corporations that share responsibility for the ongoing war and occupation.”
Jayden Joeckel and other protesters holding their signs and posing for a photo in front of Loyola House. Photo by Sophia McCrackin / SF Foghorn
Earlier that morning, student protestors gathered at the atrium to honor the memory of Hossam Shabat, a Palestinian journalist who reported live from Gaza on the ongoing conflict as a correspondent for Al Jazeera Mubasher. On March 24, Sha-bat was killed by an Israeli airstrike. He was 23 years old. The protestors temporarily renamed the space the “Hossam Shabat Atrium,” decorating it with signs and banners.
Max Flynt, a senior at San Francisco State University, made his way to USF to help with the protest. “I saw [a post about the protest) and decided that it would be good to come out here and protect the students, and rally for the students that are taking this stand and standing on the right side of history.” Flynt emphasized the importance of student collaboration across campuses. “I think it’s important that Students for Justice in Palestine [SJP], across the Bay Area unite, and we’re seeing that with the launch of the NorCal SJP coalition. I think you’ll see much more collaboration and unity amongst Northern California schools going forward, because it makes us stronger together.” At approximately 11:20 a.m., a pro-Palestinian student protestor was allegedly assaulted by a fellow student. Another protester, who the Foghorn granted anonymity due to safety concerns, witnessed the alleged assault. They said, “It was one punch with the right hand in the chest, and then it was a shove in the stomach, and an elbow to the torso area.” The University did not make any public statement regarding the matter at the time of print.
A second instance of alleged violence occurred later, when a group of students from the USF Students for Israel club arrived with an Israeli flag. “We wanted to simply be there to peacefully hold the flag,” said Jack Schell, a third year politics major involved with the club.
Schell described his interaction with another protestor. “Later in the ral-ly, one of the protesters from the opposing side approached us and began to discuss the conflict [..] I responded to him by giving him our perspec-tive. [.] Unfortunately he decided to raise his voice to me. I tried to de-es-calate […] At that point he swung at me with his right arm, closed fist.” The anonymous pro-Palestinian protestor denied the group’s involvement in the assault, “We just want to make it very, very clear that that person was not a part of our movement. We are not here to harass people physically or incite violence against anyone […] We absolutely condemn all forms of violence on our campus against anybody.”
“I just want to make a general kind of call for peace,” said Schell. “As someone who unfortunately experienced violence, it’s really my deep hope that every USF student and member of the USF community on any of the many sides and perspectives of this issue, or any other divisive is-sue, will never again resort to violence on our campus.”
Eileen Fung, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Shannon Gary, Vice President, sent out a campus wide email at 12:13 p.m. titled “Protest in Gleeson Library,” which said “The USF administration is aware that a small group of students is currently protesting inside the atrium of the Gleeson Library,” and that they are “taking appropriate steps and action in accordance with our policies.” A second campus wide email was sent at 12:36 p.m. titled “Gleeson Library Is Now Closed,” announcing the temporary closure of the space. The Foghorn reached out to library dean Shawn Calhoun on May 2 but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Around 1:30 p.m. approximately nine police vehicles arrived at the li-brary. The anonymous protester said, “I don’t think we thought they were going to escalate so fast and bring so much hostility. […] There was no spray paint, there was no breaking glass, there was nothing like that. The fact that they treated it like it was so dangerous was really disappointing and honestly appalling to see.”
The protest moved from Gleeson Library’s atrium to Lone Mountain infront of Loyola House, where Rev. John Fitzgibbons, S.J. and other Jesuits on campus reside. “We’re demanding answers from the adminis-tration,” said Jayden Joeckel, a third year politics major and the media liaison for the protest.
Gary responded by handing out letters which read “The University is asking you to dismantle and leave the Loyola House Jesuit community immediately. If you remain in the area, actions that have occurred to date may result in you being charged with some or all of the policies listed below (..] It could result in outcomes up to and including suspension or expulsion from the University, including immediate interim suspension as determined appropriate by the university.” The potential violations included complicity, harm to persons, failure to comply, disruptive con-duct, damage to property, university policies and procedures, unauthorized access or use and demonstration and fixed exhibit policy.
“We hope to draw attention to the fact that the University of San Francisco is invested into companies that are currently aiding Israel’s geno-cide, and not only aiding, directly facilitating it through weapons manu-facturers,” Joeckel said.
The four companies that students called for divestment from were Palantir, L3Harris, GE Aerospace and RTX Corporation. Palantir is a software company specializing in software platforms for big data analyt-ics.
After October 2023, Palantir provided Israel with multiple Al-powered data analytics tools for military and intelligence purposes, and in January 2024, the company held its board meeting in Israel and entered into a “strategic partnership” with Israel’s Ministry of Defense to support the country’s “war effort.”
L3Harris produces systems and equipment for command, communi-cation, navigation and surveillance, and is the twelfth-largest defense contractor in the world. L3Harris manufactures components for weapons systems used by the Israeli military in Gaza.
RTX Corporation is an aerospace and defense company, and the second largest weapons manufacturer in the world. RTX supplies the Israeli Air Force with guided missiles, cluster bombs, and “bunker buster” bombs, though there is no conclusive evidence they’ve been used in Gaza since October 2023. RTX subsidiary Pratt and Whitney makes engines for F-15 and F-16 jets, and in partnership with Rafael, produces interceptors for Israel’s Iron Dome.
The anonymous protestor said, “[We] definitely want to ground the messaging of our action, which is that we did all of this to honor (Hossam Shabat] who was only 23 years old, very close in age with us. […] I think it’s really important for us to understand that we’re in the belly of this imperial beast and so much privilege we have here […] That’s really who we’re doing this for, everybody on the ground in Palestine right now.”
Sophia McCrackin and John Lindroos contributed to the reporting of this article.
Editor-in-Chief: Jordan Premmer, Chief Copy Editor: Sophia McCrackin, Managing Editor: Jordan DelFiugo, News Editor: Deeya Gupta, Sports Ed-itor: John Lindroos
