Austin, TX students, community members demand divestment from Israel at UT board of regents meeting
Austin, TX – On Wednesday, November 20, a group of around 40 pro-Palestine students and community members rallied to demand that the University of Texas (UT) divest from the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The rally was held outside the UT Systems Building in downtown Austin, where the UT board of regents quarterly meeting was taking place.
The energetic rally kicked off with booming chants of “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” echoing loudly off the floor to ceiling windows of the UT Systems Building.
As the crowd gained steam, students attempted to go inside to pack the UT board of regents meeting. Although this was a public meeting, UT System police locked the front doors at first to prevent any protesters from entering. Around 20 students were eventually able to go inside after giving their IDs and having their bags searched. Students held banners and signs inside the meeting with messages such as, “Palestine over profit,” and “UTIMCO funds genocide!”
UTIMCO – the University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company – has one of the largest university endowment funds in the U.S., with $70.01 billion as of 2023. UTIMCO invests $567,284 in Raytheon, $408,995 in General Dynamics, $1,028,490 in Lockheed Martin, $1,415,585 in Northrop Grumman, and $9104 in Boeing.
Arshia Papari of Austin Students for a Democratic Society spoke to the crowd before going inside the board meeting. “In spite of repression, we will continue to stand up for Palestine and fight for divestment,” he said. “We dream of a world where Palestinians can live freely, where our academic institutions do not actively enable military occupations, apartheid and genocide.”
Papari continued, “We are targeting the UT System board of regents as it oversees the funding of this genocide and material support for the Zionist entity. We condemn the board of regents for their hypocrisy, their conceit, and their blatant disregard for the sanctity of human life. Our struggle for the liberation of Palestine is connected with the calls for indigenous and Black liberation, recognizing that none of us are free till we are all free. We demand an arms embargo now. We will not stop nor take rest until our demands for divestment are met, and until Palestine is free!”