The Portland State University (PSU) appeared to bow to student protests across US universities demanding divestment from Israel continues to intensify. The university authorities said that it will pause receiving gifts and grants from the Boeing Company and will hold a forum to debate the ethics of doing so, US broadcaster CNN said, citing the university’s president.
The PSU also saw massive protests against Israel’s war in Gaza where students also demanded that their institutions cut ties with Israel and divest from the companies that manufacture weapons, technology and other items to the country.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) currently operates nine different Boeing products, according to the aerospace company’s website. The plane and defence equipment maker’s website says that it contributes a $3.5 billion benefit to the Israeli economy.
The company on its website says its relationship with Israel dates back “more than 75 years — to the founding of the State of Israel”.
“I have heard many students and faculty express that they would like to see PSU cut ties with the company. I initially found these demands confusing and arbitrary: PSU has no investments in Boeing but accepts philanthropic gifts from the company and, given that Boeing is a major employer in the region, many of our alumni work there,” PSU President Ann Cudd said in a letter, accessed by the broadcaster, to the campus community Friday.
“However, the passion with which these demands are being repeatedly expressed by some in our community motivates me, as a scholar of academic ethics and a university leader responsible for the well being of our campus constituents, to listen and ask additional questions,” Cudd further added.
Ann Cudd said the university will host a two-hour moderated debate in May with faculty and students.
The White House insisted Sunday that pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked US universities in recent weeks must remain peaceful, after police arrested around 275 people on four separate campuses over the weekend.
“We certainly respect the right of peaceful protests,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told ABC’s “This Week.”
But, he added, “we absolutely condemn the anti-Semitism language that we’ve heard of late and certainly condemn all the hate speech and the threats of violence out there.”
The wave of demonstrations began at Columbia University in New York but they have since spread rapidly across the country.
While peace has prevailed in many campuses, the number of protesters detained — at times by police in riot gear using chemical irritants and tasers — is rising fast.
They include 100 at Northeastern University in Boston, 80 at Washington University in St Louis, 72 at Arizona State University and 23 at Indiana University.
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