Brown launches investigation into anti-Israel activists after latest divestment protest
Brown University is investigating anti-Israel student activists after their protest against the Brown Corporation for voting against divestment from the Jewish state.
On Friday, 150 activists gathered and reportedly confronted members of the corporation during their latest meeting.
Brown University is investigating anti-Israel student activists after their protest against the Brown Corporation for voting against divestment from the Jewish state.
On Friday, 150 activists gathered and reportedly confronted members of the corporation during their latest meeting. The protest comes after the corporation voted 8-2 against divestment from 10 companies linked to Israel.
[RELATED: Brown votes against divesting from Israel]
”We are here to continue demanding divestment, to stand in solidarity with our martyrs in Palestine and Lebanon and to solidify our strength as a mass movement for Palestine,” one student activist told the crowd of protesters on Friday. Protesters also chanted, banged drums, stood in front of building entrances, and held signs like, “F**K YOU BROWNCORP.”
”We’ve definitely succeeded in making the Corporation know that we’re here and making them uncomfortable,” another student activist told The Brown Daily Herald.
On Sunday, the outlet reported that the university has launched an investigation into the protesters for possible student conduct violations.
University Spokesperson Brian Clark said that the university’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine “held the registered and planned series of events.” Brown is reportedly investigating both individual students and student organizations.
”As a campus community, we should be resolute that these behaviors are not acceptable, are not reflective of the Brown student body or our community as a whole and are not commensurate with what we expect of ourselves and others,” Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey reportedly wrote in a university-wide email.
He also referred to the student activists’ behavior as “deeply concerning” and “entirely unacceptable,” according to The Brown Daily Herald.
In August, 24 Republican state attorney generals urged the Brown Corporation not to divest from Israel, which they warned that doing so would produce “immediate and profound legal consequences for Brown, its employees, and its student body.”
Last month, over 2,000 individuals sent a letter to the university to oppose a speaking appearance by Francesca Albanese, whom they accused of “blatant antisemitism and legitimization of terrorism.”
Campus Reform has contacted Brown University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.