Harvard Law Students Vote To Divest From Israel

About that referendum! To catch you up, student-led protests at Harvard Law have been catching hell from the administration. They’ve largely been calling for ceasefires, but the students have branched out their demands over time. The most recent demand called for the school to divest from entities that are participating in Israel’s war on Gaza. That’s no small ask — billions of dollars are in play. The votes are in and the overwhelming majority of Harvard Law students voted in favor of the school divesting from entities that take part in Israel’s war in Gaza. The Crimson has coverage:

The Harvard Law School student body voted on Thursday to call on the University to divest from Israel — delivering a decisive endorsement of language that Law School administrators harshly criticized before it went up for a vote.

The resolution, which called on Harvard to “divest from weapons, surveillance technology, and other companies aiding violations of international humanitarian law, including Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its ongoing illegal occupation of Palestine,” passed with 72.7 percent of votes in favor, with 842 students participating.

HLS was very quick to clarify that the opinions of its voting student body are not in line with the institution’s stance. Part of the statement written by Jeff Neal — the school’s spokesperson — took issue with the “needlessly divisive referendum,” saying that it ran against the student government’s stated objective of “fostering community.” I don’t know, ~73% of people agreeing that a thing violates international human law seems pretty community building for folks who care about the rule of (international) law.

HLS students aren’t the only ones who have come to similar conclusions: Harvard’s School of Public Health held a referendum in which 80% of the voters thought that the school should divest. While it is worth noting that HSPH’s voter turnout was much lower, the outcomes from these two schools may encourage other subsets of Harvard to speak up. That’s kind of how protest- and community-focused movements work, actually. Students peacefully protest a thing, then professors show solidarity and join in protest, another school has a pray-in in solidarity, that does a lot more for fostering community than say punishing students and staff for studying silently or praying with a purpose. Or, put differently:

Ryave, the president of HLS Tzedek, a group of pro-Palestine Jewish students, added that “it is clear that Harvard is intimidated by our collective power and the ever-growing movement for a liberated Palestine.”

HLS Tzedek isn’t the only student group that spoke on the referendum. The HLS Alliance for Israel had this to say:

The HLS Alliance for Israel, an officially recognized student group, criticized the referendum as “plainly discriminatory, calling for divestment from companies that violate human rights, but then falsely pointing to and moreover singling out the Jewish state.”

I do think they are correct to say that it is wrong to call for divestment and then single out Israel. This is, after all, a concerted effort. For example, what about the American companies that are contributing to the war effort? Thankfully, the folks over at American Friends Service Committee have already done a bang-up job of compiling companies that are profiting from the genocide in Gaza, and there are some big names like Boeing, Ford, and General Motors on the list — those are just some of the American companies. A thorough and coherent rationale for divestment should include, for example, American and German companies, depending on the school’s portfolio.

Whether you like the outcome of the vote or not, it was made possible by a democratic process and civic engagement. When and how Harvard backlashes against the results of this referendum will be an indication of how much they value those values.

Harvard Law School Students Pass Referendum Urging University To Divest From Israel [The Crimson]

Earlier: Harvard Law School’s Vote On Divesting From Israel’s War In Gaza Set For March

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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