![](https://edsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/199A6335-1024x683.jpg)
Hundreds of San Diego State University students demonstrated in support of Palestine on April 30, 2024.
Credit: Jazlyn Dieguez / EdSource
EdSource's journalism has always been free to all students. Because we believe we need an informed public for a more equitable future for all students. Join our spring campaign as one of 50 new monthly supporters before May 22nd.
The University of California said Tuesday it has invested $32 billion in assets that pro-Palestinian protesters are demanding the university divest, including a weapons manufacturer that sells to Israel.
But a university spokesperson reiterated Tuesday that there are no plans to sell the property despite recent protests and encampments across the UC system.
Jagdeep Singh Bachher, the system's chief investment officer, outlined the investment during a meeting of the UC Board of Trustees' Investment Committee on Tuesday. Bachher's list responded to the specific demands of the protesters and included extensive investments in U.S. Treasury bonds, which he added in response to calls for the UC to divest assets that support Israel. “The answer to that question lies with the U.S. government,” he said, referring to the aid and weapons the government is sending to Israel.
The full list of investments is below:
- $3.3 billion invested in weapons manufacturers
- $12 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds
- $163 million from BlackRock, an asset manager that owns shares of companies that support Israel.
- BlackRock manages $2.1 billion investment for UC
- Investment firm Blackstone's $8.6 billion was also targeted by protesters.
- $3.2 billion to 24 other companies targeted by protesters, including Coca-Cola and Disney
“If you translate the questions and answers mathematically into numbers, the letter sent to us suggests that $32 billion of the $175 billion in assets will need to be sold,” Bachher said, referring to the system’s overall investment portfolio.
The investment committee took no action Tuesday on the sale or suggested it was considering it.
When reached Tuesday, a system spokesperson said UC stands by its April 26 statement opposing the idea of a sale.
At the time, UC said, “The University of California has consistently opposed boycotts of Israel and calls for divestment from Israel.” “While the University affirms the right of community members to express diverse viewpoints, this type of boycott violates the academic freedom of students and faculty and the free exchange of ideas on campus.”
Calls for UC and other universities to withdraw from Israel have grown in recent weeks due to pro-Palestinian encampments and protests that have swept the country, including at UCLA and other UC campuses, since last month.
Driving the encampment is demanding the divestment of companies that do significant business with Israel. Protesters see the universities as complicit in Israel's war on Gaza. According to health authorities, more than 35,000 people have died in Gaza, including many women and children. Israel's bombing of Gaza took place after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people.
Tuesday's financial disclosure followed a lengthy public comment period in which many commentators called for a sale of UC.
“We wanted to emphasize our support for the students and faculty in the Palestinian encampments and strongly support their demands to divest all investments in the military-industrial complex,” said Darlene Lee, a professor in the UCLA Teacher Education Program and a UCLA alumnus. She said, “Education funding should be spent on education and community, not war.”
Calls for UC's divestment are likely to continue Wednesday when regents convene for the second of a three-day meeting at UC Merced. Ahead of the regents' meeting, protesters at UC Merced set up a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus, making Merced the latest of 10 campuses at UC to establish such encampments.
In a statement posted to Instagram, camp organizers wrote that UC is demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and an end to ties with Israel, including study abroad programs.
“UC Regents are meeting on our campus. … They will listen to us!” the organizers wrote.