Denmark university to halt investment in companies in West Bank amid student protests

Hundreds of students began campus protests in early May to express their opposition to Israel's operation in Gaza.

 Students gather at an encampment at the University of Copenhagen's City Campus. May 6, 2024. (photo credit: REUTERS/Jacob Gronholt Pedersen)
Students gather at an encampment at the University of Copenhagen's City Campus. May 6, 2024.
(photo credit: REUTERS/Jacob Gronholt Pedersen)

The University of Copenhagen said on Tuesday it would halt investment in companies that do business in the West Bank amid student protests pressuring the campus to cut financial and institutional ties with Israel.

Hundreds of students began campus protests in early May to express their opposition to Israel's operation in Gaza. The students have demanded that the university cut academic ties with Israel and divest from companies operating in West Bank.

University to divest its holding

The university will, as of May 29, divest its holdings worth a total of about 1 million Danish crowns ($145,810) in Airbnb ABNB.O, Booking.com BKNG.O and eDreams EDRE.MC, it said in a post on social media platform X.

 Students gather near a tent at an encampment at the University of Copenhagen's City Campus. May 6, 2024. (credit:  Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS)
Students gather near a tent at an encampment at the University of Copenhagen's City Campus. May 6, 2024. (credit: Thomas Traasdahl/Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS)

The university said it would work with fund managers to manage its investments and ensure they comply with a United Nations list of companies involved in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The University of Copenhagen has a yearly revenue of over 10 billion crowns, some of which is invested in bonds and equities.

Israel captured territories in the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip after winning a 1967 war with neighboring Arab states.



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