Civil Rights Orgs Call on Brown to Reject Politicized Threats and Approve Divestment

UPDATE: In a letter signed by the CEO of Bank of America, a financial institution that was identified by the UN as itself being complicit in Israel's human rights violations, the Brown Corporation announced on October 9, 2024, that it had voted against divestment, failing to align the university with the principles of international law and Brown's own legacy of divestment from genocide.

Eight legal and civil rights organizations, including Palestine Legal, have sent a letter to Brown University urging Brown to vote in favor of the Brown Divest proposal, which calls for the university to divest from a list of companies complicit in human rights abuses in Palestine.  

The letter, sent on September 20, argues for the legality and critical importance of adopting the proposal – despite politicized efforts to smear the proposal as illegal. The Corporation of Brown University, which makes investment decisions, is set to vote on the proposal in October – one full year after Israel began its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, in which Israel has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza, and as it embarks on a broader regional war.

The Brown Divest proposal identifies 11 companies, including Raytheon, Airbus, Boeing, General Electric, and Volvo, which supply Israel with weapons, technology, and surveillance systems that are all used to violate Palestinian rights.

In August, a group of states’ attorneys general (“AGs”) sent a letter to Brown calling on the university to reject the Brown Divest proposal, threatening that the proposal would lead to “immediate and profound legal consequences for Brown,” referencing anti-BDS laws.

The AGs’ letter is part of a broader attack targeting advocacy for Palestinian rights, including via repressive legislation. Despite these political threats, the Brown Divest proposal does not violate any state or federal laws. What the AGs’ letter does demonstrate is the repressive environment in which students and other activists are operating. The AGs’ letter calls on Brown to ignore its students, lodging legal threats in an attempt to silence students’ efforts to hold their own university accountable. Multiple courts have blocked anti-BDS laws over concerns about their constitutionality.

Although Rhode Island does have an anti-boycott law in effect, that law would not reach boycotts addressing complicity in human rights violations.  

A vote in favor of Brown Divest is not only legal, but would also bring Brown more in line with international law. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) released a decision in July finding Israel’s occupation illegal. The court also made clear that countries need to take steps to prevent investment relationships that help to maintain the illegal situation created by the occupation. Students are holding their university accountable to this decision. The global community, including Brown, must not further Israel’s occupation of Palestine and must not assist Israel in violating international law.

If Brown votes yes, this would not be the first time Brown divested from genocide. In 2006, Brown voted to divest from entities complicit in the Sudanese government’s genocidal actions in Darfur. The letter argues that Brown should not treat the genocide in Gaza any differently.

“Amidst a backdrop of repressive legislation and threats intended to chill advocacy from political figures and others, at a time when Israel has killed at least 41,000 Palestinians during its genocide in Gaza and perhaps exponentially more considering the decimation of every sector of life and society in Gaza, what Brown students are demanding seems like the very least that our institutions should be doing – ending their complicity in these grave violations,” said Sabiya Ahamed, staff attorney at Palestine Legal and Brown alumna.