RALEIGH, N.C. — Despite law enforcement physically removing some protesters on UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus, they persisted in their demand: divest from Israel.
“We will not back down, and we will not stop fighting until our demands are met. Our demands are for divestment of Israel,” one protester told Raleigh CBS affiliate, WNCN.
But specifically, what investments are being targeted for divestment?
Their flier says, “divestment from companies complicit in this genocide," but what criteria do they deem as complicit?
Chris Marsicano, public policy expert and assistant professor of Educational Studies at Davidson College, says this is not day trading.
"They have comprehensive complicated strategies, and that’s why it’s very, very hard for students to achieve their goals of disclosure, even knowing what’s in those funds and then divestment taking away from those funds," he explained.
Marsicano said to consider Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola as major corporations with substantial operations in Israel, some of which have ties to public or governmental entities, including the IDF.
"You will have a hard time finding an endowment manager who says, ‘you know what, Google and Amazon, they’re a bad bet right now. We shouldn’t fund them',” Marsicano said.
The nonprofit organization UNC Management Company oversees the investment portfolios of both UNC-Chapel Hill and the UNC System.
According to its website, it “manages the long-term assets of its investors through the UNC Investment Fund, a commingled investment vehicle with assets of over $10.6 billion."
North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell explained to WNCN that people should approach the issue in the same manner as they would their retirement investments.
“It’s really hard for just Chapel Hill, as strong as the Tar Heels are, to force an ETF that’s traded by, you know, hundreds, if not thousands, if not millions of people across the country to divest from Israel," Marsicano said. "Endowment managers have a fiduciary responsibility. They can’t invest in it unless there is a clear short-term or long-term strategy to have revenue gains from that endowment."
Even if there were products available for purchase that didn't include Israeli businesses, ensuring that the companies involved in those products aren't investing in Israel through other channels is impossible. Endowment managers prioritize securing a better return on investments rather than guaranteeing the exclusion of Israeli involvement.
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