Princeton Israeli Apartheid Divest (PIAD)

Princeton Israel Alumni Divest (PIAD) is a campaign led by Princeton undergraduate students, graduate students, alumni, faculty, and staff, calling for Princeton University to divest from apartheid Israel and the genocide of Palestinian people.

When a person, group, or organization ends investment in a certain company or industry, they are said to be “divesting.” We demand that Princeton divest its endowment of all holdings in companies that profit or engage in Israel’s ongoing military campaign, occupation, and apartheid policies. Commit to full financial transparency on all its investments.

We also demand that Princeton University to disclose and end research on weapons of war funded by the Department of Defense. This research includes automated software and artificial intelligence technology used to enable genocide.

The immediate goal of divestment is not to bankrupt companies of their money, but rather of their reputations. In this way, divestment is primarily a moral and social strategy. Divestment is a strong symbolic and moral action from an elite institution such as Princeton University will help build momentum against Israel’s policies and signal a need for a change in the US response. 

Princeton University has a decades-long history of divestment and dissociation, guided by the principle of “institutional restraint” adopted by President William G. Bowen. In 1985, Bowen distinguished “institutional restraint” from “institutional neutrality,” stating that the University is not a neutral institution, but “a value-laden
institution…[Its] core values emanate from its character as a university.”

This recognition that the University’s investment decisions and strategy are in part based on certain social and moral values informed Princeton’s divestment from South Africa in 1987, Darfur in 2006, and the fossil fuel industry in 2022.

During divestment and dissociation from apartheid South Africa in 1987 and from
Darfur in 2006, the University demonstrated its willingness and ability to divest and dissociate in instances of gross human rights violations. Following two decades of student divestment activism—including sit-ins, walkouts, and daily pickets—in 1987, the Trustees of the University announced their decision to “separate the University from companies whose conduct contravenes the values of the University,” recognizing divestment and dissociation as a point of leverage toward racial justice in apartheid South Africa.

The University’s approach included divestment from companies that conducted the primary part of their business in South Africa and when companies’ activities in South Africa were found to substantively violate United States law (e.g., exports to companies enforcing apartheid). The University should apply this same approach in the case of Israel today.

Read more about the history of divestment at Princeton here.

A proposal is put to the Resources Committee of the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC). The Committee was established in 1970 to “consider questions of general policy concerning the procurement and management of the University’s financial resources.” The Committee includes faculty, undergraduates, graduate students and staff (see current committee members here). The Resources Committee considers guidelines for divestment adopted by the Board of Trustees in 1997. The University policy states that the University must also stop receiving funding from companies it divests from. This is called dissociation.

The Resources Committee may consult a number of different groups, including the Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO) (see current board members here) and the Office of Sustainability. It then makes a recommendation to the Board of Trustees – which includes President Eisgruber – on whether or not to divest. The Board has the authority to make final divestment and dissociation decisions.

Yes, PIAD has submitted a proposal for divestment to the CPUC Resources Committee in June 2024. After its first meeting on September 30, 2024, CPUC opened a community input process allowing students, alumni, faculty, and staff to submit comments on the divestment proposal. The public comment process ended on 11 October 2024.

There’s no telling how long it will take for the CPUC Resources Committee to come to a decision. In the meantime, it is crucial that wour movement continue to build momentum and pressure the University to take a stand for Palestine. This is where all of us come in!

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To sign a petition, see the home page.

And remember all — students, alumni, faculty, and staff — are welcome to help. If you have any questions, please reach out to us by email:

• General: princetondivestnow@gmail.com

• Alumni: princetonalum4palestine@gmail.com