Denma8k8 gamesrk university to end Israel investments

The University of Copenhagen in Denmark has announced it will cease investments in companies operating in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, responding to student protests urging the institution to sever financial and institutional connections with Israel.

In early May, hundreds of students at the university initiated campus protests condemning Israel's actions in Gaza, which were incited by deadly attacks carried out by Hamas militants in Israel on Oct 7.

The students have called for the university, also known as KU, to sever academic connections with Israel, and to stop providing any financial resources to companies operating in occupied Palestinian territories.

In a post on social media platform X, the university announced its plan to collaborate with fund managers to oversee investments, ensuring compliance with the United Nations list of companies engaged in illegal Israeli settlements within the West Bank.

It stated it will divest its holdings in Airbnb, Booking.com and eDreams, worth a total of about 1 million Danish crowns ($145,810).

"In April, the University of Copenhagen's board discussed the university's approach to placing funds in companies on the UN's list of companies with activities in the West Bank," the university's post read.

"At the same board meeting, it was also decided that KU will in future carry out a more active ownership towards its capital managers. This means regular dialogue about, among other things, the companies that may appear in the portfolios that are on the mentioned UN list.

"As a result, from tomorrow (May 29), KU will no longer have investments in funds that have Airbnb, Booking.com and the online travel company eDreams ODIGEO in their portfolio," read the post.

"There were investments in the three companies for a total of around DKK 1 million."

The University of Copenhagen generates an annual revenue exceeding 10 billion crowns, a portion of which is allocated to investments in bonds and equities.

The institution said the impetus for the change aligned "with the reflections the rectorate has made on the basis of conversations with students and staff in connection with the conflict in Israel and Palestine".

In 1967, Israel swept to victory over its Arab neighbors in the Six-Day War, also known as the Third Arab-Israeli War, and took control of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

For years, the Palestinians have been seeking to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital city in light of a UN-proposed two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders.

Earlier this week, Spain, Ireland, and Norway officially acknowledged Palestinian state in an effort to redirect focus toward seeking a political resolution to the Middle East conflict.