(JTA) — The Northwestern University student government passed a resolution calling on the university to divest from six companies that are being used by Israel to violate Palestinians’ human rights.
Following five hours of debate, the vote by the Associated Student Government Senate early Thursday morning was 24 votes in favor and 22 against, with three abstentions, the Daily Northwestern student newspaper reported.
The vote was by secret ballot, per the Senate speaker, so the senators could feel comfortable casting their vote, the newspaper reported.
The resolution, which was sponsored by the campus student organization Northwestern Divest, asks the university to divest from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Hewlett-Packard, G4S, Caterpillar and Elbit Systems.
It is not known if the university is invested in any of the companies named since it does not make its investments public. The resolution also asks the student government to form an “investment transparency task force.”
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