Pitzer students presented Palestinian flags to president who refused divestment from Israel

During their graduation ceremony in California, Pitzer College students, wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh, handed Palestinian flags to college president Strom Thacker, who had worked with the board of trustees to refuse divestment from Israel. Other footage showed students raising the Palestinian flag at the ceremony in solidarity with Palestine. Pitzer College, one among the Claremont Colleges in Los Angeles, refused to veto a resolution approving an academic boycott of Israel, which was endorsed by its highest democratic governing body in the college. On 11 April, the Pitzer College Council voted to approve a resolution that aimed to permanently terminate the college’s study abroad programme with the University of Haifa and prohibit the college from establishing new programmes with other Israeli universities. The resolution passed by 48 votes to 19, with no abstentions. However, during the discussion period preceding the vote, Pitzer president Thacker announced his intention to veto the legislation. Representatives from Pitzer College’s pro-Palestinian encampment, Pitzer president Thacker, and Pitzer board of trustees chair Don Gould discussed the issue on 3 May. Claremont Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace at the Claremont Colleges issued a joint statement after the discussions. In it, they said that Gould told them that the board of trustees will “never be dictated by College Council votes“. Meanwhile, a message signed by Thacker and Gould announced that Pitzer agreed to “make material disclosure of its holdings in military and weapons manufacturers, if any,“ by 30 June and to have the board of trustees “review its policy on endowment disclosure“ over the summer, with the aim of starting to provide that information no later than 30 September. Subscribe to our channel: Subscribe to MEE Telegram channel to stay up to date: Middle East Eye Website: Follow us on TikTok: @middleeasteye Follow us on Instagram: Like us on Facebook: Follow us on Twitter: