Danish uni withdraws investments from Israeli settlements

Denmark’s University of Copenhagen

29 May 2024; MEMO: Denmark’s University of Copenhagen yesterday said it would “cease investing in Israeli companies conducting business in the occupied West Bank.”

The university campus has witnessed student protests calling on it to divest and urging for a ceasefire in Gaza since early May.

The university’s students demand “severing its academic relations with Israel, and to withdraw its investments from companies operating in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

The university said in a post on X: “As of May 29, it will divest all of its holdings, with a total value of approximately one million Danish kroner ($145,810) in Airbnb, Booking.com and edreams.com, which are sites that advertise apartments for rent in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.”

The university added that it “will cooperate with fund managers to ensure its investments adhere to a United Nations list of companies involved in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.”

The Israeli occupation army has continued its aggression against the Gaza Strip, with US and European support, bombing hospitals, buildings, towers and the homes of Palestinian civilians, and preventing the entry of water, food, medicine and fuel.

The occupation’s attacks on Gaza have killed 36,096 and injured 81,136 others, in addition to displacing about 1.7 million people from the Strip, according to UN data.