Over the last two weeks, students across the United States have initiated protests and campus occupations demanding that their colleges and universities divest from companies profiting from Israel’s brutal war on Gaza. The American Friends Service Committee – a Quaker organization that has worked in Gaza for decades – voiced support for the students and provides a divestment list and other resources.
AFSC has been supporting humanitarian efforts in Gaza since 1948 and currently has staff in Gaza, Ramallah, and Jerusalem, as well as in Jordan. AFSC staff in Gaza have been serving hot meals from an open-air kitchen to displaced people living outside of shelters in Rafah. Since October, they have provided humanitarian aid to more than 542,000 people. In the U.S., AFSC programs are working to put pressure on the Biden administration and Congress to call for a permanent cease-fire, full humanitarian access, and an end to U.S. military funding for Israel.
AFSC’s Action Center for Corporate Accountability has been providing research and tools to help students, faith communities, and community groups identify if their institutions are invested in state violence. They have published a list of companies profiting from the attacks on Gaza, and maintain an online tool that can identify publicly traded corporations invested in occupations, prisons, and border militarization.