Dozens march in Downtown to demand CSU divest from Israel, stand with Palestinians

Dozens of students, faculty and their supporters marched from Lincoln Park to the Cal State University chancellor’s office in Downtown Long Beach on Tuesday to demand the system divest from defense contractors such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin amid Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza and occupation of the West Bank.

Protesters briefly blocked westbound traffic on Ocean Boulevard and southbound traffic on Golden Shore Avenue around 10:40 a.m. as they marched, followed closely by Long Beach police.

“Our universities have partnerships and investments in companies that are complicit in Zionist war crimes,” said ​​Nadia Mehanna, a representative of the Palestinian Youth Movement and Students for Collective Liberation, CSUDH. “The CSU invests millions of dollars into militarization and war, but refuses to fund higher wages for its faculty and affordable tuition for its students.”

Long Beach Watchdog is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a subscriber.

The protest is one of dozens that have taken place around the world, including universities across the U.S., calling for an end to the military occupation of Palestine, a ceasefire in Gaza and for organizations to divest from companies with ties to Israel. Since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the country has faced growing criticism for its retaliation tactics, which have resulted in the deaths of 35,6647 in Gaza, most of which were women and children, according to live reporting from Al Jazeera, a media outlet that was banned by Israel.

The United Nations and other organizations have acknowledged that the situation in Gaza has long passed the threshold of a humanitarian crisis, with millions of people displaced and starving. That crisis was further exacerbated by the blockade of humanitarian aid, which included the deadly bombing of a World Central Kitchen convoy last month.

On Tuesday, the U.N. announced that it had halted food distribution in the southern Gaza city of Rafah due to a lack of supplies and insecurity.

Students and other critics refer to Israel’s actions as genocide, though the United States and others have argued against that claim. The International Criminal Court, meanwhile, is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas and Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the agency announced Monday.

“The CSU makes every attempt to ensure that its investment policies align with the values of the institution while balancing its fiduciary responsibility to protect the university’s assets for the long-term success of the CSU and the students we serve,” the CSU Office of the Chancellor said in a statement Tuesday.

It is unclear to what extent the CSU system is invested in defense or other companies with ties to Israel. Cal State Long Beach, however, does have deep ties with Boeing, which include scholarships, investments, grants, internship programs and more, according to an article authored by members of the CSULB Faculty for Justice in Palestine Monday.

“The golden triangle of military, industry and university cooperation is nothing new,” Steven Osuna, a faculty member said during the rally Tuesday. “Military defense industry funding and collaboration have become foundational to the public university’s normal fiscal and research operations.

“These lucrative partnerships raise serious questions about the ways in which university priorities are bent and shaped to the will of corporate interests, imperial militarism and war profiting,” Osuna continued.

The university has not yet provided details regarding its ties to Boeing and other defense companies following a May 8 public records request from the Watchdog.

“The California State University supports the rights of students and others to assemble peacefully, to protest, and to have their voices heard,” the system said in a statement. “We value free speech as fundamental to higher education and a cornerstone to a strong democracy.”

Students and faculty, however, pointed out universities’ recent actions against student encampments, saying they were peaceful until counterprotest or police intervention, the latter of which has resulted in hundreds of arrests at schools across the country and around the world. While there have not been reports of violent incidents at CSU campuses, protesters noted that the system has not condemned the actions by other universities.

Brandon Richardson was laid off by the Long Beach Post on March 22. Thank him for continuing to cover Long Beach without pay.