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Columbia Student Union Drops Israel Divestment Call

8/1/2026

Summary

Columbia Student Workers Withdraw

Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers (SWC-UAW) withdrew its “Obligations Under International Law” divest-from-Israel demand on July 30, 2026.
Union members, representing 3,000 student workers, approved the withdrawal at a general body meeting on Monday.
Leaders said concession lets the union concentrate on wage, benefit and foreign-student protections.
Negotiators, after the contract expired on June 30, 2025, have agreed to eight articles while dropping ten proposals.

Summary

Columbia Settles Claims

Columbia University agreed in July 2025 to pay $200 million and $21 million to settle EEOC claims, restoring funding.
Settlement followed antisemitism controversies that removed three administrators and led Columbia to tighten ID rules for demonstrators and adopt the IHRA definition.
The investment advisory committee rejected Israel-divestment proposals in 2024, November 2025, while police probed antisemitic graffiti in Irvington, New York after End Jew Hatred petitioned Governor Kathy Hochul to remove Mayor Zohran Mamdani after a hate-crime stabbing.

History

Historical Context

Campus anti-apartheid activism erupted in 1977 when student groups pressured universities such as Hampshire College and Harvard to begin divesting from South Africa; by 1988, 155 institutions had reduced or ended related holdings. The movement’s tactic of leveraging internal policy change resurfaced at Columbia, whose 2025 EEOC settlement and 2026 UAW withdrawal echo the earlier focus on institutional reform over external boycotts.

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Columbia Student Workers Withdraw

Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers (SWC-UAW) withdrew its “Obligations Under International Law” divest-from-Israel demand on July 30, 2026.
Union members, representing 3,000 student workers, approved the withdrawal at a general body meeting on Monday.
Leaders said concession lets the union concentrate on wage, benefit and foreign-student protections.
Negotiators, after the contract expired on June 30, 2025, have agreed to eight articles while dropping ten proposals.

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