Over forty demonstrators gathered outside Day Hall at noon on Monday to urge the University administration to divest from weapons manufacturers that provide arms for Israel.
The event, advertised as a “press conference,” was organized in coalition with Students for Justice in Palestine, Young Democratic Socialists of America and Jewish Voice for Peace for their “Students Not Bombs” campaign.
Eight speakers took the megaphone during the half hour-long conference, including Cornell undergraduates, Ithaca locals, Cornell Graduate Students United UE Local 300 members and Ithaca City Common Council members.
The speakers criticized Cornell for their current investments and demanded that they redirect them to local causes.
“While Israel commits war crime after war crime, while Palestinians are killed in thousands and while basic humanitarian aid is systematically denied for them, our administration has remained complicit,” said Yasmeen Masoud ’28, SJP president and Student Assembly vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Over 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war with Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the United Nations. There is currently a warrant issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.
In her speech, Masoud said that complicity comes from Cornell investing in weapons manufacturers with ties to Israel, such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and L3Harris.
“Money is not neutral. Investments are not neutral. Silence is not neutral,” Masoud said.
Prior to the demonstration, a white banner was hung from the roof of Olin library reading “Students not bombs / Divest from Israel / Invest in Ithaca,” spraypainted in the colors of the Palestinian flag.
No individuals or organizations have taken credit for hanging the banner, but YDSA, SJP and JVP posted a photo of the banner onto their Instagram accounts. The banner was removed before the demonstration began.
In addition to divestment, the coalition also demands that the University severs its ties with Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, end recruitment for weapons manufacturers and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via Cornell Career Services, create an independent ethical research review board and redirect investments towards students and the Ithaca community.
In the Spring 2024 referendum, the majority of student voters voted in favor of the University divesting from weapons manufacturers with Israeli ties and calling for a ceasefire. The referendum passed by a 2:1 ratio, where 46.77% of Cornell undergraduate students participated. President Martha Pollack rejected the referendum. The “Students Not Bombs” campaign now re-sparks divestment demands.
Several speakers highlighted ways Cornell could redirect its investments towards students and the Ithaca community.
Charlene Luciano, an Ithaca native who has experienced homelessness in Ithaca, urged Cornell to invest in Ithaca’s unhoused population, stressing that funding for Ithaca Code Blue Shelters has been cut from $2 million to $800,000 in the past year.
Common Council member Jorge Defendini ’22 argued that Cornell should redirect funding to the Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, the local bus system, criticizing the University for initially offering the TCAT $31k in funding when asked for $500k last fall.
“That’s not even half a semester of tuition,” Defendini said.
CGSU-UE President Eva Niżałowska criticized the University for threatening to cut Momodou Taal’s and Amandla Thomas-Johnson’s funding if they do not return to the United States, claiming it is a “clear violation of our union contract” which states that Ph.D. candidates in good academic standing must be funded for the duration of their degree.
Taal and Thomas-Johnson are Cornell graduate students who both fled the U.S. last year out of fear being deported due to their pro-Palestinian activism on campus. Both Taal and Thomas-Johnson have yet to return to the U.S. out of those same fears of detainment and deportation upon arrival.
“We know that an institution with an $11 billion endowment has the money to fund [Taal] and [Thomas-Johnson],” said Niżałowska. “This is a question of priorities.”
Andrea Cicirello, CGSU-UE financial secretary and Ph.D. candidate in material science and engineering, spoke about mobilizing graduate workers.
“If Cornell refuses to divest and stop taking grants [that fund weapon manufacturers], we will force them to,” Cicirello said. “We will force them to by refusing to do any research for these organizations that are committing genocide.”
After the speeches, demonstrators marched inside Day Hall to present President Michael Kotlikoff with a printed list of their demands. However, Kotlikoff was not in his office at the time, according to his secretary, who took the copy on his behalf.
The coalition opened a petition urging the administration and Board of Trustees to comply with their demands. The petition had 61 signatures at the time of publication.
When asked to give a comment by The Sun, the University did not have a statement on the event.
Mary Caitlin Cronin is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a news editor for the 144th Editorial Board and can be reached at mcronin@cornellsun.com.
