About
that
referendum!
To
catch
you
up,
student-led
protests
at
Harvard
Law
have
been
catching
hell
from
the
administration.
They’ve
largely
been
calling
for
ceasefires,
but
the
students
have
branched
out
their
demands
over
time.
The
most
recent
demand
called
for
the
school
to
divest
from
entities
that
are
participating
in
Israel’s
war
on
Gaza.
That’s
no
small
ask
—
billions
of
dollars
are
in
play.
The
votes
are
in
and
the
overwhelming
majority
of
Harvard
Law
students
voted
in
favor
of
the
school
divesting
from
entities
that
take
part
in
Israel’s
war
in
Gaza.
The
Crimson
has
coverage:
The
Harvard
Law
School
student
body
voted
on
Thursday
to
call
on
the
University
to
divest
from
Israel
—
delivering
a
decisive
endorsement
of
language
that
Law
School
administrators
harshly
criticized
before
it
went
up
for
a
vote.The
resolution,
which
called
on
Harvard
to
“divest
from
weapons,
surveillance
technology,
and
other
companies
aiding
violations
of
international
humanitarian
law,
including
Israel’s
genocide
in
Gaza
and
its
ongoing
illegal
occupation
of
Palestine,”
passed
with
72.7
percent
of
votes
in
favor,
with
842
students
participating.
HLS
was
very
quick
to
clarify
that
the
opinions
of
its
voting
student
body
are
not
in
line
with
the
institution’s
stance.
Part
of
the
statement
written
by
Jeff
Neal
—
the
school’s
spokesperson
—
took
issue
with
the
“needlessly
divisive
referendum,”
saying
that
it
ran
against
the
student
government’s
stated
objective
of
“fostering
community.”
I
don’t
know,
~73%
of
people
agreeing
that
a
thing
violates
international
human
law
seems
pretty
community
building
for
folks
who
care
about
the
rule
of
(international)
law.
HLS
students
aren’t
the
only
ones
who
have
come
to
similar
conclusions:
Harvard’s
School
of
Public
Health
held
a
referendum
in
which
80%
of
the
voters
thought
that
the
school
should
divest.
While
it
is
worth
noting
that
HSPH’s
voter
turnout
was
much
lower,
the
outcomes
from
these
two
schools
may
encourage
other
subsets
of
Harvard
to
speak
up.
That’s
kind
of
how
protest-
and
community-focused
movements
work,
actually.
Students
peacefully
protest
a
thing,
then
professors
show
solidarity
and
join
in
protest,
another
school
has
a
pray-in
in
solidarity,
that
does
a
lot
more
for
fostering
community
than
say
punishing
students
and
staff
for
studying
silently
or
praying
with
a
purpose.
Or,
put
differently:
Ryave,
the
president
of
HLS
Tzedek,
a
group
of
pro-Palestine
Jewish
students,
added
that
“it
is
clear
that
Harvard
is
intimidated
by
our
collective
power
and
the
ever-growing
movement
for
a
liberated
Palestine.”
HLS
Tzedek
isn’t
the
only
student
group
that
spoke
on
the
referendum.
The
HLS
Alliance
for
Israel
had
this
to
say:
The
HLS
Alliance
for
Israel,
an
officially
recognized
student
group,
criticized
the
referendum
as
“plainly
discriminatory,
calling
for
divestment
from
companies
that
violate
human
rights,
but
then
falsely
pointing
to
and
moreover
singling
out
the
Jewish
state.”
I
do
think
they
are
correct
to
say
that
it
is
wrong
to
call
for
divestment
and
then
single
out
Israel.
This
is,
after
all,
a
concerted
effort.
For
example,
what
about
the
American
companies
that
are
contributing
to
the
war
effort?
Thankfully,
the
folks
over
at
American
Friends
Service
Committee
have
already
done
a
bang-up
job
of
compiling
companies
that
are
profiting
from
the
genocide
in
Gaza,
and
there
are
some
big
names
like
Boeing,
Ford,
and
General
Motors
on
the
list
—
those
are
just
some
of
the
American
companies.
A
thorough
and
coherent
rationale
for
divestment
should
include,
for
example,
American
and
German
companies,
depending
on
the
school’s
portfolio.
Whether
you
like
the
outcome
of
the
vote
or
not,
it
was
made
possible
by
a
democratic
process
and
civic
engagement.
When
and
how
Harvard
backlashes
against
the
results
of
this
referendum
will
be
an
indication
of
how
much
they
value
those
values.
Harvard
Law
School
Students
Pass
Referendum
Urging
University
To
Divest
From
Israel
[The
Crimson]
Earlier:
Harvard
Law
School’s
Vote
On
Divesting
From
Israel’s
War
In
Gaza
Set
For
March
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.