Submission: Student leaders should prioritize immediate campus issues over divestment

Last month, we learned of the University of California’s plans to raise tuition up to five percent over the next five years – a potential 27.6 percent increase. There are few issues more pressing to students than the affordability of higher education and rising student loan debt. It was impressive to see student leaders from across the UC coming together to address the issue.

However, another recent controversy is driving these same leaders apart. It is the topic of divesting from companies doing business in a specific country, Israel, that are alleged to be complicit in human rights violations there. In January, the University of California Student Association will be weighing in on the issue. This Thursday, the union representing student-workers across the UC will hold a poll. These plans follow our own undergraduate student government’s recent vote on the matter.

While advocates on all sides weigh in passionately, we as student leaders must also think about what our priorities should be. If we continue to devote our agendas to conflict in the Middle East, I worry that we may lose focus on advancing the interests of the students we serve on campus. There are student issues on which we can really have a significant impact and I would argue, are our foremost responsibility.

Among my friends at UCLA are strong critics of Israel. They decry Israeli policies and hold passionate views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Notwithstanding their genuine concern, I encourage them not to overlook human rights abuses ­– many far more egregious – taking place in many other parts of the world.

Looking at the issue from a global perspective, we will keenly appreciate the sorry state of human rights today:

– Should we divest from Russia for the bloody civil conflict it provoked in eastern Ukraine and its occupation of Crimea?

– Should we divest from China, our second-largest trading partner, for its ongoing oppression of the Tibetans and Uyghurs, including forcible resettlement of Han Chinese to cement control over these regions?

– Should we divest from Egypt, a major recipient of U.S. military aid, for the overthrow of a democratically elected government and to crack down on civil society rife with human rights abuse?

– Should we take a stand against the Assad regime and the brutality of the Islamic State group, whose actions have resulted in a death toll dwarfing those at the hands of Russia, China, and Egypt, let alone Israel?

Some might say yes, student leaders should focus on all human rights issues and even pass divestment resolutions in these cases. However, should we delve deep into these issues at the expense of campus issues directly in our power to influence?

Our university invests in companies that operate throughout the world. Many are in countries with human rights records far worse than Israel. Should we be asking for divestment from such companies across the board?

Beyond divestment from specific companies, this week’s vote asks union members whether they would participate in an “academic boycott” of Israel. Such a commitment would go against the principles of academic freedom. Do we want to enter the slippery slope of deciding which universities are off limits to scholarly exchange? And should it be the case that universities in only a single country in the world be subject to such an academic boycott?

We have an important year ahead with critical issues to deal with in Oakland, Sacramento and here on campus. I hope UCSA can demonstrate headway on the central challenge of UC affordability. I hope our union continues to build on its strong advocacy for student-worker issues, from equitable compensation to class size. If one international debate consumes our agendas, we risk weakening our advocacy on these issues and foregoing our opportunity to leave the next generation of UC students an even better institution.

Hirshman is president of UCLA’s Graduate Students Association.