It has been 66 days since Israel initiated the brutal massacre of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. With every passing second, it becomes more evident that our policymakers are neglecting the protection of civilian life. Our leaders are failing us. 

To the UC Regents and President Michael Drake: use your power to catalyze change. 

Listen to your faculty and students. 

Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 attacks from Hamas has been a deadly barrage of daily bombings. The Israeli Defense Force’s attacks have targeted Gazan civilian areas including refugee camps, places of worship, hospitals, and schools. Israel has also tightened its grip on Gaza by cutting off access to basic necessities like electricity, water, and fuel, and restricting the entry of humanitarian aid. Over 17,700 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Reuters, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, as a result of Israel’s collective punishment. About 70 percent of those killed have been women and children.

Let us be clear: the ongoing humanitarian tragedy is a mass genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. 

On Dec. 8, the U.S. vetoed a United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and stood as the only voting nation to reject the proposal outright. It becomes all the more important now for institutions to pressure governments into action. 

The Editorial Board of City on a Hill Press demands the UC Board of Regents call for a permanent and immediate ceasefire in Gaza.  

We call on both the UC Regents and UC President Michael V. Drake to release a statement condemning the actions of Israel with the same strength and certainty as they condemned Hamas on Oct. 9.

It is necessary for the UC Regents to not only recognize the anguish of Palestinian students and citizens, but to use their political influence on California state and federal representatives to advocate against genocide and for a permanent ceasefire.

As a public institution that serves more than 280,000 students and employs 227,000 faculty, the UC system has incredible reach and responsibility. To quote the UC’s own statement in the wake of the George Floyd protests calling for systemic change, “As leaders of the largest public research university in the United States, we feel that silence is complicity.” 

The UC’s chosen apoliticism is equivalent to apathy. The lack of any explicit condemnation of this human rights atrocity makes the UC Regents complicit in the Palestinian genocide. 

It only took two days for President Drake to release his Oct. 9 statement, calling Hamas’ attack terrorism, stating the act “deserves and requires our collective condemnation.” However, in the two months since the beginning of Israel’s disproportionate and unrelenting response, no direct statement has been made regarding the killing of thousands of Palestinians. 

We write in solidarity with Palestinians and stand for their safety worldwide. The student activism that has been mobilizing throughout UC Santa Cruz, the UC community, and the country at large is a powerful show of collective action that cannot be ignored. 

We demand the UC’s immediate and permanent divestment from major stakeholders in global arms manufacturing like Blackrock, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon.

The UC has a $40 billion endowment. At least 3.4 percent, $1.4 billion, is invested in technological and military companies contributing to Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians. 

Companies the UC feeds money into include General Dynamics Corp., General Electric Capital Corp., Honeywell Corp., Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and United Tech Corp. Together these companies provide Israel with helicopters, jet engines, F-16 fighters, M1-A2 tanks, avionics control systems, rocket launchers, aircraft missiles, launch systems, and other missiles. 

The University of California has chosen the side of imperialism, apartheid, and genocide of Palestinian people perpetrated by the Israeli government. Though they tout empty phrases like “expressions of grief,” the UC’s link to multinational investment companies indicates a devotion to something more sinister: profit at any cost, even the blood of thousands. 

For us to remain neutral in the face of genocide and humanitarian catastrophe is a grave disservice to the thousands who are suffering at the hands of apartheid. 

As student journalists, we can report fairly while advocating for human rights; one should not be compromised at the expense of the other. We write for equity. We write for dignity. We write for justice. 

Signed,

The City on a Hill Press Editorial Board