Last semester, students and faculty from approximately 117 universities set up encampments in solidarity with the population of Gaza and as a way to protest Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of the area, as well as each university’s financial complicity in those actions. 

Their demands were for universities to disclose investment portfolios and divest from companies that profit from war and the military-industrial complex. USC students and faculty participated in this global action and held two encampments. As a Jewish person born and raised in colonized Palestine — or Israel — I was there too, as I felt the need to show up and support.

During the first encampment, protestors were engaging in peaceful meditation and poetry readings. Shortly after the encampment began, USC’s administration made the decision to involve the Los Angeles Police Department, who came in and violently arrested 93 participants, out of whom nearly 50 were students. After the second encampment, the University issued a wave of student suspensions and other forms of punishment and discipline, even evicting some students from their USC housing.

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On top of that, USC created oppressive structures such as checkpoints, border barriers and an excessive police presence. These measures are still in place and appear to mimic similar practices engaged by the Israeli Zionist apartheid regime. 

On July 19, Israel was found guilty of apartheid by the International Court of Justice. Additionally, the Israeli government and military have been accused of committing genocide by various countries, experts and human rights organizations. 

Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the Israeli government created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza by preventing access to food for a population of 2.3 million people. Additionally, they murdered 40,000 Palestinians — that we know of — out of whom 16,000 are children. 

Grace Zhang, a student organizer who participated in negotiating with USC’s administration on the behalf of the encampment protestors and a senior majoring in American studies and ethnicity, recalled a conversation in which administration officials refused to disclose numbers about the endowment. 

“They didn’t even know the exact number,” Zhang said. “They said only, like, less than two percent of their endowment is invested in … what we were considering … weapons manufacturing companies and war manufacturing companies.” 

When asked to comment on the percentage of the endowment invested in weapons manufacturing, the University did not respond.

Zhang added that even that seemingly low percentage “is still an insane amount of money.” This is where your tuition money is going. Nonetheless, in spite of Israel’s well-documented crimes against humanity, USC’s administration chooses to continue investing in war manufacturing companies while profiting from the death machines those companies create. 

In addition to their complicity with genocide, USC’s administration has created their own apartheid regime on our campus. Now, we must pass through checkpoints and deal with constant surveillance and policing. 

These checkpoints remind me of the apartheid checkpoints located in Jerusalem and West Bank that are used to segregate Palestinians and Israelis, as well as separate Palestinians from their families. These checkpoints are used to control and oppress the Palestinian population. Pregnant women have given birth and lost their babies due to the long and grueling checkpoints, and one woman was almost shot for walking in the wrong direction. 

These apartheid-like policies at USC directly impact Black and Muslim students — who are historically more likely to be profiled by police — while endangering Black community members in South Central. 

Fanta Cissé, a sophomore majoring in business administration, is Black and Muslim and recalls speaking with her father on the phone at the checkpoint at University Religious Center when a yellow jacket questioned her as to whether she was a student. Although it’s unclear if he saw she was a person of color, she had her hijab on that day. 

“It feels like [the] campus is protecting itself from the students, which is kind of counterintuitive because they’re supposed to protect the student,” Cissé said. 

When asked to comment on how increased security measures may affect Black and Muslim students and community members, the University responded in a statement: “USC is ensuring that neighbors can continue to access campus. Hundreds of neighbors and local students are on campus every day. To further support this commitment, we are regularly engaging community members, neighborhood councils, and local organizations to keep them updated.”

Lastly, Palestinian students have to watch the atrocities their people endure by the Israeli government and military while reckoning with the fact that USC implicates them. Jude, a freshman at USC who declined to give their last name out of concern for their safety, is Palestinian and says the University’s refusal to divest is hurtful.  

“It’s literally all my tuition money, I feel like I’m almost complicit in what is happening,” Jude said. “It hurts really bad that these institutions are funding the genocide even though … they could easily divest from it.”

So, this is my question for USC’s administration: Why are you so afraid of disclosing your investments that you have chosen to barricade our University off from the outside world and silence your concerned students who demand nothing more than accountability and a reorientation away from funding genocide? 

Dear administration, it is time to put an end to the checkpoints and police surveillance — and most importantly, investments in war profiteers. 

Harlow Raye is a senior majoring in sociology writing about genocide, colonialism and capitalism from an abolitionist perspective. Their column, “First Justice, Then Peace,” runs every other Thursday.