In addition to directly collaborating with universities and defense companies, DTU is also implicated in the oppresion of Palestinians through its investment portfolio. We have investigated DTU's financial activity and identified several cases of investments being made in companies which have a known contribution to the occupation. By making these investments DTU is supporting companies that profit from helping to maintain the Israeli apartheid system, thus subsequently contributing to human rights violations against Palestinians which makes the university complicit in these activities. In this section we list our findings. 

As our group was not formed until late 2023, we did not have access to DTU’s investment portfolio or any detailed information on prior investments before December of that year. However, according to a Danish newspaper article [219] in 2021 DTU invested approximately €30k in a total of 17 companies operating in illegal Israeli settlements. The article does not clarify whether the amount represents a snapshot of DTU’s investments or their investments during a specific period in 2021. Over the past year, we have persistently sought greater transparency regarding the university’s investment holdings, resulting in getting access to 16 portfolio disclosures at various time points. DTU does not voluntarily disclose its investment portfolios, and our request to access these documents has been based on “offentlighedsloven” (Public Disclosure Act in Administration) [220].

Table 1 summarizes our findings from analyzing DTU’s investment portfolios that we were given access to, focusing on companies that matched the UN Human Rights Council database of entities with activities in illegal Israeli settlements [221] and the Occupations divestment list provided by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) [222,223]. The use of the AFSC divestment list is a credible complement to the UN database since it has a transparent human rights-based methodology with a rigorous evaluation of companies’ responsibility based on set criteria, including harm caused and responsiveness, and it is regularly updated. Due to the incomplete nature of portfolios provided, we could not consistently calculate the total amount of investments.

Online travel companies which provide rental and touristic services inside illegal settlements, including transport [224,225]

Altice France's parent company provides services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of illegal settlements [229].

Altice France is owned by French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi. The company was originally a division within Altice Europe but in 2018 the Altice Group split their departments into separate companies controlled by the Drahi-owned holding company NextAlt [238]. These four companies became Altice France, Altice UK, Altice USA, and Altice International. The last of these, Altice International manages telecom systems in Israel, Portgual, and the Dominican Republic [238,239]. Through its subsidiary, HOT Telecommunications Systems, Altice International installs and manages cellular towers, international telecommunication services, cellular telephone services, internet access services and network endpoint services inside of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank [229]. As a result of these activities, Altice International was placed on the United Nations blacklist in 2020. 

Patrick Drahi himself is also a highly controversial figure. His companies are under investigation for corruption and both his personal debt and that of his companies has skyrocketed in recent years as he shifts assets between his companies in order to evade his lenders [239,240]. He has recently changed his residency from Switzerland to Israel and purchased the Israeli media network i24. The network is rabidly right wing, especially when it comes to topics relating to Israeli-Arab relations. It was one of the first networks to push the later debunked claim that Hamas fighters had beheaded babies [241], which was heavily used to justify the genocide in the early stages. Its journalists have also called for the murder of 100,000 Gazans on-air [242]. The network has also been accused many times of twisting coverage in order to paint the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his policies in a positive light [243].  He has been known to be a close ally of Netanyahu and his precarious financial position has prompted the Israeli press to question whether his increasing reliance on the prime minister will hasten the end of an 'independent' media within the country [244]. 

While DTU's investments are in Altice France rather than the blacklisted Altice International, both are owned by the same holding company and until recently were departments of the same company. When asked about the investment by members of Academics for Palestine, the rector of DTU confirmed that Altice International does appear in the UN blacklist but countered that since Altice France was not specifically listed that there were no problems with this investment. DTU is fully aware that it is investing in a group which is heavily involved in maintaining services to illegal settlements in the occupied territories but defends its investments based on the technicality that their investment is in a subdivision of the group which is not formally banned. 

A US-based multinational manufacturer of construction machinery and equipment. Its products are weaponized for the Israeli military and are used in home demolitions; in the construction of illegal settlement infrastructure, border walls, and military checkpoints; and in military assaults against Palestinians [226–229]

Delek Logistics Partners, LP is a subsidiary of Delek US Holdings, Inc., which itself is majority-owned by Delek Group Ltd., an Israeli multinational conglomerate of automotive, energy, insurance, and real estate companies. It owns and operates gas stations and convenience stores throughout the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights [221,229,237]

A US-based communications and surveillance company. Leading supplier of license plate recognition software. Sells surveillance products for use at US prisons, at the US-Mexico Border, and by US police agencies. Its equipment is installed in illegal settlements and in the separation wall in the West Bank and is used by the Israeli military, police, and prison service [229–231]

Primo Water Holdings Inc. is a subsidiary of Primo Water Corp. [232], which is a Canadian multinational beverage and food service company (formerly Cott Corp). Its Israeli subsidiary Eden Springs [233] extracts water from the occupied Golan Heights and maintains a presence in an illegal settlement there [234]

The UK’s second largest weapons manufacturer. Its German subsidiary MTU235 makes the engines for Israel’s main battle tanks and armored personnel carriers [236]

Based on available information, DTU has not implemented or committed itself to an ethical investment policy and has carried out limited human rights due diligence measures in its investments. It continues to invest in companies profiting from the violations of human rights of Palestinians and shows no established process for screening those investments. Transparency remains an issue, since the university has yet to provide complete investment portfolios consistently (including every single instrument that is being invested in, as well as the amount), and has not publicly announced any divestment decisions. After months of pressure, it has recently stopped investing in Airbnb and Booking Holdings Inc., however this decision was performed ad hoc and is not part of a broader or long term divestment strategy; instead it required an explicit request to their asset managers for these two companies. DTU still has no clear oversight policy, stating it relies on its asset managers’ compliance. Without clear and enforceable ethical guidelines, the university’s commitment to human rights and international legal standards is ambiguous and inadequate.

DTU should promptly implement an ethical investment policy including frequently updated exclusion lists, regular monitoring of its investments, and a divestment strategy to prevent its assets from supporting the Israeli apartheid and human rights violations. Additionally, DTU should ensure transparency by periodically making its investment portfolios publicly accessible.