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Complicity Through Investments
Complicity Through Investments
After the University of Alberta destroyed the People's University of Palestine encampment in May 2024, the University caved to public pressure and partially disclosed its University Endowment Pool (UEP) investment holdings.
In November 2024, Just Peace Advocates submitted a report to Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, entitled "How the University of Alberta invests in human rights violations in Palestine." This report analyzed the extent of the University's financial complicity in genocide, apartheid, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
As of March 2025 (the most recent publicly available data), the University of Alberta has over $120 million worth of investments in at least 46 companies, banks, and other entities that directly or indirectly support Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people. These entities manufacture the weapons, jets, and tanks used by Israelis in their daily massacres of Palestinians, Lebanese, and West Asian civilians; create the technology used by the IDF to surveil Palestinians in their everyday lives; purchase the homes of ethnically cleansed Palestinians to rent to tourists; and finance and insure the occupation.
However, this data is insufficient and has large gaps. As the UN report also notes:
Detailed information is only provided for public equity holdings - in 2025 this represents only $1.25B of the total $2.57B UEP, or less than half of its actual value. No information is given for private equity investments aside from value.
Investments in private equity, real estate, infrastructure, energy, mineral royalties, and commodities ($843.5M in 2025) are in managed funds, but the names of managed funds are not provided (except SPDR S&P).
No investment information is disclosed for the non-endowed investment pool (NEIP) (worth $1.6B in 2025).
Additionally, since 2025 the University has opened two research institutes devoted to defense and dual-use research: Centre for Applied Research in Defense and Dual-use Technologies (CARDD-Tech) and Dual-Use Ecosystem for Future Engineering, National Defence and Sovereignty (DEFENDS). CARDD-Tech has already partnered with companies like Calian GNSS - a company which as recently as August 2025 was regularly shipping GPS antennas to Elbit Systems, Israel's largest weapons manufacturer.
Students & Faculty Demand Divestment
Students & Faculty Demand Divestment
Students, alumni, faculty, and the greater Edmonton community are calling on the University to:
Immediately adopt and implement a policy of negative screening and transparent investment reporting to prevent investments in companies that enable war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Immediately divest from Rolls Royce, Magellan, and Booking.com, three companies which aid and benefit from genocide, apartheid, and occupation.
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