Keohane: Divestment is Not the Right Response

Statement Regarding Request that Duke Divest from Companies with Military Ties to Israel

By Nannerl O. Keohane President, Duke University

The DukeDivest movement calling for divestment from companies with military ties to Israel asks that we approach a complex issue by using a tactic that is not well designed for this purpose.

It is of course appropriate for members of the Duke community to express their opposition to the policies of the government of Israel, and for others to make clear their own support for those policies. But divestment is not the right response; it is too blunt an instrument to use in a situation where there are good arguments to be made about responsibility and complicity on both sides of this conflict.

In the case of South Africa, where many people came to believe that divestment was warranted, there was an extraordinary level of moral clarity about questions of responsibility. There were also well-developed mechanisms in place to ensure that connections were made between actions on campuses and results in South Africa. And finally, the complicated issues around whether and how ethical investing policies can override our fundamental duties of fiduciary responsibility to our institution had been thoughtfully worked through at many institutions. None of these factors is present in this situation.

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is far too multi- faceted to treat as a simple issue of Israeli responsibility and non- compliance; the divestment petition targets only one side in this tragic situation. There is no question, however, that a serious, thoughtful discussion of this conflict on campus will give all of us a chance to understand these issues better, and to form our own well-founded judgments.