California’s San Francisco State University has begun the process of divesting from four weapons manufacturers currently involved in Israel’s war on Gaza, in a move activists are describing as a “major victory” for Palestinian rights advocacy in the United States.

The announcement by Students for Gaza SFSU comes at a crucial time for the student movement for Palestine, as several universities across the country look to punish and deter students from restarting pro-Palestinian advocacy on campuses, and social media companies like Meta look to censor pro-Palestine activism by student groups on their platforms.

Earlier this week, New York University (NYU) included criticism of Zionism on its list of hate speech, a move that is expected to have a chilling effect on activism targeting Israel. At the University of Michigan, several students were violently arrested as they conducted a sit-in on campus.

Activists say the move to divest from Palantir Technologies, a US-based data analysis firm, arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, Leonardo, an Italian multinational defence company, as well as construction equipment manufacturer, Caterpillar – corporations described by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) as “profiting from Gaza the genocide” – came following months of protest and advocacy calling on the university to withdraw investments in portfolios that profit from harming Palestinians.

The demands were part of a nationwide student movement that called for universities to disclose and divest from companies profiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and its current war on Gaza.

Noam Perry, the strategic research coordinator with the AFSC, told Middle East Eye the move was significant for a variety of reasons, none more so than “the transformative process the university went through, and the moral stance it committed to” in reaching its decision to change track on the investments.

“It’s not that the university decided to divest from these four companies. It’s that the university decided on a new ethical investment policy, and when it screened its direct investments through this new lens, these are the companies that were flagged. So the policy would make sure the university cannot directly invest in these and other similar companies in the future.

“As far as I know, this has been the most earnest process that a US university has had so far to respond to the divestment demands of its student’s encampment,” Perry said, adding the university had demonstrated it respected students’ voices on how it invests its money.

On Thursday, students at the university held a press conference and rally in the Malcolm X Plaza on campus where they announced the news to fellow students.

In a statement issued by Students For Gaza, the group behind the push for divestment, the cohort said the university had drafted new language that would institutionalise the move as part of a larger commitment to divest from other corporations that violate human rights.

The group said the new language would be added to the investment policy statement that would centre on human rights.

In April and May this year, students set up an encampment at SFSU, as part of the nationwide call for students to demand universities to divest from corporations seen as complicit in Israel’s war on Gaza.

At SFSU, the encampment organised by Students for Gaza lasted three weeks.

The university then held public negotiations with students – the first in the country to do so.

By the end of the semester, initial agreements with the administration were accepted and the student leadership, faculty, observers, and the administration joined a summer working group to examine the university’s investment policies.

The working group was also joined by community partners from AFSC, an organisation documenting corporate complicity and working on divestment campaigns. 

Max, a spokesperson with Students for Gaza, told MEE students had originally dismantled the encampments “with the goal of continuing to organise and work throughout the summer to meet our demands”.

“We were able to get our demands met, including a divestment from weapons manufacturing and a website that disclosed clear information about our investments,” Max, who offered only his first name, said.

According to AFSC, the four companies targeted are directly involved in Israel’s war on Gaza, which has now resulted in more than 40,000 Palestinians being killed since October 2024.

Perry said that whereas Lockheed Martin, one of the world’s largest weapons manufacturers, has been supplying F16s and F35 jets to the Israeli airforce, the Italian weapons manufacturer, Leonardo, has been providing the Israeli navy with the 76mm guns that have been targeting Gaza from the sea.  

The Denver-based Palantir Technologies has been helping Israel develop “kill lists” for Israel while Caterpillar, infamous for its D9 armoured bulldozers, has been a long-time target for Palestinian activists due to its role in demolishing Palestinian homes and civilian infrastructure.

“These bulldozers have also been crucial for Israel’s ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, accompanying combat troops and paving their way by clearing roads and flattening entire residential neighbourhoods,” Perry added.

Perry said, success notwithstanding, more work still needs to be done at the university.

“It’s important to note that divestment from both Palantir and Caterpillar was not due to SFSU’s commitment to divest from weapons manufacturers, but thanks to the other parts of the university’s investment policy, which now considers internationally-recognised human rights, in addition to the university’s prior commitments to racial justice and environmental issues,” Perry said.

SFSU did not immediately reply to MEE’s request for comment.