Denmark university agrees to students’ protest demands

The University of Copenhagen in Denmark announced on Tuesday that it would divest from companies doing business in the West Bank.

The university’s decision came after meeting with anti-Israel protesters. Starting on May 29, the University of Copenhagen will divest about 1 million Danish crowns (an equivalent to $145,810) from its holdings in Booking.com, eDreams, and Airbnb. The decision was announced in a post on X.

“In April, the University of Copenhagen’s board discussed the university’s approach to placing funds in companies on the UN’s list of companies with activities in the West Bank,” the university’s post read. “At the same board meeting, it was also decided that KU will in future carry out a more active ownership towards its capital managers. This means regular dialogue about, among other things, the companies that may appear in the portfolios that are on the mentioned UN list.”

“As a result, from tomorrow (May 29), KU will no longer have investments in funds that have Airbnb, Booking[.]com and the online travel company eDreams ODIGEO in their portfolio,” read the post. “There were investments in the three companies for a total of around DKK 1 million.”

Additionally, the university stated that the impetus for the change aligned “with the reflections the rectorate has made on the basis of conversations with students and staff in connection with the conflict in Israel and Palestine.”

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Protesters gathered on UC’s campus earlier this month in opposition to Israel after the country mounted a defense in response to the terrorist attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7. Among the demands of the protesters was for the school to stop providing any financial resources to corporations that did business in Palestine in the areas that the protesters deemed were an “illegal occupation.”

“As previously announced, the rectorate considers it completely reasonable that the university population has insight into what the university’s funds are invested in,” read the university’s post. “We therefore continue to work on how, within the current agreements, we can provide a status for the portfolio at regular intervals.”