Words by: Phoebe Robertson (she/her)
On the morning of the 5th of August, Te Herenga Waka's Kelburn campus awoke to “Divest from Genocide” painted on its walls. “Divest from Genocide”, “Ignoring Genocide”, “Apartheid is Lame” and “Free Gaza” were some of the slogans painted on the campus.
This event follows Salient's report last week that the Victoria University Foundation has $47,000 invested in Israeli government bonds through its fund manager, ANZ Investments. These investments are aiding the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Although the Foundation needs to relocate these bonds by August 2024 due to the closure of the ANZ Investments portfolio, the University has provided Salient with no indication of where the money will be moved.
Less than twenty-four hours after the graffiti appeared, the University had removed the majority. Today, students have seen a fleet of cleaners power washing the bricks and scrubbing the concrete and signs.
Salient was granted an interview with one of these activists, who has been kept anonymous. They explained that actions like this send a message to the University: “You need to take us seriously. There is a genocide happening, and your money is funding it. You need to pull out your investments and change that.” They also noted that this wasn’t just a message for the University, but also a call to inform its student base: “This is what our University is doing with its money, and students have a right to know about this.”
They also stated, “A lot of people and students at the University might freak out and say, ‘Oh, this is too far, we’re impacting people,’ but realistically, a bit of paint on the Uni for a day is a drop in the bucket compared to what’s happening in Palestine and has been happening for decades.' They added, 'What this action is meant to do is show the University that the students really care about this, that they’re serious, and that where they put their money matters. They need to make ethical and responsible investments, considering they are supposed to be a ‘critic and conscience of society,’ yet they’re investing in genocidal governments.”
When I brought up that the University had plans to reinvest the money, the activist told me, “That goes back to the fact that there has been decades of this apartheid system in Israel, which is now on a genocidal rampage. Even since October, it’s been ten months, which is ten months too long to make this decision. The Uni Foundation disclosed this information in light of them already changing their investment portfolios because the ANZ investment fund went off the market. That could be seen as them being transparent because they know they’re going to change anyway... It’s too little too late at this point.”
Although the University has not yet released a statement about the graffiti, it is evident that students expect more from Te Herenga Waka.