Urgent Call for Dalhousie to Divest from Companies Complicit in Israeli Occupation
Because divestment is not optional when lives are on the line.
Dear Members of the Dalhousie University Board of Governors,
As a current doctoral student at Dalhousie University, I feel compelled to speak out on an issue that goes to the very heart of our shared values as an academic institution. The university’s investments in companies complicit in the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine contradict its commitments to equity, justice, and human dignity. This is not just a financial matter—it is a moral crisis. Dalhousie’s continued financial ties to these companies make it complicit in ongoing violence that the United Nations has clearly identified as having genocidal intent.
The recent report by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese provides chilling details about the systematic destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza. The report describes the forced displacement, mass killings, and deliberate targeting of civilians as actions that amount to genocide. This is not a distant issue; it is one that our university directly engages with through its investments in companies that profit from illegal settlements, home demolitions, and militarized violence. These financial choices have real, devastating consequences for millions of Palestinians.
Dalhousie’s history shows us what happens when institutions prioritize profit over people. The Lord Dalhousie Panel Report laid bare the university’s deep entanglements with anti-Black racism, slavery, and colonial exploitation. While efforts have been made to address that legacy, the university’s investments in companies enabling the destruction of Palestine perpetuate the same systems of violence. These decisions undermine everything Dalhousie claims to stand for.
As a student at this university, I had felt proud to be part of a community that values equity and reconciliation. But those values must be reflected in our actions, and over the three years I have spent at Dal to date, what I have seen is a lot of lip service to equity and social justice without doing the very difficult work needed to actively undermine the legitimacy of the systems that reinforce oppression. Let me be clear: investing in companies complicit in genocide is antithetical to everything our community profess to believe. We cannot look away while lives are being destroyed, communities erased, and an entire people subjected to state-organized oppression. Neutrality in the face of such violence is complicity.
My work as a scholar focuses on how systemic violence fractures communities, identities, and lives. I know deeply how interconnected these struggles are. The settler-colonial violence Palestinians and Lebanese populations face today is not unlike the legacies of anti-Blackness and Indigenous dispossession that continue to shape Canada and Nova Scotia. These systems of oppression are linked, and our response to one reflects our commitments to all.
Dalhousie has an opportunity to lead—not with words, but with action. Divestment is not a radical demand; it is a necessary step toward aligning the university’s financial practices with its values. By divesting, Dalhousie can affirm its commitment to justice and human dignity, standing in solidarity with those resisting systemic violence. This is not just about Palestine—it is about Dalhousie’s role in shaping a more just world.
I urge you to act now. Divest from all companies complicit in the illegal Israeli occupation. To delay is to allow our resources to continue funding violence and destruction. The choice before you is clear: to perpetuate harm or to stand on the side of justice.
This is a defining moment for our university. Let Dalhousie be remembered as an institution that chose accountability and courage in the face of genocide. Let it be a leader in the fight for equity, dignity, and human rights.
In solidarity,
Vincent Mousseau, MSc RSW
PhD Student
Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University
As a current doctoral student at Dalhousie University, I feel compelled to speak out on an issue that goes to the very heart of our shared values as an academic institution. The university’s investments in companies complicit in the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine contradict its commitments to equity, justice, and human dignity. This is not just a financial matter—it is a moral crisis. Dalhousie’s continued financial ties to these companies make it complicit in ongoing violence that the United Nations has clearly identified as having genocidal intent.
The recent report by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese provides chilling details about the systematic destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza. The report describes the forced displacement, mass killings, and deliberate targeting of civilians as actions that amount to genocide. This is not a distant issue; it is one that our university directly engages with through its investments in companies that profit from illegal settlements, home demolitions, and militarized violence. These financial choices have real, devastating consequences for millions of Palestinians.
Dalhousie’s history shows us what happens when institutions prioritize profit over people. The Lord Dalhousie Panel Report laid bare the university’s deep entanglements with anti-Black racism, slavery, and colonial exploitation. While efforts have been made to address that legacy, the university’s investments in companies enabling the destruction of Palestine perpetuate the same systems of violence. These decisions undermine everything Dalhousie claims to stand for.
As a student at this university, I had felt proud to be part of a community that values equity and reconciliation. But those values must be reflected in our actions, and over the three years I have spent at Dal to date, what I have seen is a lot of lip service to equity and social justice without doing the very difficult work needed to actively undermine the legitimacy of the systems that reinforce oppression. Let me be clear: investing in companies complicit in genocide is antithetical to everything our community profess to believe. We cannot look away while lives are being destroyed, communities erased, and an entire people subjected to state-organized oppression. Neutrality in the face of such violence is complicity.
My work as a scholar focuses on how systemic violence fractures communities, identities, and lives. I know deeply how interconnected these struggles are. The settler-colonial violence Palestinians and Lebanese populations face today is not unlike the legacies of anti-Blackness and Indigenous dispossession that continue to shape Canada and Nova Scotia. These systems of oppression are linked, and our response to one reflects our commitments to all.
Dalhousie has an opportunity to lead—not with words, but with action. Divestment is not a radical demand; it is a necessary step toward aligning the university’s financial practices with its values. By divesting, Dalhousie can affirm its commitment to justice and human dignity, standing in solidarity with those resisting systemic violence. This is not just about Palestine—it is about Dalhousie’s role in shaping a more just world.
I urge you to act now. Divest from all companies complicit in the illegal Israeli occupation. To delay is to allow our resources to continue funding violence and destruction. The choice before you is clear: to perpetuate harm or to stand on the side of justice.
This is a defining moment for our university. Let Dalhousie be remembered as an institution that chose accountability and courage in the face of genocide. Let it be a leader in the fight for equity, dignity, and human rights.
In solidarity,
Vincent Mousseau, MSc RSW
PhD Student
Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University