One of Brown University’s major donors, the billionaire real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht, on Friday sharply criticized the school’s agreement to hold a board vote on cutting investments tied to Israel, calling it “unconscionable” and saying he had “paused” donations to the school.
Brown is among a small number of universities that have agreed to discuss their investments in companies that do business in Israel, in order to persuade student protesters to dismantle encampments.
It’s not education, it’s propaganda,” he wrote.
Mr. Sternlicht, 63, said that no deal with protesters could be fruitful because the two sides did not agree on “facts and moral clarity,” as well as the scale of Israel’s invasion of Gaza after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack in which about 1,200 were killed and another 250 were taken hostage.
Israel’s subsequent intense bombardment of the tightly-packed area has left more than 34,000 dead and drawn international condemnation.
Persons:
Brown, Barry Sternlicht, ”, “, Sternlicht, Christina H, Paxson, Israel’s
Organizations:
New York Times, Israel
Locations:
Israel, Gaza