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A group of Yale University graduate students on Friday said they would begin a hunger strike to pressure the famed Ivy League school to divest from companies arming and equipping Israel.
The action comes after the student group Hunger Strikers for Palestine wrote to Yale president Peter Salovey on Wednesday, accusing the institution of “complicity in genocide” in Gaza and demanding that he publicly commit to ending the university's investments in arms firms.
“With the death toll of the genocide climbing daily in Gaza and the invasion of Rafah set to cause catastrophe, it is your moral responsibility to remove our institution from the list of those supporting genocide,” the group wrote.
The letter gave Mr Salovey until Friday to make a public statement. When that was not forthcoming, students said they would begin hunger striking on Saturday.
“President Salovey has failed to respond. The strikers will continue to fast until their demands are met,” the group said in a statement.
A Yale representative told The National that the university is “steadfastly committed to free expression and the right to peaceful protest, values that are foundational to our academic community”.
At the end of last year, the university's Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility was asked to consider a policy of divestment encompassing manufacturers of military weapons.
The committee “has looked into the issue and is preparing to provide an update to the community in the coming weeks”, the representative said.
The representative added that “students participating in a hunger strike are encouraged to consult with clinicians at Yale Health”.
A long-time Yale faculty member told The National that about 10 students were set to participate in the hunger strike, though that number was expected to grow at the weekend.
As of last June, Yale had an endowment of more than $40 billion, according to its investment office.
The student statement said more than $1.3 billion of this is managed by an investment firm with shares in aerospace companies Aerojet Rocketdyne and Howmet Manufacturing, as well as separate investments in US arms companies such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon.
Campus tension
Since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and Israel's ensuing war on Gaza, where local officials say more than 33,000 people have been killed, universities across the US have seen a surge in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents.
“For Jewish students, as well as for Muslim as well as for Arab, for those who are just walking by, I think it's been a very difficult climate on campus for all students,” the faculty member said.
“But it has been particularly difficult and scary for students who are outwardly expressing support for Palestine.”
Support for Palestinian causes has come from students of different ethnicities, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds, the staffer said.
In their statement, students said Yale had provided only “repeated silence” after they sent several letters to the president and carried out protests calling on the institution to divest.
“Students have exhausted their means of communicating with the Yale administration about divesting from arms manufacturing,” they said.
They cited a precedent for divesting.
In 2006, Yale stopped investing in companies that “provided substantial assistance to the perpetrators of the genocide in Sudan”, they wrote, arguing that the same principle should be applied now, as Israel is facing genocide charges at the International Court of Justice.
The US has said such allegations are “unfounded”.
On Tuesday, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said there is no evidence Israel is committing genocide in Gaza but far too many civilians have been killed there.
In February, pro-Palestinian protesters at Brown University in Rhode Island ended a week-long hunger strike. They were unsuccessful in trying to force the divestiture of arms companies tied to Israel.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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