“It's a Question, Not Feedback” UFDC Asks Questions at GE Aerospace Information Session
Editor’s Notes | GnvInfo was not physically present at this information session. It is being covered from videos that were sent.
On Tuesday, members of the University of Florida (UF) Divestment Coalition (UFDC) asked questions at a General Electric (GE) Aerospace Information Session.
UFDC launched in April when a group of UF students held a month-long protest in the middle of the Plaza of the Americas outside of Library West to demand that UF cut investments into corporations providing military aid to Israel.
During the Q&A session of the event, an activist said GE Aerospace claims to champion "diversity and sustainability in the workplace. I just wanted to kind of understand how this philosophy holds true in the face of accusations by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch? The aircraft in General Electric; the systems used by the Israeli military to attack civilians indiscriminately and intentionally target civilian infrastructure, [such as] schools, hospitals, power plants, and water treatment centers. I just kind of wanna understand how your philosophy on diversity and culture holds true to [that]?”
A presenter of the event replied, “It’s a hard one to answer. We do have a lot of focus on what we’ve shared... and what’s happening within the world. Some of where our engines are going is not underneath our control... We are aware when things happen [and work] with a lot of our governments and agencies to make sure we’re not making any choices that are inappropriate and go against our company’s philosophies. When we are aware we’re making changes… We do stand up for our beliefs and philosophies; they have not changed in over 120 years that we’ve been in business…"
video cred. UFDC
The next activist to ask a question responded to the presenter's answer. “I’m curious as to what changes have been made in your policy because since 2010, GE Aerospace was in the attention of international human rights activists for the LM 2500 gas turbine that was used in Israel’s Sa’ar warship that was used to kill the Gaza Freedom Flotilla activists. That was international members of society that were killed... In 2014, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge, and these engines were used to kill 2,000 civilians. I’m just curious as to what policy changes have been made because it's really important that your technology is used in a way [that is] legitimate for international human rights, so can you please explain that?"
The GE Aerospace information session presenter responded that she appreciated the feedback and that its "something we’ll share...”
“It's a question, not feedback,” said the UFDC member.
The presenter responded, “It’s not something I can answer, unfortunately. It is feedback that I’ll take back to the company and make sure that they’re aware.”
The UFDC member said, “Please do... because there is such a thing as corporate liability. Please let students who want to be involved with your company know there is corporate liability.”
video cred. UFDC
