Research published by Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has uncovered the Essex County Council Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) has over £15.8m invested in a range of companies complicit in Israel’s grave breaches of international law and Palestinian human rights. 

We call on the administrators of the Essex CC LGPS to take immediate action to:

• Implement strict investment screening and due diligence procedures to ensure scheme members money isn’t being invested in companies complicit in Israel’s violations of international law. Beginning by ensuring that the fund does not invest in any company identified by the UN Human Rights Office as active in Israel’s illegal settlements.
• Call for a robust investment strategy statement/statement of investment principles, to ensure that your pension fund cannot be invested in companies that contribute to a breach of international law or are complicit in human rights abuses.

Israel is engaged in grave violations of Palestinian human rights and international law. This includes the military occupation and settlement of Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as affirmed by the UN Security Council, and the UK government; the inhumane land, sea and air blockade on Gaza, deemed a flagrant violation of international human rights and humanitarian law by UN experts; the denial of the fundamental human right of dispossessed Palestinian refugees to return to the land from which they, or their family members, were expelled, in violation of UN Resolution 194.

Why is this important?

Israel can only maintain its grave violations of Palestinian human rights because of products, equipment and services it receives from a range of complicit companies. These companies are complicit through:

• Supplying the Israeli military with weapons and other technology used to oppress Palestinians.
• Providing technology and equipment used to maintain Israel’s infrastructure of military occupation, such as its checkpoints and the apartheid wall.
• Investment and other activity in Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, based on stolen Palestinian land.

Key complicit investments:

• Booking.com - £13,930,879
  • Researchers have found numerous Booking.com rental listings in illegal Israeli settlements, on stolen Palestinian land. It was included in the UN OHCHR’s list of businesses active in illegal Israeli settlements based on stolen Palestinian land.
• Alstom - £587
  • Alstom is involved in the construction and operation of the Jerusalem Light Rail project, which contravenes international law since it solidifies Israel’s grip on occupied Palestinian land, including East Jerusalem. It was included on the United Nations OHCHR’s list of business enterprises active in Israel’s illegal settlements, based on stolen Palestinian land.
• Bank Hapoalim BM - £225,515
  • BM is partnered with multiple construction projects in Israel’s illegal settlements – including two in Efrat and one in Betar Illit. It was included in the UN OHCHR’s list of companies active in illegal Israeli settlements, based on stolen Palestinian land.
• Bezeq - £25,989
  • Has developed an extensive telecommunications infrastructure in the occupied West Bank to provide services to illegal settlements. Bezeq pays licensing fees in order to install antennas in many illegal settlements including so-called outposts, which are illegal even under Israeli law.
• Expedia - £594,475
  • Expedia contains a number of listings of properties in illegal Israeli settlements in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It is on the UN OHCHR’s list of companies active in illegal Israeli settlements, based on stolen Palestinian land.
• Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd - £64,720
  • Mizrahi Tefahot Bank funds construction projects in occupied Palestinian territories, aiding Israel’s illegal settlement construction. The bank has been included on the UN OHCHR’s list of companies involved in Israel’s illegal settlement economy.
• Motorola - £742,074
  • Motorola’s equipment is used by the Israeli military, police, and prison service. It was listed in the UN OHCHR’s list of business enterprises active in Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank.

A detailed list of these investments can be found at LGPS Investments - LGPS Divest : https://lgpsdivest.org. You can see the Essex Pension Fund investments by choosing their name in the drop down menu.