We, the undersigned, call on the Barking & Dagenham council to divest the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund it administers from companies enabling Israel’s grave violations of Palestinian rights.

Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip has killed many tens, if not hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Over 90% of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced, most multiple times. Israel has destroyed much of Gaza’s life sustaining infrastructure, including hospitals and water sanitation facilities, and left the entire population facing famine.

In January last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world court, handed down an interim ruling affirming there is plausible evidence Israel is committing genocidal acts against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. As a State Party to the Genocide Convention, the UK has a binding obligation to employ all means reasonably available to prevent and deter further genocidal acts.

Last July, the ICJ issued a further advisory opinion ruling that Israel's military occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is unlawful and must end, and that Israel is in breach of the international prohibition on the crime of apartheid. The court affirmed that all states are under an obligation not to render aid or assistance to this unlawful situation.

Stemming from these obligations, councils must avoid procuring from or investing the funds they manage, including Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds, in companies that facilitate Israel's breaches of international law. This includes: companies producing weapons and military technology used by Israel in its attacks on Palestinians; financial institutions providing investment and loans to these arms companies; and companies conducting business activity in Israel’s illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.

We, the undersigned, call on the Council to:

1. Commit to divest the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund administered by the council from companies complicit in Israel’s genocide, military occupation apartheid against Palestinians. This includes arms companies supplying Israel with weapons and military technology; companies providing infrastructure for Israel’s unlawful military occupation of Palestinian land; and companies conducting business activity in Israel’s illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land as defined by the UNOHRC A/HRC/59/23​, Who Profits, and AFSC Investigate lists of complicit firms.
2. End procurement contracts with companies complicit in Israel’s attacks. For example, terminate all banking arrangements with Barclays, which provides substantial financing to companies supplying Israel with weapons used in its attacks on Palestinians.
3. Call on the London CIV to adopt a fully legal, ethical and responsible investment policy appropriate to state and international obligations and to meaningfully implement it by immediately divesting from companies directly or indirectly involved in human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories and elsewhere as defined by the UNOHRC A/HRC/59/23​, Who Profits, and AFSC Investigate lists of complicit firms.
4. Commit to using their decision-making power at the London CIV (and any other asset managers) to publicly demand this.