Norfolk County Council - Divest From Apartheid Against Palestinians Now!
The Issue
As local citizens, voters and taxpayers, we are deeply concerned to learn that Norfolk's Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) invests a shocking £69,007,3551 in companies who are enabling Israel's unlawful occupation and system of violence and apartheid against Palestinians. These figures were revealed by PSC research in July 2022 [1] [2].
These complicit companies include:
- Caterpillar, whose equipment is being used to illegaly demolish Palestinian homes in Masafer Yatta right now[3] [4];
- Boeing, who made arms deals with the Israeli Defence Forces during their assault on the blockaded Gaza Strip in May 2021, murdering 256 and wounding 2000 people[5];
- and Safran, which has supplied the same militarised police force that murdered US journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while she was reporting in May 2022[6].
Our public service workers deserve decent pensions; so why are their hard-earned contributions are being put at financial, reputational and legal risk at the expense of some of the most vulnerable people in the world?
Instead, we and our councillors should show them solidarity and divest, supported nationally by unions UNISON, Unite and GMB. In fact, it is our right to do so, as the Supreme Court ruled in April 2020 [7].
We demand that our elected representatives on the Norfolk Pensions Committee take immediate action to honour their ethical investment policy and:
1) Divest LGPS funds from complicit companies and choose new investments which make a positive social and environmental impact
2) Implement strict investment screening and due diligence procedures to ensure no new investments in any company active in Israel’s illegal settlements, including those identified by the UN Human Rights Office
3) Make ethical use of the financial muscle the fund holds, to persuade companies engaged in violations of human rights to stop and if companies do not respond to this engagement and continue to aid violations of human rights, use divestment to set ethical red lines
SIGN NOW to demand divestment from apartheid!
BRING A MOTION to your TRADE UNION BRANCH using our template:
Sources:
[1] For the full list of companies see: https://lgpsdivest.org/lgps-investments/
[2] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/
The Issue
As local citizens, voters and taxpayers, we are deeply concerned to learn that Norfolk's Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) invests a shocking £69,007,3551 in companies who are enabling Israel's unlawful occupation and system of violence and apartheid against Palestinians. These figures were revealed by PSC research in July 2022 [1] [2].
These complicit companies include:
- Caterpillar, whose equipment is being used to illegaly demolish Palestinian homes in Masafer Yatta right now[3] [4];
- Boeing, who made arms deals with the Israeli Defence Forces during their assault on the blockaded Gaza Strip in May 2021, murdering 256 and wounding 2000 people[5];
- and Safran, which has supplied the same militarised police force that murdered US journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while she was reporting in May 2022[6].
Our public service workers deserve decent pensions; so why are their hard-earned contributions are being put at financial, reputational and legal risk at the expense of some of the most vulnerable people in the world?
Instead, we and our councillors should show them solidarity and divest, supported nationally by unions UNISON, Unite and GMB. In fact, it is our right to do so, as the Supreme Court ruled in April 2020 [7].
We demand that our elected representatives on the Norfolk Pensions Committee take immediate action to honour their ethical investment policy and:
1) Divest LGPS funds from complicit companies and choose new investments which make a positive social and environmental impact
2) Implement strict investment screening and due diligence procedures to ensure no new investments in any company active in Israel’s illegal settlements, including those identified by the UN Human Rights Office
3) Make ethical use of the financial muscle the fund holds, to persuade companies engaged in violations of human rights to stop and if companies do not respond to this engagement and continue to aid violations of human rights, use divestment to set ethical red lines
SIGN NOW to demand divestment from apartheid!
BRING A MOTION to your TRADE UNION BRANCH using our template:
Sources:
[1] For the full list of companies see: https://lgpsdivest.org/lgps-investments/
[2] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/
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Petition created on 2 July 2022