This petition calls on Cornwall Council Pension Fund (CPF) to immediately terminate all investments in companies that provide components for, or financial services to, the Israeli army. It is deeply concerning that contributions from the council's pension fund goes (indirectly) towards supporting military operations that contribute to what the International Court of Justice has ruled a 'plausible genocide', via investments in companies such as Safran and General Electric. Both companies manufacture military components for the Israeli air force F-35 jets. In addition to this, CPF invests in a number of financial institutions which provide the necessary funding for the Israeli military to carry out its genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine.

As regards Cornwall Council, all council employees pay a portion of their salary into their pension. The council, as their employer, also has to make a significant pension contribution. It is this contribution that comes from your council tax.

Annual Cornwall Council contributions to CPF on behalf of Council workers is over £60 million. This includes over £12.5 million paid by Council employees - which ultimately also comes from council tax payers.

Ensuring ethical investments is a governance responsibility and the CPF committee are acting against their council's Responsible Investment Policy, whilst Cornwall Council looks the other way.

By implementing this request CPF, and Cornwall Council, will align itself more closely with growing numbers of conscientious people in Cornwall and around the world, respected human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and no doubt many pension fund contributors (who have not been fully consulted about these investments). CPF must divest immediately and show its commitment to ending the forced starvation of an entire people and the indiscriminate slaughter of helpless, desperate civilians - including tens of thousands of women and children.

Please sign this petition to help ensure Cornwall Council, and the Pension Fund committee, avoids complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people.

Please also contact your councillor directly to urge them to act now. Councillors who are on the committee of the Cornwall Pension Fund are as follows:

cllr.James.Ball@cornwall.gov.uk 

cllr.Mark.Burnett@cornwall.gov.uk (Vice-chair)

cllr.Debra.Clegg@cornwall.gov.uk

cllr.Cliff.Crawford@cornwall.gov.uk

cllr.Damon.Dennis@cornwall.gov.uk

cllr.Joanna.Kelly@cornwall.gov.uk

cllr.Mike.Thomas@cornwall.gov.uk (Chair)

cllr.Sean.Smith@cornwall.gov.uk

cllr.Steve.Trevelyan@cornwall.gov.uk

A template letter is included here:https://docs.google.com/document/d/112UkOd3IAQxEoyQXov1ogHLuwd31OWfAs_LmenM

A survey for all employees who contribute to the Cornwall Pension fund is available to complete, where you can have your say on your views on the ethics of CPF's investments. It can be found here: https://letstalk.cornwall.gov.uk/cornwall-pension-fund?tool=survey_tool&tool_id=survey-202311#tool_tab

Many thanks.