Cardiff Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) welcomes the motion passed at Cardiff Council meeting on Thursday 17 July (by 57 for, 4 against) on the topic of Gaza and divesting the council’s pension fund from complicity with Israel’s potential genocide and breaches in international law.
This follows today’s submission to the same council meeting of a petition from 1,200 Cardiff residents calling to disinvest from Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians. The petition was sponsored by PSC and the Muslim Council of Wales.
Not a difficult decision, really
As noted by the proposer, Cllr Andrea Gibson (Plaid Cymru, Pentyrch and St Fagans ward) in her summation before the vote, the Council’s decision is in line with public opinion in Cardiff. She said:
Plaid Cymru’s motion to Cardiff City Council today, offers it the opportunity to be the first local authority in Wales to move its pension fund away from investing in companies complicit in war crimes and breaches in international law. This will hopefully speak to all involved in the pension scheme and express a clear view against contributing to harmful practices against Palestinians in Gaza, and is a practical step to advancing ethical public policy in the capital.
Also, across the country, a clear majority now exists which supports a full arms embargo on Israel and a call for selective sanctions on Israeli goods and government representatives.
The motion states, in particular, that Cardiff Council:
Notes the ongoing, deeply concerning and harrowing conflict in Gaza has resulted in significant loss of innocent life…
Believes public sector pension fund investments in Cardiff and across Wales should not fund war crimes, human rights violations, or the potential breaking of international law regardless of how profitable they are…
Agreed to express in strong terms its view that it does not wish to be associated with companies potentially complicit in war crimes in conflicts.
Shocking figures
PSC has identified that Cardiff pension fund invests £117m in 52 companies which are in breach of international law by facilitating genocide and illegal land settlement.
Examples of Cardiff Pension Fund’s current complicit investments include:
- £4.9m in four Israeli banks: Leumi, Hapoalim, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank and Israeli Discount Bank, which finance construction of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.
- £2.3m in the Israeli real estate group, operating on Palestinian land.
- £5.5m in Barclays, which raises billions of pounds to fund weapons.
- £1.1m in Palantir, which is in a “strategic partnership” with Israel’s Ministry of Defense in 2024, providing advanced AI tools to enable attacks on Palestinians.
- £29m in Alphabet, which has been co-developing cloud computing services for the Israeli state and the Israel Defence Force (IDF).
- £3m in BAE Systems, which makes components for combat aircraft, munitions, missile launching kits, and armoured vehicles for the IDF.
The £117m represents a mere 3.7% of the total pension fund investment pot.
Following the passing of this motion, PSC said:
It would expect it to be perfectly feasible to achieve the total divestment of these companies without impacting fiduciary responsibilities to achieve the best returns for pensioners.
It is noted that our research result has come to a larger amount of complicit investment than that reported by the Council’s pension fund committee. Our research is at the disposal of Cardiff Council’s Pension Fund Committee, if it can help with identifying complicit entities.
Cardiff Council ‘to be congratulated’
More and more institutions are taking steps to divest from companies enabling Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians, as a result of grassroots campaigning. This timeline lists a selection of divestment milestones in Britain.
Farooq Toor from the Muslim Council of Wales, submitting the petition to Cardiff Council, said:
The human cost of Israel’s war against Palestinians is immense. It is the greatest human catastrophe of our generation. The international community has failed in its duty to protect Palestinians or to curb Israel’s unchecked aggression.
Clive Haswell, Co-Chair of Cardiff PSC, said:
The Council is to be congratulated today in taking a bold step towards divesting its pension fund from companies collaborating in genocide, ethnic cleansing and land theft – all war crimes or breaches of international law. As we witness, every day, examples of these crimes are being committed against Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied territories. There is no time to waste in applying this new policy to its full extent to bring pressure to bear on complicit companies, and on Israel itself.
Featured image via the Canary
By The Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.