Pension Pounds for Complicit Companies
Wandsworth Council's Local Government Pension Scheme holds nearly £32m of investments in companies that are complicit in Israel's genocidal occupation of Palestine1. These companies -- including Airbus, HSBC, AXA, BAE Systems, Barclays, and Motorola -- profit from the sale of arms, chemical weapons, security technologies and stolen land which enable Israel to maintain its power as an an apartheid, colonialist state.
As residents, workers, students and organisations in the boroughs of Wandsworth and Richmond, we call on Wandsworth Council to divest the Wandsworth Pension Fund and wider Council investments from companies complicit in Israel's genocidal occupation of Palestine.
Unethical Investments
Wandsworth Council claims to have an ethical investment policy:
"The investment managers, acting in the best financial interests of the Fund, are expected to consider, amongst other factors, the effects of social, environmental, and ethical issues on the performance of a company when considering the acquisition, retention or realisation of investments for the Fund."
Current investments in the companies listed above reveal a complete disregard for the well-evidenced human rights violations by Israel against Palestinians which Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch describe as the crime of 'apartheid': Amnesty International's 2022 investigation shows that Israel imposes a system of oppression and domination against Palestinians across all areas under its control2. Recently, the International Court of Justice has found a 'plausible' case for genocide in Gaza and has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for committing "war crimes and crimes against humanity."3
The Council is clearly not meeting the ethical standards outlined in their own investment policy. Wandsworth Council must immediately end their unethical investments in companies which are actively facilitating the genocidal war being waged against Palestinians. Divestment from complicit companies is an urgent issue for the Council to attend to.
What You Can Do
- Sign this petition
- Write to your councillor
- Get involved with our campaigns in Wandsworth and Richmond via social media
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1) As of December 2023. The Wandsworth Pension Fund incorporates Richmond Council's Pension Fund.
2) "Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity", Amnesty International (February 2022)
3) Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in the State of Palestine, International Criminal Court (May 2024)