100 signatures reached
To: Surrey County Council
Calling all Surrey Pension Fund members – add your name to demand ethical investment
This 15th May, on Nakba day - a day marking the ongoing displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people since 1948 - we are launching an open letter calling on the Surrey Pension Fund Committee to divest from companies complicit in Israel's grave violations of Palestinian rights.
Our pensions should not be used to support injustice or human suffering. As members of the Surrey Pension Fund, we have a right and a responsibility to demand ethical investment choices that uphold international law and human rights.
Take a stand against genocide, against injustice, and for a just world. Stand in solidarity with Palestine, and sign the letter today.
Why is this important?
Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip has killed many tens, if not hundreds of thousands of Palestinians - almost half of them children. 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 2024 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 of the crime of apartheid. The court affirmed that all states are under an obligation not to render aid or assistance to this unlawful situation.
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 of 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, Surrey Council must avoid investing our deferred wages 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. Research by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has identified that £151,523,055 of Surrey’s Pension Fund are invested in these types of companies.
As members of the Surrey Pension Fund, we are appalled to know that our pensions - our deferred wages - are being used to support companies complicit in the ongoing atrocities committed against the Palestinian people. This is not only a moral outrage but a violation of our values and of international legal obligations that the UK is bound to uphold. We therefore urge the Surrey Pension Fund Committee to take immediate and transparent action to divest from all companies enabling Israel’s grave breaches of international law. Anything less makes Surrey County Council complicit in this injustice. We demand our money be used to support peace, justice, and human rights- not war and apartheid.
We, the undersigned members of Surrey Pension Fund, call on the Surrey Pension Fund Committee to commit to divest the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund it administers from companies enabling Israel’s grave violations of Palestinian rights, including arms companies supplying Israel with weapons used in its attacks on Palestinians.
As members of the Surrey Pension Fund, we are appalled to know that our pensions - our deferred wages - are being used to support companies complicit in the ongoing atrocities committed against the Palestinian people. This is not only a moral outrage but a violation of our values and of international legal obligations that the UK is bound to uphold. We therefore urge the Surrey Pension Fund Committee to take immediate and transparent action to divest from all companies enabling Israel’s grave breaches of international law. Anything less makes Surrey County Council complicit in this injustice. We demand our money be used to support peace, justice, and human rights- not war and apartheid.
We, the undersigned members of Surrey Pension Fund, call on the Surrey Pension Fund Committee to commit to divest the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund it administers from companies enabling Israel’s grave violations of Palestinian rights, including arms companies supplying Israel with weapons used in its attacks on Palestinians.
