100 signatures reached
To: Chair of Northamptonshire Pensions Fund Committee, Leader of West Northamptonshire Council, Leader of North Northamptonshire Council
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE - STAND AGAINST GENOCIDE AND UPHOLD INTERNATIONAL LAW
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We the undersigned, *who are residents, workers and students in Northamptonshire, call upon West Northamptonshire Council, North Northamptonshire Council and Northamptonshire Local Government Pension Scheme to:
- Divest all funds administered by the Council, including Local Government Pension Scheme funds, from companies complicit in Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians. This includes arms companies supplying Israel with weapons and military technology; companies providing infrastructure for Israel’s unlawful military occupation of Palestinian land; and companies conducting business activity in Israel’s illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land.
- Commit to end procurement contracts with companies complicit in Israel’s attacks. For example, end all banking arrangements with Barclays, which provides substantial financing to companies supplying Israel with weapons used in its attacks on Palestinians.
Explanatory text
In January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world court, handed down an interim ruling affirming there is plausible evidence that Israel is committing genocidal acts against the Palestinian people 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.
In June 2024, experts at the United Nations (UN) issued a statement demanding that both states and companies stop all arms transfers to Israel. In issuing their call, they stated that financial institutions, such as banks and pension funds, must cease investing in companies which supply arms to Israel, adding that “failure to prevent or mitigate their business relationships with these arms manufacturers transferring arms to Israel could move from being directly linked to human rights abuses to contributing to them, with repercussions for complicity in potential atrocity crimes.”
In line with the obligation under the Genocide Convention, Northamptonshire councils and the Local Government Pension Fund must heed this call.
Therefore, we demand that Northamptonshire Local Government Pension Scheme immediately divests from arms and technology companies which are complicit in Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people and the ongoing genocide (such as ABB, Airbus, Boeing, Hewlett Packard, L3 Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Rockwell Automation, Rolls Royce, Siemens, Sony, Thales, Valero Energy); from financial institutions which invest in such arms companies (such as HSBC, Barclays, BNP Paribas); and any company which operates out of stolen Palestinian land (such as Bank Leumi Le-Israel, Bank Hapoalim, AirBnB, Cisco Systems, Coca Cola, L'Oreal).
As at 30 June 2024 the published list of Northamptonshire Pension Fund Investment Holdings indicated that almost £11.4 million is invested in the above companies.
*To be eligible to sign this petition, you must live, work or study in Northamptonshire.
*To be eligible to sign this petition, you must live, work or study in Northamptonshire.
Why is this important?
Legal and Moral Responsibility:
Failure to divest may implicate the Council in violations of international law and complicity in crimes against humanity, as established by the International Court.
Failure to divest may implicate the Council in violations of international law and complicity in crimes against humanity, as established by the International Court.
How it will be delivered
The petition will be delivered to the Councils and Pensions Committee, electronically and in paper.
