25 signatures reached
To: Derbyshire Pensions and Investments Committee
TELL DERBYSHIRE PENSIONS AND INVESTMENTS COMMITTEE: STOP FUNDING GENOCIDE
We, the undersigned, call on the Derbyshire Pension Fund to divest from companies enabling Israel’s grave violations of Palestinian rights.
Why is this important?
Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip has killed many tens of thousands of Palestinians - almost half of them children and is recognised by experts as genocide. While the ceasefire agreement agreed in October brings immense relief and hope to the people of Gaza that humanitarian aid, food and medical supplies will be resumed the conditions in Gaza are dire. Over 90% of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced, multiple times in fact for many. Israel has destroyed much of Gaza’s life sustaining infrastructure, including hospitals and water sanitation facilities, and left the entire population facing fast-spreading disease and acute starvation.
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.
In July 2024, 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, councils must avoid procuring from or investing the funds they manage, including Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds, 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.
We, the undersigned, call on the Derbyshire Pension and Investments Committee to:
1. Commit to divest the Derbyshire Pension Fund administered by Derbyshire County Council on behalf of Derby City Council and Derby University from the 30 companies worth £37,490,269 complicit in Israel’s genocide, military occupation 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. For the full list of complicit companies invested in by the Council: Search Derbyshire Pension Fund on the LGPS Investment Database.
2. End procurement contracts with companies complicit in Israel’s attacks. For example, terminate all arrangements with Lloyds Banking Group - which provides substantial financing to companies supplying Israel with weapons used in its attacks on Palestinians, and also to companies linked to illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
To make this happen, please sign this petition. Derby Palestine Solidarity Campaign will send it to the Derbyshire Pensions and Investments Committee and the Councillors who sit on that Committee.
To sign this petition, you need to be either:
An individual who lives, studies or works in Derby or Derbyshire.
An organisation in Derby or Derbyshire such as a business, place of worship, trade union branch etc.
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.
In July 2024, 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, councils must avoid procuring from or investing the funds they manage, including Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds, 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.
We, the undersigned, call on the Derbyshire Pension and Investments Committee to:
1. Commit to divest the Derbyshire Pension Fund administered by Derbyshire County Council on behalf of Derby City Council and Derby University from the 30 companies worth £37,490,269 complicit in Israel’s genocide, military occupation 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. For the full list of complicit companies invested in by the Council: Search Derbyshire Pension Fund on the LGPS Investment Database.
2. End procurement contracts with companies complicit in Israel’s attacks. For example, terminate all arrangements with Lloyds Banking Group - which provides substantial financing to companies supplying Israel with weapons used in its attacks on Palestinians, and also to companies linked to illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
To make this happen, please sign this petition. Derby Palestine Solidarity Campaign will send it to the Derbyshire Pensions and Investments Committee and the Councillors who sit on that Committee.
To sign this petition, you need to be either:
An individual who lives, studies or works in Derby or Derbyshire.
An organisation in Derby or Derbyshire such as a business, place of worship, trade union branch etc.
