Research by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has shown that Cardiff Council invests £111 million in companies complicit in breaches of international law, for example Elbit Systems - Israel's biggest arms company, BAE Systems, Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Barclays Bank. We demand an end to all complicit investments, and in the coming weeks we will be taking our campaign to the council and its Pensions Committee. We need our Councillors to know that this campaign is important to residents and workers in Cardiff - please sign our petition.
We the undersigned petition Cardiff City Council to:
1. Divest all funds administered by the Council, including Local Government Pension Scheme funds managed by the Welsh Pooled Pension Partnership Scheme, 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.
2. 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.
In January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world court, ruled that there is plausible evidence Israel is committing genocidal acts against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In July, the ICJ issued an advisory opinion ruling that Israel's military occupation 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. Cardiff City Council must choose to distance itself from Israel's criminality, and ensure it complies fully with international obligations.
