Brent Council's Local Government Pension Fund invests money on behalf of council workers, school support workers and many others.
Few know that some of the companies that the Fund invests in play an active part in the oppression of Palestinians by the Israeli Government.
The Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity campaign urge members of the fund in particular, to write to the Chair of the Pension Fund Committee, Cllr Shafique Choudhary, requesting that the Committee divest from these funds on humanitarian and ethical grounds. Model letters, trade union model motion and further information HERE.
In April 2020 Palestine Solidarity Campaign defeated the UK government in the Supreme Court, overturning guidance that advised LGPS funds against taking ethical investment decisions that contravened UK government foreign policy, restricting the ability of funds to remove investments from companies complicit in Israel’s violations of international law and Palestinian human rights.
Israel can only maintain its grave breaches of international law and Palestinian human rights because of products, equipment and services it receives from a range of companies and financial institutions. These companies either supply the Israeli military, provide technology and equipment for Israel’s infrastructure of military occupation, or are active in illegal Israeli settlements, based on stolen Palestinian land.
LGPS funds invest in two ways. Directly by holding shares in specific companies, and indirectly through investment funds, which holds shares on their behalf.
This database produced by Palestine Solidarity Campaign lists the investments of 55 LGPS funds in companies that aid Israel’s breaches of international law. It contains a mixture of direct investments, and investments through funds.
The investments listed below are indicative of the widespread complicity of all LGPS funds. Through our research we have found that the LGPS invests over £4.4bn billions in a range of complicit companies.
We found 85% of funds we analysed invest in companies listed in the UN Human Rights Office’s list of enterprises active in Israel’s illegal settlements based on stolen Palestinian land. Given the rigorous engagement the UN OHCHR has undertaken with these companies, this provides a starting point for campaigning.
Companies on the UN Human Rights Office’s list of companies active in illegal Israeli settlements are marked with an asterisk. While the list is not exhaustive, it provides a good place to begin campaigning, as the UN OHCHR has undertaken rigorous engagement with these companies.
BRENT COUNCIL’S INVESTMENTS
Babcock International £82,194
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According to CAAT, “Babcock International is the world’s 26th largest arms-producing/military services company, with 59% of its turnover being military. Babcock applied for arms export licences to Israel in 2010 and 2012 (see Note below) and has relationships with Israeli arms companies: along with partner Lockheed Martin it has selected a consortium of Elbit Systems and KBR as preferred bidder to replace the bulk of the programme’s training aircraft (Defense News, 24.10.2014); it has collaborated with Rafael on a torpedo decoy for submarines (Torbuster), which it exhibited at the DSEi 2011 arms fair (Rafael website).”
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BAE Systems £792,952 |
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According to CAAT, “BAE Systems is the world’s fourth largest arms producer. Its portfolio includes fighter aircraft, warships, tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery, missiles and small arms ammunition. It has military customers in over 100 countries. BAE has a workshare agreement with Lockheed Martin producing the US F-35 stealth combat aircraft. Israel, for example, took delivery of its first F-35 in 2016. According to Investigate, a project by the American Friends Service Committee, BAE has worked in cooperation with Lockheed Martin and Rafael to produce and market the naval Protector drone used to maintain the siege of Gaza along the Mediterranean coast.
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Barclays £1,009,163 |
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Barclays is a British multinational bank and financial services company. Barclays hold approximately £1,167.6 million of investments in companies that are known to supply the Israeli military. This includes Babcock, BAE and Boeing, Cobham and Rolls Royce. More information available in War on Want’s 2017 ‘Deadly Investments’ report.
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Chemring Group PLC £39,362 |
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Chemring’s military sales account for around 90% of its total sales and it ranks 68th in the top 100 arms-producing companies in the world.” It has supplied weaponry to Israel.
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G4S £93,450 |
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G4S is a British security company that helps Israel run prisons where Palestinian political prisoners are held without trial and subjected to torture and ill-treatment. G4S is also involved in providing equipment and services to Israeli military checkpoints, illegal settlements and to military and police buildings. The international Stop G4S Campaign has cost the company contracts worth millions of dollars and compelled the Bill Gates Foundation to sell its shares in G4S. In response to international pressure, G4S has announced that it may sell its Israeli operations. |
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HSBC £3,912,287 |
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HSBC invests over £830million in, and provides financial services worth up to £19billion for, companies arming Israel. These investments include up to £100million worth of shares in the company Caterpillar, who supply the Israeli army with bulldozers which are weaponised and used to demolish Palestinian communities, build Israel’s illegal settlements and apartheid infrastructure including the apartheid wall and military checkpoints. For more info: https://www.palestinecampaign.org/campaigns/stop-arming-israel/
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Meggitt £116,061 |
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Meggitt is a UK headquartered manufacturing company. It has supplied air data systems found in gunships of Apache attack helicopters. These helicopters played a prominent role in Israel’s 2006 Invasion of Southern Lebanon, which killed nearly 2000 civilians. To this day, the helicopters are used to patrol the skies of besieged Gaza, conducting strikes against Israeli targets.
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QinetiQ £86,802 |
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QinetiQ is the 6th largest UK Arms trade having been privatised from the MoD in 2001. According to CAAT they are “experts in defence, aerospace and security” (QinetiQ) including being a “world leading” supplier of military robotics”. They have received a number of export licenses to Israel. Jointly with the Israeli Aerospace Industries they manufactured SAHAR – an autonomous robotic route clearance system, which functions include environmental terrain mapping, surveillance, removal of road blocks and disposal of IEDs. In 2005 Elbit set up a joint venture company in the UK with Thales, UAV Tactical Systems Ltd (U-TacS), developing the British Army Watchkeeper WK450. On December 7, 2007, it was announced that QinetiQ will join the programme as a sub-contractor to provide testing services at ParcAberporth, West Wales. Watchkeeper drones are claimed to have been “tested on Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
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Rolls Royce £256,879 |
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Rolls-Royce is a British manufacturer that produces military aircraft engines, naval engines and cores for nuclear submarines. Despite arms comprising only 26% of its total sales, it is still the world’s 17th largest Arms trade. In 2014, the year of Israel’s arial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza, which killed over 2,200 civilians, nearly a quarter of them children, Rolls-Royce was granted export licenses for engines for military aircrafts to Israel.
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Serco £97,476 |
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Serco Australia Defence will provide maintenance and technical support for Rafael-produced Typhoon and Mini-Typhoon remote weapon stations and the Toplite electro-optical surveillance, observation, and targeting system
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Smiths Group £286,753 |
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According to CAAT “Smiths Group is a global technology company with five divisions: John Crane, Smiths Medical, Smiths Detection, Smiths Interconnect and Flex-Tek. Smiths Connectors is part of Smiths Interconnect and comprises Hypertac, IDI and Sabritec brands. Products include connectors used in fighting vehicles, unmanned vehicles and avionics systems.” They have applied for a number of military export lisences to Israel.
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Ultra Electronics £72,717 |
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According to CAAT “Ultra Electronics is listed by SIPRI as being the world’s 95th largest Arms trade, with military equipment comprising 61% of its sales. The company “manages a wide range of specialist capabilities, generating highly-differentiated solutions and products in the Defence & Aerospace, Security & Cyber, Transport and Energy markets.”(company website)” They work jointly with Israeli owned arms manufacturer Rafael, and have applied for numerous military export licenses to Israel. |
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