SAIA to Carleton: Divest from the occupation!
Worldwide Activism, Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, January 30th, 2010
This week, Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) Carleton launched a divestment campaign targeting firms supporting the Israeli military and settlement operations.
The Carleton University Pension Fund is invested in five companies that are complicit in human rights violations and crimes under international law in the West Bank and Gaza - Motorola, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, L-3 Communications, and Tesco supermarkets. As such, SAIA is calling upon Carleton University to divest from these companies, and implement a Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) policy.
SAIA has also demanded that Carleton University refrain from investing in other companies involved in violations of international law. Furthermore, in order to prevent similar investments in the future, SAIA is calling on the university to work with the entire university community to develop, adopt, and implement a broader policy of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) for its Pension Fund and other investments.
During the waning years of the apartheid regime in South Africa, students groups at Carleton were key in forcing the university to divest after the administrative foot-dragging. SAIA hopes that student pressure can again ensure that Carleton does not invest in companies that profit from human rights abuses.
To read more about the campaign, visit SAIA’s campaign page.
To read SAIA’s 36-page briefing on the investments and relevant mechanisms for divestment, download the document
