FRIENDS FIDUCIARY LACKS
I-P INVESTMENT SCREEN
Meetings' funds may support Israel's Occupation!
Friends' Meetings may be
surprised to learn that they are invested in companies that actively support
Israel's military occupation of Palestine. Many Meetings invest through Friends Fiduciary's popular
Consolidated Fund, which has lacked a Palestine-Israel investment screen.
As of September 2011, the
Consolidated Fund held four companies on AFSC's "no-buy" list of
"Companies Sustaining the Israeli Occupation."
Concerned Friends may wish to
ask their Meetings if they want to remain invested in companies that support
the Israeli military. Friends may
contact Friends Fiduciary, asking it to adopt a screen that will assure
Meetings they are not unwittingly supporting violence and repression in the
Middle East.
Without such assurance,
meetings may find themselves forced to consider leaving their traditional
investment partner, the respected Consolidated Fund.
Information follows to help
concerned Friends undertake action:
I. 4 companies held by
FF in 9/2011 (as described on AFSC screen).
II. AFSC's investment screen and
background rationale.
III. The 29 companies now on AFSC's screen.
IV. Examples of Minutes on divestment and
boycott adopted by Friends.
V. Contact information for Friends
Fiduciary and AFSC.
I.
4 COMPANIES HELD BY FF IN 9/11 --
HERE IS THE AFSC P-I SCREEN'S
DESCRIPTION:
CATERPILLAR INC
Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) supplies bulldozers and
earth-moving equipment to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) through the US
Foreign Military Sales program. The company is aware that the IDF uses these
machines to destroy Palestinian homes, orchards and olive groves in the
occupied territories. These are clearly violent acts aimed at civilians. Yet
Caterpillar continues to provide equipment for this purpose. CaterpillarÕs
unmanned weaponized bulldozers were used to clear the way for ground troops in
IsraelÕs 2008-09 assault on the Gaza Strip, which killed more than 1400
Palestinians. The IDF considers these bulldozers such an important part of its
weaponry that it has announced plans to draft civilians to maintain them on the
battlefield. Caterpillar bulldozers and earth-moving equipment are also used to
clear land in the occupied territories for illegal settlements, segregated
roads and the separation wall, which is largely built on property belonging to
Palestinians. The wallÕs route inside the occupied territories was declared
illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2005.
HEWLETT PACKARD
Hewlett
Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) owns Electronic Data Systems, which heads a
consortium providing biometric monitoring of checkpoints, including four built
inside the West Bank in violation of international law (Betunia, Tarqumia,
Qalandia, and Bethlehem checkpoints). HP also supplies printers to the IDF,
which enforces the occupation. The Israeli Navy has chosen HP Israel to
implement the outsourcing of its information technology infrastructure. Under
the project, HP Israel will assume full responsibility for the management and
operation of the NavyÕs IT infrastructure, including computer and
communications centers. With the aid of these communications centers, the
Israeli Navy has attacked ships carrying humanitarian aid to the people of
Gaza. It regularly attacks GazaÕs fishermen within GazaÕs own territorial
waters, and has often shelled civilian areas in the Gaza Strip, killing
Palestinians. A Hewlett Packard subsidiary, HP Invent, is listed among
companies outsourcing IT services to a company called Matrix, which employs
settlers in the illegal settlement of ModiÕin Illit to do much of its IT work
at low wages
VALERO ENERGY CORP
Valero
Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) is one of the major suppliers of fuel to the
Israeli military. It provided much of the jet fuel used in IsraelÕs 2008-09
assault on the Gaza Strip in which more than 1400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis
(10 of them soldiers) were killed.
VEOLIA
ENVIRONMENT
Veolia
(NYSE:VE) operates a waste dump for settlements (Tovlan landfill) on occupied
land near the Jordan River in the northern West Bank through its subsidiary TMM
Onyx. Veolia garbage trucks pick up trash in illegal settlements. Veolia
subsidiary Connex operates buses that serve at least three illegal settlements
in the West Bank. Connex is a central partner in a $500 million light rail
system designed to link Jerusalem to illegal settlements in the occupied West
Bank. This will make the settlements more convenient and less likely to be
moved, as UN resolutions and international law require. Veolia owns 5% of the
consortium building the system, and was awarded a lucrative contract to operate
the system for the next 30 years. VeoliaÕs energy company Dalkia signed an
agreement to provide electricity to the light rail system. In early June, 2009,
after losing $7 billion in contracts due to its involvement with the
occupation, Veolia announced it would withdraw from the light rail project. As
of November, 2010, this had not happened, and the company has indicated it will
remain involved at least through 2012. Veolia remains involved in other
activities supporting the occupation. United Methodist researchers have seen
the Veolia light rail project being built in Jerusalem. (See Report on United
Methodist Corporate Research Trip to the West Bank, 2010 at:
www.unitedmethodistdivestment.com/ReportCorporateResearchTripWestBank2010FinalVersion3.pdf
CONSOLIDATED FUND'S MARKET
VALUE HOLDINGS OF THE FOUR COMPANIES.
(Financial details are found
at the page numbers indicated in the 9/29/11 Holdings Report):
Caterpillar
Inc.
(Page 7) $917,873.25
Hewlett
Packard (Page 10) $258.013.00
Valero
Energy Corp
(Page 17) $326,895.00
Veolia
Environment
(Page 20) $142,009.20
======================================================================
II. AFSC's
Investment Screen and its adoption
The AFSC Board has adopted
a "screen" barring investment in companies that provide products or
services (including financial services) used by Israeli governmental or
military bodies or by Israeli or Palestinian organizations or groups "that are used to facilitate or
undertake violent acts against civilians or violations of international
law."
===============================================
What does AFSCÕs Israel-Palestine Investment Screen say
and what does it target?
On March 8, 2008, AFSCÕs Board approved an affirmative
investment screen specific to Israel-Palestine. The full text of AFSCÕs
investment screen is as follows:
ÒInvestments should not be made in any company that provides
products or services, including financial services, to Israeli governmental or
military bodies that are used to facilitate or undertake violent acts against
civilians or violations of international law, or to Israeli or Palestinian
organizations or groups that are used to facilitate or undertake violent acts
against civilians or violations of international law.
For the purposes of this investment screen this would include
companies that:
1.
Provide products or services that contribute to violent acts
that target either Israeli or Palestinian civilians;
2.
Provide products or services that contribute to the
maintenance of the Israeli military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem;
3.
Provide products or services that contribute to the
maintenance and expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian
territories;
4.
Provide products or services that contribute to the
maintenance and construction of the Separation Wall. Ò
This is a policy designed to prohibit the investment of AFSC
resources in companies that benefit from the Israeli military occupation of the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza, or that are involved in or
facilitate Israeli or Palestinian acts of violence. It is important to note that this
investment screen does not call for a divestment of AFSC resources from the
state of Israel or Israeli products. Rather, this screen
upholds AFSCÕs commitment to ensuring that no AFSC resources are invested in
corporations which profit from actions that violate its organizational
principles. AFSCÕs screen was not designed to single out any one party
but rather to ensure that AFSC investments do not contribute to sustaining
violence. At the same time, we also acknowledge that our investment screen
places a greater level of responsibility on the government of Israel,
recognizing that its continued occupation of the Palestinian territory of the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza, is the principle source of
violence and violations of international law.
This screen is an extension of AFSCÕs ÒSocial Investment Policy
and GuidelinesÓ which prevents investment in companies that produce weapons,
prisons, tobacco, alcohol, and other products of Òlimited or questionable
social valueÓ, as well as companies that engage in questionable or abusive
human rights, labor or environmental practices.
What companies has AFSC screened out of its investment portfolio
as a result of this investment screen and how were they identified?
Following approval of the investment screen by AFSCÕs board, a
staff/board committee developed an implementation plan and Òno-buy listÓ.
After careful consideration the committee decided to use a list of 29 companies
compiled by the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church as the
foundation for a new no-buy list. This list was put together following
extensive research described here
and with assistance from the Who Profits
team associated with the Israel Coalition of Women for
Peace. AFSCÕs list is intended to be a live list that will evolve as time
passes.
http://afsc.org/resource/afscs-israel-palestine-investment-screen-and-tiaa-cref-divestment-campaign#Companies
================================================
Background Statement, 2007:
AFSC committees' decision to adopt an
investment screen
The
Rationale
provided by the National Peacebuilding and International Program Executive
Committees (NPEC and IPEC) includes these "key understandings" to
which they came in this discernment:
Grave
concern has been expressed within NPEC and IPEC about the suffering of
Palestinians under occupation: the demolition of homes and olive orchards, the
roadblocks, "settlers only" roads, the impact of the separation wall,
the loss of access to healthcare and services, and the imbalance of power and
disproportionate use of Israeli military power, heavily supported by the
U.S. Equally deep concern was expressed about the suffering inflicted
upon Israelis by Palestinian suicide bombers and rockets. Both committees
believe that an AFSC policy on this issue should address violence on both sides
of the conflict.
The
proposed investment screen does not question Israel's rights as a sovereign
state. Also, it is different from the boycott of all companies doing
business in South Africa during the period of apartheid. The proposed
policy is narrowly focused to prohibit the investment of AFSC resources in
companies that benefit from the occupation...or in facilitating Israeli or
Palestinian acts of violence.
The
proposed policy is not seen to be a strategy or a tactic designed to affect the
situation in significant ways, though we are very clear that AFSC should be
actively applying resources to helping to build a just peace in the area.
This proposal arises from a deeper leading. Committee members and staff
at the joint meeting spoke passionately about the issue of conscience,
recounting how abolitionist John Woolman refused to engage in any business that
profited from the slave trade, while he also initiated dialogue with slave
owners.
We
were united in the understanding that where AFSC puts its resources is a matter
of conscience. To invest in companies which are profiting from the
violence occurring daily in Israel and Palestine is abhorrent, and is contrary
to all that we know to be true and right.
http://www.quakerpi.org/news/AFSC%20INV%20SCRN.htm
======================================================
III. AFSC's Investment Screen
Companies Sustaining
the Israeli Occupation
excerpts by QPI*
ALLIANT TECH SYSTEMS
Alliant Techsystems is engaged with an Israeli company in the
production of rubber-coated bullets. Such bullets are frequently used against
Palestinians, as well as Israeli and international peace activists engaged in
peaceful demonstrations to protest IsraelÕs confiscation of Palestinian
land. Rubber bullets often blind,
disfigure or kill those who are hit by them...
BOEING
Boeing has been a major supplier of the F15 Eagle and the AH64 Apache attack
helicopter to Israel. These aircraft have been used to attack Palestinians in
the occupied territories, resulting in many civilian casualties.
CATERPILLAR INC
Caterpillar supplies bulldozers and earth-moving equipment to the
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) through the US Foreign Military Sales program. The
company is aware that the IDF uses these machines to destroy Palestinian homes,
orchards and olive groves in the occupied territories. These are clearly
violent acts aimed at civilians.
CELLCOM ISRAEL
Cellcom Israel erected close to two hundred antennas and
telecommunication infrastructure facilities on occupied land in the West Bank
and the Golan Heights. ... The company provides cellular communication services
to the illegal settlers and to Israeli soldiers in the occupied territory.
CEMEX
...Readymix has provided concrete elements for construction of the
wall and other occupation infrastructure in the West Bank.
CRH (CEMENT ROADSTONE HOLDINGS)
...claims on its web site to be IsraelÕs sole producer of cement.
Cement is being used in the construction of the Separation Wall inside the West
Bank, which the International Court of Justice has ruled illegal. Cement is
also used to build illegal settlements on Palestinian land.
ELBIT SYSTEMS LTD.
Elbit Systems is an international defense electronics company
headquartered in Israel. It is a major supplier to the Israeli military (IDF),
which is enforcing the occupation of Palestinian land
FORMULA SYSTEMS LTD.
Formula Systems is a global information technology (IT) solutions and
services company based in Israel....which outsources information technology
services for its client companies to settlers at the illegal settlement of
ModiÕin Illit in the West Bank.
GENERAL DYNAMICS
General Dynamics subsidiary General Dynamics Land Systems
manufactures the GD 883 diesel engine for IsraelÕs Merkava 4 battle tanks...
GENERAL ELECTRIC CO
General Electric supplies the propulsion systems for IsraelÕs AH
64 Apache Assault Helicopters, which have been used in Israeli attacks on
Palestinian towns and refugee camps...
GLOBECOMM SYSTEMS INC (GSI)
Globecomm of New York, in partnership with Tadiran... supplies the
Israeli military (IDF) with equipment and facilities for communication between
all branches of the IDF ground forces.
HEIDELBERG
CEMENT AG
...The company's subsidiary, Hanson Israel, manufactures
ready-made cement, aggregates and asphalt used in Israel's construction of
illegal settlements and other physical structures of the occupation.
HEWLETT PACKARD
Hewlett Packard Company owns Electronic Data Systems, which heads
a consortium providing biometric monitoring of checkpoints, including four
built inside the West Bank in violation of international law ...HP Israel will
assume full responsibility for the management and operation of the NavyÕs ...
communications centers. With the aid of these communications centers, the
Israeli Navy has attacked ships carrying humanitarian aid to the people of
Gaza. It regularly attacks GazaÕs fishermen within GazaÕs own territorial
waters...
ICX TECHNOLOGIES
ICX Technologies
makes surveillance radar... used in IsraelÕs illegal settlements
INGERSOLL RAND
Ingersoll Rand subsidiary Recognition Systems ...manufactures
biometric access control equipment... applied only to Palestinians, and not to
others who use these checkpoints. This means that it is part of a
discriminatory system installed in checkpoints built illegally on Palestinian
land.
ITT CORPORATION
ITT Corporation provides the Israeli military with intensifier
tubes for night vision goggles.
LOCKHEED MARTIN
Lockheed Martin is the single biggest overseas supplier for the
Israeli armaments industry. ...
MAGAL SECURITY SYSTEMS
Magal Security Systems is an Israeli company that provides
intrusion detection fencing for the separation wall.
MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS
Motorola Solutions Inc. In 2010 Motorola INC Com split into two
entities, Motorola Solutions Inc.
and Motorola Mobility Inc.
Motorola Solutions Inc. is the company that continues to provide
products and services to the Israeli military and illegal settlements.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
Northrop Grumman collaborates with Lockheed Martin in producing
the Israeli F16I Sufa (ÔStormÕ) aircraft
ON TRACK INNOVATIONS
On Track Innovations an Israeli company, has developed the Basel
System, which uses two biometric sensors to read the facial dimensions and hand
geometry of Palestinians crossing through the Erez checkpoint. It is part of a
consortium headed by Electronic Data Systems (a Hewlett-Packard company...
OSHKOSH TRUCK COMPANY
Oshkosh Truck Company through contracts worth hundreds of millions
of dollars, supplies mobility tactical trucks to the
Israeli Military.
RAYTHEON
Raytheon is a major arms contractor to the Israeli military. It supplies
Patriot, Sparrow, Sidewinder, Maverick and TOW missiles.
SILICON GRAPHICS
Silicon Graphics has a contract to provide Israeli Air Force F15
pilots with visual system training.
TEREX CORP
Terex Corporation owns Amida Industries, which manufactures mobile
floodlight towers used by the Israeli Army in the occupied territories
UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
United Technologies produces Blackhawk
helicopters which are used by the Israeli military to attack Palestinian
cities, refugee camps and villages.
VALERO ENERGY CORP
Valero Energy
Corporation is one of the major suppliers of fuel to the Israeli military.
VEOLIA ENVIRONMENT
Veolia operates
a waste dump for settlements (Tovlan landfill) on occupied land near the Jordan
River in the northern West Bank through its subsidiary TMM Onyx. Veolia garbage
trucks pick up trash in illegal settlements. Veolia subsidiary Connex operates
buses that serve at least three illegal settlements in the West Bank. Connex is
a central partner in a $500 million light rail system designed to link
Jerusalem to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
VOLVO
Volvo bulldozers have been photographed and videotaped destroying Palestinian
homes
*For
the unabridged entries, see QuakerPI.org: Quaker Action: AFSC Screen.
======================================================================
IV. Examples of Minutes on Divestment and Boycott
Adopted by Friends
Ann Arbor Friends Meeting
Minute 7-5:
7/17/11
The Ann Arbor
Friends Meeting recognizes the complex international dynamics that feed the
current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, creating fear on both sides and putting
both Palestinians and Israelis at risk. We are concerned about the safety and
well-being of all affected by this
conflict. We wish to ally ourselves with those in Israel and Palestine working
to bring peace.
We believe that
one key step towards stability and safety for both Israelis and Palestinians
depends on a just agreement regarding the Palestinian lands that Israel has
occupied, illegally, according to international law, since 1967. Successive
U.S. governments have generously supported Israeli military occupation of these
lands, and have turned a blind eye to illegal tax exemptions for U.S.
charitable organizations that support Israeli settlements.
We urge our government to exhibit equal concern for
the well-being of both Palestinian and Israeli people by:
¬ Supporting
a United Nations resolution recognizing a Palestinian state
¬ Withholding
U.S. tax dollars that support the Israeli military
¬
Enforcing U.S. tax law regarding charitable organizations that
support Israeli settlements
We also urge Friends worldwide to unite with Britain
Yearly Meeting in its call to boycott products made in Israeli settlements,
Ònot as punishment or revenge, but as an external pressure to achieve change.Ó
With Britain Yearly Meeting, Ann Arbor Friends Meeting
considers that Òwe should now act publicly, and, well-informed, be able to
explain our action to others,Ó in order to Ògive hope to Palestinians and
support to those in Israel who are working for peace.Ó We agree with Britain
Yearly Meeting that Òin the face of the armed oppression of poor people and the
increasing encroachment of the illegal settlements in the West Bank, we cannot
do nothing.Ó We too are clear that it would be wrong to support the Israeli
settlements by purchasing their goods.
In order to exert more than symbolic pressure on the Israeli government
to negotiate a just peace at this critical time, Ann Arbor Friends Meeting
joins with religious and civil society organizations throughout the world in a boycott of corporations that support the Israeli
military.
=======
Sandy Spring Friends Meeting
Minute adopted by Sandy Spring (MD)
Peace Committee, 8/21/11
Scheduled for consideration by SSFM
at 2nd reading on 11/6/11
Sandy Spring Friends Meeting in a spirit of compassion for both
the Palestinian and Israeli people has felt led to take non-violent action with
respect to the Government of IsraelÕs illegal occupation of the Palestinian
territories.
We are in unity with the American Friends Service Committee Board
of Directors which at is meeting June 10-12, 2011 decided to join the campaign
led by Jewish Voice for Peace asking TIAA-CREF to divest from companies that
support and profit from the occupation.
In its minute the AFSC stated:
The AFSC Board's decision to join the TIAA-CREF divestment
campaign is rooted in our Quaker beliefs that we speak with love to "that
of God" in every person, that we "utterly deny all outward wars and
strife and fighting with outward weapons for any end or under any pretense whatsoever",
and that we testify to this by removing the "seeds of conflict"- including economic
seeds -from our own lives. This decision is a response to behavior that
violates human rights and international law, but is neither a rejection of the
State of Israel nor a dismissal of the fears and concerns of our Israeli
brothers and sisters.
Sandy Spring Friends Meeting is also not comfortable investing in
companies that enforce, support and profit from the occupation. Our Meeting has a significant portion of
its reserves invested in Friends FiduciaryÕs Consolidated Fund. In deciding on investments for
the Consolidated Fund we appreciate that Friends Fiduciary is guided by
its principles of Socially Responsible Investing. Consistent with those principles, the Meeting asks Friends
Fiduciary to not invest in
companies that help enforce, maintain and profit from the Israeli occupation of
the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
We look forward
to dialogue with Friends Fiduciary on this matter. We are hopeful that Baltimore Yearly Meeting and its monthly
meetings and Friends everywhere will join us in this appeal.
====================================================
V. How to contact Friends Fiduciary and
AFSC
Richard B. Kent, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
Friends Fiduciary Corporation
215-241-7272 ext. 104
<rkent@friendsfiduciary.org>
Michael Merryman-Lotze, AFSC
Israel-Palestine Program
Director
Policy, Advocacy and
Education, Program Director
AFSC International Programs
1501 Cherry Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: 215-241-7162; Fax:
215-241-7026
<MMerryman-Lotze@afsc.org>