LETTER: Readers please support my letter to councillors on 'Divest for Palestine'

 

Credit: Middle East Eye

 

Dear Editor,

 

Could you please publish the letter below. I really need Wembley Matters readers who support to it to  add their name to the letter and it's so simple, just email me  (zerinetata@hotmail.com) and I will send them the prepared letter and all they have to do is sign it.

 

Dear Leader and Councillors,

 

BRENT AND HARROW PSC PETITION TO DIVEST FOR PALESTINE.

 

It is with such a heavy heart that I am writing to you about the dire situation in Gaza. Just as you think things could not possibly get any worse, they do.

 

The images are so horrific, especially those of the videos made by the Israeli soldiers themselves. These they have brazenly put on social media, showing their acts of violence against Palestinian men, women and children. They are joking and laughing and do not even bother to  hide their faces or their names. Such is the freedom they are given by the State of Israel, which also allows them to continue the carnage with impunity. 

 

Tragically, it is a Labour government which is arming Israel and is therefore complicit in their war crimes, including genocide, i.e. certain acts committed with the intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

 

Netanyahu has made no secret of his determination to completely destroy Palestine and its people, as he has stated that it is the only way Israel can defend itself. He totally rejects the 2-state solution.

 

Our government is powerless to act against Israeli policy. They are heavily indebted to Israel, having put themselves in a position of accepting almost unlimited funding for many decades. Therefore, we the residents must do something and the only avenue open to us is to petition the powers that be at Brent Council to vote to divest for Palestine.

 

We understand that the UK Lawyers for Israel have already written to Brent Council. We trust this will not deter you from choosing to do the right thing.

 

The lives of the Palestinians are very much in your hands because you will join other local authorities and set an example, which we hope all others will follow.  This surely will help bring an end to the invasion.

 

On behalf of especially the children of Gaza, we implore you to support Council action on this petition.

 

(I would not normally appeal to you to listen to the post below regarding Israel, as there are literally millions going around on social media.  But this one is by a Burmese scholar,  a world renowned expert on genocide. It has no emotive images. He is relating his observations in simple terms and is impartial with no axe to grind. Please, I would urge you to listen to it.)

 

https://x.com/ousmannoor/status/1832506169715212540?t=Rd4RWTUNogb-7h01GNzFqg&s=08

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Zerine Tata

Chair, Hillcroft Crescent Residents Association

 

You can see and sign the Brent and Harrow Petition HERE

MEETING: In Gaza a 'live-streamed genocide' is ongoing: what are we doing? Tuesday 24th September. RALLY: Divest from Palestine Rally at Brent Civic Centre Thursday September 19th 5pm

 

Exploring what is happening in Gaza, the role of the UK government & media, and how the UK public is responding to 'live-streamed genocide'. Organised by Kensal and Kilburn Better 2023

St Lukes West Kilburn,  Fernhead Road London W9 3EH

Tuesday, September 24 · 7 - 8:30pm

 

 TICKETS

 

 SPEAKERS

Ahmed Alnaouq, Palestinian journalist based in London. Co-founder of We Are Not Numbers

Matt Kennard, Co-founder/Investigations at Declassified UK. Author, latest book, The Racket

Sheila Gudhadasan, Chair of Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Layla Carmey, Expert in international law

 

Israel is on trial at the International Court of Justice for the crime of genocide in Gaza.

This is the first time in history that people have been able to see daily atrocities, supported by Western democracies, in near real time.

This event will explore what is happening in Gaza, the role of the UK government and media and how the British public is responding to 'live-streamed genocide'.

EDITOR'S NOTE

 

📢 BRENT COUNCIL RALLY -  DIVEST FOR PALESTINE
🗓️Thurs 19th Sept
🕔 5pm Rally | 6pm Council Meeting
📍Outside Brent Civic Centre, Wembley Park, HA9 0FJ
Join Brent & Harrow PSC as we present our petition calling on Brent Council to divest for Palestine.

Use this e-action to email your Brent councillors ahead of the meeting (2 mins):
https://palestinecampaign.eaction.online/councilloraction
 

On Thursday September 19th a petition will be presented to Brent Council calling for the Brent Local Government Pension Fund to divest for Palestine. The petiton reads:

We ask Brent Council to stand on the right side of history and join the growing number of councils and other public bodies and institutions divesting for Palestine.

We, the undersigned, call on Brent Council to:

1. Divest all funds administered by the Council, including Local Government Pension Scheme funds, 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. Use its influence as part of London Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV) to publicly lobby it to divest from companies enabling Israel's human rights abuses. 
   
   
3. Commit to end procurement contracts with companies complicit in Israel’s attacks. For example, end any banking arrangements with Barclays, which provides substantial financing to companies supplying Israel with weapons used in its attacks on Palestinians.

 

 

Public urged to support divestment of Brent's pension fund from fossil fuels - sign the petition

A meeting at City Hall on March 6th will bring together councillors and council officers from across London to consider the practicalities of divesting local authority pension funds from fossil fuels. Brent Labour Party's local election manifesto pledged to start the process and other London boroughs have made similar pledges.

Bringing together people from different boroughs is important as council have shifted pension fund investments  into a cross borough Common Investment Vehicle (CIV). Investment decisions will vary borough to borough as their pension funds will be in different positions in terms of the value of their investments versus pension commitments. Some will be looking for a high return to top up funds, with an associated risk, while others will be in a strong position and happy with lower returns on more risk-free investments.

Fossil Free Brent - non-party political campaign has been gathering signatures on a petition setting out the case for divestment and recommended actions by Brent Council:

The petition is below. You can sign it HERE

Brent Council should divest its pension fund from fossil fuel companies to protect the people of Brent. So we ask Brent Council to make a public divestment statement committing the Brent Pension Fund to:

1. Immediately freeze any new investment in the top 200 publicly-traded fossil fuel companies with largest known carbon reserves (oil, coal and gas) [0]

2. Divest from direct ownership and any commingled funds that include fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds in the top 200 list and shift these funds to lower risk, ethical investments before the May 2022 Council elections

3. Advocate to other pension funds, including the London Pension Fund Authority and Local Government Pension Scheme members to do the same

4. To do the above in a timely manner - by setting up a working group to report back on a strategy to bring about divestment within three months from the submission of this petition

Why is this important?

We believe divestment from fossil fuels to be not only ethically and environmentally correct, but also financially prudent.

Climate change is the greatest challenge humanity has encountered. The 20 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1981 and 2016 was the hottest ever [1]. Higher average temperatures are directly linked to extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, floods and storms.

Scientists have unanimously concluded that these changes are a consequence of human activity, arising from the burning of fossil fuels [2]. Moreover, this activity has resulted in unprecedented levels of air pollution, now regarded as a major world killer [3].

In a speech at Lloyd’s of London in September 2015, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England said that by the time ‘climate change becomes a defining issue for financial stability, it may already be too late’. Carney warned investors that policies to address climate change ‘would render the vast majority of reserves ‘stranded’ – oil, gas and coal that will be literally unburnable’ [4].

In order to continue developing fossil fuel reserves – particularly in the difficult areas where the remaining reserves are located (including the Arctic, the mouth of the Amazon and tar sands in sensitive areas) the developing companies need investment – divestment is a way of cutting off the funds needed to carry out these damaging activities. It also sends a powerful signal to the companies and others that it is time to move away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy.

References:
[0] http://tinyurl.com/lmskfgk
[1] http://tinyurl.com/y9tkm4sn
[2] http://tinyurl.com/3e3zv
[3] http://tinyurl.com/pqgdd5q
[4] http://tinyurl.com/ycspl5