Council votes to divest £8m from companies tied to the West Bank

THE LOCAL authority in Lancaster has voted in favour of divesting £8 million from companies tied to West Bank settlements.

At a Lancaster City Council meeting held on Wednesday night, councillors passed a motion stipulating that the local authority would “condemn Israel’s breaches of international law and killing of Palestinian civilians”.

The council also voted to write to Lancashire County Pension Fund and the Local Pensions Partnership “urging that they adopt policies requiring them to divest from all companies active in illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine and all arms companies which supply weapons to Israel”.

The county council has around £8 million invested in companies deemed by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign to be linked to West Bank settlements.

The motion was brought forward by Eco-Socialist Independents councillor Jack O’Dwyer-Henry.

Addressing the council meeting on Wednesday, Mr O’Dwyer-Henry said: “[Israel’s] human rights abuses and breaches of international law are egregious and undeniable, by voting for this motion we can play our small part in a global movement of BDS in opposition to the daily death and destruction unleashed on Palestine.

“By voting for this motion we will be sending a message to the government, which is planning on introducing new laws banning councils from exercising our democratic rights to support BDS.”

Green councillor Gina Dowding, who seconded the motion, told the meeting that BDS would not put the pension fund’s financial and fiduciary duty at risk: “[The fund has] options and one of the purposes is to say there are reputational risks if we carry on investing in companies that are operating in illegally occupied Palestinian territories.”