On the anniversary of Gaza massacre, Teachers for Palestine launches website and petition, calls for Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to divest
Teachers for Palestine (TFP) has just launched its new website at
http://www.caiaweb.org/tfp/
find:
- information about the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan‘s top 5 worst
investments in Israeli apartheid
- articles and speeches by TFP members and allies
- resources about divestment and socially responsible investment
Teachers for Palestine (TFP) has just launched its new website at
http://www.caiaweb.org/tfp/
find:
- information about the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan‘s top 5 worst
investments in Israeli apartheid
- articles and speeches by TFP members and allies
- resources about divestment and socially responsible investment
- a link to a petition to the OTPP Board, calling for divestment, and
for OTPP to sign the United Nations Principles for Responsible
Investment
About Teachers for Palestine
Teachers for Palestine, a subcommittee of Coalition Against Israeli
Apartheid (CAIA), is a group of elementary and secondary teachers in
Toronto who are working for divestment of the Ontario Teachers’
Pension Plan from corporations that contribute to the system of
Israeli apartheid.
We aim to raise awareness amongst pension plan members and education
workers in general about Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank
and Gaza, as well as its racist treatment of Palestinians inside of
Israel’s 1948 borders.
If you are a teacher in the Toronto area and would like to work
towards divestment, please contact us at
teachersforpalestine@gmail.com
About the OTPP and Divestment
With assets of over $100 billion, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
is one Canada‘s major public pension plans. In 2009 the Plan‘s
portfolio had a combined investment of over $582 million in five
companies at the centre of complicity in violation of Palestinian
human rights and maintenance of the occupation:
Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH): Irish building materials company
with 25% share in the Israeli group Mashav Initiating and Development
Ltd., a holding company for Nesher Cement, the sole producer of cement
in Israel. CRH has admitted that “in all probability” Nesher cement
has been used in the construction of the Separation Wall, which has
been condemned by the international community as a method of
annexation of occupied land and found to be illegal under
international law.
Lockheed Martin: The world`s No.1 military contractor. Awarded a $5.2
million U.S. Navy contract in 2006 to conduct combat ship feasibility
studies for the Israeli Navy. In the same year it won an $18 million
contract from the Israeli Ministry of Defense to provide a Flight and
Systems Trainer for Israeli F-16I pilot training. On October 7, 2010,
Israel signed a $2.75 million deal with the United States to buy
twenty F-35 stealth fighters manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Finning International: Canadian company, the world’s largest
distributor of Caterpillar products and support services. With the aid
of Caterpillar`s D9 bulldozers, IDF forces destroyed 1404 Palestinian
homes in 2004, 560 homes in the Jenin refugee camp in 2002, and 120
homes in a single day in a camp in Rafah. International peace
activists have called for a boycott of Caterpillar, and in 2006 the
Synod of the Church of England divested itself of Caterpillar shares.
In October 2010, the Jerusalem Post reported that Caterpillar is
temporarily suspending delivery of US$50 million worth of D9
bulldozers for the duration of a civil suit lodged against the Israeli
government by the parents of Rachel Corrie.
Siemens AG: Develops water treatment technologies with Mekorot,
Israel’s national water company, which since 1967 has supervised
drilling of wells for Israeli settlers in the West Bank while denying
permits to Palestinians. In summer months Mekorot closes valves
supplying Palestinian towns and villages to maintain Israeli supplies.
Macdonald, Dettwiler and Associates: Canadian provider of electronic
surveillance technology, has a joint project with Israel Aerospace
Industries (IAI) to build Unmanned Arial Vehicles in Canada. IAI
produces aircraft capable of targeted assassinations and has developed
with Caterpillar a robotic D9 bulldozer used in house demolitions.
To view our website and visit the petition click
http://www.caiaweb.org/tfp/