Category Archives: DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organization welcomes Morocco’s role in promoting the culture of peace and dialogue between the Libyan parties

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Le Matin (translation by CPNN)

The Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organization praised the role played by the Kingdom of Morocco in promoting and disseminating the culture of peace and dialogue between the Libyan parties. The organization expressed, in a statement, “its congratulations to the Libyan parties for their approach to political dialogue, their search for consensus and their desire to pursue with determination and constancy the political path to overcome the armed conflict in order to consolidate the legitimacy of the Libyan national civil state, which expresses the unity of the people and guarantees the stability of the country ”.


(article continued in right column)

Question for this article:

What is being done for peace in Libya?

(article continued from left column)

In this regard, the statement referred to the results of the second round of interlibyan dialogue organized from October 2 to 6 in Bouznika [Morocco]. In the final declaration of this second round, the delegations of the High Council of State and the Parliament announced that this round was consistent with the criteria and mechanisms for occupying positions of sovereignty in Libya as called for in Article 15 of the Libyan Skhirate Political Agreement [See the 2015 agreement].

(Click here for a version of this article in French.)

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Mideast

ECOSOCC / Morocco: Launch of the e-caravan of peace, flagship event of Amnesty Month in Africa

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by Hicham Alaoui in MSN (translation by CPNN)

The e-Caravan of Peace, a flagship event of the “Month of Amnesty in Africa 2020”, was launched on Tuesday from Rabat, capital of Morocco, to travel [virtually] through all African countries, with the objectives of promoting values ​​of peace, tolerance, solidarity and pan-African integration.


(click on image to enlarge)

Initiated by the Moroccan Association Key to Peace for Development and Solidarity, the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union (ECOSOCC-UA) and the Moroccan national chapter of ECOSOCC-UA, this virtual caravan is part of the AU theme for this year namely “Silencing the Guns: Creating the Conditions for Africa’s Development”.

The silence of the guns on the continent, a wish of the populations of the African hemisphere, is a long process which requires a very strong commitment to implement the policies, frameworks of action and instruments of the African Union.

Indeed, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons is clearly linked to the violent conflicts that continue to undermine peace and development in Africa. This situation leaves the continent very vulnerable, these weapons causing enormous destruction and claiming many victims.

In Africa, the dynamics of conflicts and current trends in arms trafficking are changing due to the evolving nature and diversity of actors, such as pirates, terrorists and criminal organizations. This means that the existing challenges persist while becoming more complex.

The AU’s 2063 vision calls for a solid partnership to establish synergies and effective coordination between the various initiatives in order to reduce armed conflicts in Africa. It is to raise awareness of the importance of this theme of the year of the AU, that the e-Caravan of Peace, as an initiative of civil society, has mobilized to promote the culture of peace, solidarity and living together, to build a continent free of conflicts where the conditions for a decent life are guaranteed.

It is nonetheless true that in the face of the current dynamics of conflicts and new trends in the arms trade, a strong partnership with civil society is highly crucial. At this critical juncture, it is important to highlight the role it can play in ending conflicts, promoting peace and raising awareness in local communities.

The e-Caravan proposes to:

* fight against the illicit arms trade, destabilization and misuse of small arms and light weapons in Africa,

* undertake awareness-raising campaigns through traditional and social media in AU Member States,

* create an enabling climate the participation of civil society organizations in peace processes in Africa

* and establish a solid partnership between governments and ECOSOCC on issues related to peace and security in Africa.

(article continued in right column)

(Click here for a version of this article in French.)

Question for this article:

Can the African Union help bring a culture of peace to Africa?

(article continued from left column)

According to the vice-president of ECOSOCC for the North African region, Khalid Boudali, the e-Caravan of peace is a solidarity event aimed at “rallying all stakeholders to participate in humanitarian action for help establish peace and security on the continent and free Africa from the yoke of armed conflict ”. For him, the e-Caravan constitutes a milestone in the efforts made for an Africa without conflicts or wars.

It is also designed to support the ongoing efforts of the various actors and at the same time take stock of the progress made so far with the objective of strengthening peace and security in Africa, said Mr. Boudali, who presides over the destinies of the Key International Association for Peace for Development and Solidarity. “The social, economic and political factors that motivate groups and communities to acquire these weapons must be addressed. It is undeniable that efforts to disarm communities must take into account security and development concerns and offer them alternatives to crime and other illicit activities,” he said.

As a conflict prevention tool, the African Peace and Security Architecture, and all its supporting instruments, appear to be very effective. However, it is important that the African Union continues its efforts to ensure that the implementation of Program 2063, launched to build a prosperous continent endowed with good governance, respecting human rights and encouraging popular participation. and development, remains at the center of its efforts.

It should be noted that the e-Caravan will take place on a virtual platform in all Member States of the African Union during the month of September. Awareness-raising actions and debates will be initiated every week at the national level, in cooperation with the national platform of civil society organizations with a series of webinars to present the results and recommendations made in each of the five regions of the continent.

The culmination of the e-Caravan will be the holding, on September 30, 2020, of an e-symposium on public policies, an event during which the overall report of the activities and the recommendations adopted during the various activities carried out at all levels, national and regional, will be presented.

The initiative to hold the Caravan as a virtual event was dictated by the current situation marked by the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting consequences, in particular the closure of air, land and sea borders.

In fact, a Caravan of peace, solidarity and pan-African integration, which the Moroccan Key Association for Peace for Development and Solidarity intended to organize, and was going to travel through 12 African countries, was about to be organized. But with the arrival of the coronavirus, it was changed from a real-world event to a virtual event. Thus, the overland journey of this Caravan has turned into an e-journey.

Africa, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Sudan: Darfur deal welcomed by UN chief as ‘historic achievement’

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from the United Nations

A peace agreement between Sudanese authorities and key armed movements from Darfur could provide a path to national unity, the head of the joint UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said on Monday. Secretary-General António Guterres later described it  as an “historic achievement” towards lasting peace.


UNAMID/Albert Gonzalez Farran. UNAMID, in collaboration with the North Darfur Committee on Women, organised an open day session on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security (file photo).

Sudan’s transitional Government initialled the deal alongside the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) and Sudan Liberation Movement–Minni Minnawi (SLM/MM), at a ceremony held in neighbouring South Sudan. 

Determination, courage and commitment 

“The Secretary-General congratulates the people of the Sudan for this historic achievement and commends the parties to the negotiations for their political will and determination in working toward the common objective of peace”, said the statement released on Monday night in New York.

“He also thanks the Government of South Sudan and President Salva Kiir for their important role in facilitating the talks. The Secretary-General calls on the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North–Abdelaziz Al-Hilu and the Sudan Liberation Movement–Abdul Wahid Al-Nur to join the peace process.”

(Article continued in right column)

Question for this article:

Can peace be achieved in South Sudan?

(Article continued from left column)

Mr. Guterres said he was fully committed to supporting the implementation of the agreement, “which marks the start of a new era for the people of the Sudan and for people living in Darfur and the Two Areas, in particular. This will require sustained commitment and collaboration between the parties and the people of the Sudan.”

Earlier, Jeremiah Mamabolo, the UNAMID Joint Special Representative who attended the ceremony, said  the deal was a “significant step” and commended in particular the signatory parties for their “determination, courage and commitment to lasting peace in Sudan”.

17 years of brutal fighting

It is expected that the peace agreement will end 17 years of often brutal conflict in Darfur. 

Fighting between the forces of former President Omar al-Bashir, backed by allied militia, and various rebel movements, left around 300,000 dead, according to UN estimates, and millions displaced. 

President al-Bashir was overthrown in April 2019 following unrest that began in December 2018. 

 “We hope that this agreement is perceived as the start of a process that includes all in a positive move towards peace, justice and national unity. This includes the full realization of the hopes, dreams and aspirations of all the people of Sudan, including Darfuris”, said Mr. Mamabolo. 

Praise for South Sudan mediation 

At the ceremony, the UNAMID chief conveyed greetings from UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki. 

He also applauded the South Sudanese mediation team for facilitating the negotiation process amidst challenges. 
Mr. Mamabolo hoped that those parties who remain outside will soon join the peace process to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the Sudanese people and the objectives of the December 2018 Revolution. 

“To that end, the United Nations and the African Union remain committed to supporting this process to the very last day of UNAMID’s mandate”, he said. 

Africa, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Mideast,

US: The United National AntiWar Coalition – Call to Action

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

Announcement of webinar from The United National AntiWar Coalition

The past months of the Black Lives Matter Movement have confirmed once again the only way to challenge this racist, militarized system is with the explosive power of people making demands and shutting it down.

Regardless of what happens in November our only way forward is to stay mobilized! The people must lead from below through organized, strategic protest.


• Demanding justice and accountability against racist killer cops!

• For economic justice in response to the economic collapse.

– For a public health response to the pandemic with Medicare for all.

• In defense of migrants rounded up and deported!

• In solidarity with LGBTQ+ and disabled people

• Against endless wars, sanctions and occupations

We face the greatest capitalist crash in US history and an out of control COVID-19 pandemic. At every level of government from the president to Congress down to mayors and local officials, the response to the pandemic and economic collapse shows a failed state.

The people must remain mobilized through the election and beyond. We will not win the change we need at the ballot box. The two candidates of the parties of the billionaires ignore the super-majority of people in the US who support improved Medicare for all, a robust Green New Deal, an end to inequality and taxation of the wealthy, an end to the never-ending wars and US imperialism. Neither party is responding to the call to stop racist militarized policing, invest in alternatives to policing while cutting police budget and democratic community control of the police. No matter who is elected the people must be mobilized in 2021 to make the country ungovernable until the people’s demands are met.

(Article continued in right column)

Question for this article:

The peace movement in the United States, What are its strengths and weaknesses?

(Article continued from left column)

We defend:

• Resistance and uprisings against racism and police violence

• Education workers opposing dangerous school reopening

• Organizing for rent strikes and against evictions

• Black Lives Matter Movement everywhere

• Social movements seeking peace and justice

• Solidarity with all those resisting US imperialist violence

Click here to register: bit.ly/DNCRNCWebinar

An Online RALLY supported by: March on DNC and RNC, UNAC – United National Antiwar Coalition, ILPS – International League of Peoples Struggles, BAYAN – Philippine Coalition, NAARPR – National Alliance Against Racism & Political Repression, BAP – Black Alliance for Peace, IAC – International Action Center, VFP – Veterans For Peace, Cuba Si, IFCO, FIRE – Fight for Im/migrants & Refugees Everywhere, AFGJ – Alliance for Global Justice, Code Pink, Popular Resistance, SanctionsKill Campaign, US Peace Council, WILPF – Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom -US chapter, Peoples Power Assemblies NYC, December 12 Movement, Call to Action on Puerto, Colectivo de Mujeres Mexicanas NY, Jornada: Se Acabaron Las Promesas, USPCN – U.S. Palestinian Community Network, POWIR – People’s Opposition to War Imperialism, and Racism, Southern Workers Assembly, SDS- Students for a Democratic Society, The People’s Forum, other groups to be added.

Enddorse the call: bit.ly/KeepItInTheStreets

Support UNAC

Please make a much needed contribution at: hppts://UNACpreace.org/donate.html

Join our Facebook group at: https://facebook.com/groups/unac1

Subscribe to the UNAC Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6zb1Rg8CiAO9Ff8kLlXXiQ

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

The Elders call on world leaders to take action or risk nuclear catastrophe

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A press release from The Elders

The Elders have called on the leaders of the five recognised nuclear-weapon states to use the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a moment to reflect on the lives lost and begin substantive steps towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons. 

The atomic bombing of the two cities on 6 and 9 August 1945 led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, laying bare the true horror of nuclear weapons. Today, over 13,000 nuclear warheads are in existence.

In a direct appeal to the ‘P5’ heads of state, the Elders stressed that “leadership in tackling these nuclear threats is needed more than ever”. 

In letters to US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Elders expressed alarm that the breakdown of arms control agreements, the emergence of additional nuclear states and the resurgence of geopolitical tensions have significantly increased the risks of nuclear catastrophe.

Such risks pose a serious threat to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which has made a critical contribution to limiting the spread of nuclear weapons since 1970. There are also serious concerns presented by new technologies, such as the development of hypersonic cruise missiles and the growth of increasingly sophisticated and opaque cyber capabilities. 

(Continued in right column)

Question related to this article:
 
Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

(Continued from left column)

The Elders emphasised the heavy responsibilities of all nuclear-weapon states to reduce nuclear risks and to work in good faith towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons.  

In particular, the Elders called on President Trump to accept President Putin’s offer to immediately extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) for another five years and urged him not to make extension of the treaty conditional on China’s participation in new arms control negotiations.  

The Elders believe extending New START would provide a necessary basis for any new negotiations with China and other nuclear states as part of an expanded longer-term arms control framework. 

The Elders wrote in support of proposals to convene a P5 leaders’ summit on arms control, expressing hope that this could be arranged at the earliest opportunity and allow for constructive discussions to strengthen existing arms controls between the nuclear states.  

The Elders also called on the P5 to make a collective statement, building upon Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev’s declaration that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought”, as a means of building trust and improving the global atmosphere ahead of next year’s delayed NPT Review Conference.  

As the world marks 75 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Mary Robinson, The Chair of The Elders, called for a moment of reflection:  

“The 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing should give the entire world pause for thought. We must all recognise the horrendous human cost of this tragic event and renew our commitment to never letting it happen again.” 

Ban Ki-moon, the Deputy Chair of The Elders, reiterated the need for political action from the US and Russia: 

“I urge Presidents Trump and Putin to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Without action, New START will expire in February 2021, meaning there would be no binding agreement on arms control between the world’s two nuclear superpowers.”

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

USA: New Haven Alders Put Peace On The Ballot

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by Thomas Breen in the New Haven Independent

Peace will be on the ballot this November — in the form of a nonbinding referendum asking New Haveners how they’d like Congress to spend the majority of the federal budget.

On the military, as is currently the case? Or on jobs, education, environmental sustainability, and other human services instead?


Monday night’s virtual aldermanic hearing.

During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting of the full Board of Alders, local legislators voted unanimously in support of adding that question about federal spending priorities to the Nov. 3 general election ballot.

The non-binding advisory referendum, proposed by the city’s Peace Commission, will ask New Haveners the following question: “Shall Congress prepare for health and climate crises by transferring funds from the military budget to cities for human needs, jobs and an environmentally sustainable economy?”

Hill Alder Ron Hurt urged his colleagues to vote in favor of the resolution that included the ballot update. He said the purpose of the resolution and nonbinding referendum is to give New Haven voters an opportunity to weigh in on whether or not they would like to see Congress and the President “end foreign wars, scrap all nuclear weapons, rebuild infrastructure, and develop a new economy based on renewable energy.”

According to a June committee hearing on the item, 53 percent of the current federal budget is devoted to military spending. Many who testified during that two-and-a-half-hour hearing spoke of the perversity of this country spending so much on weapons and vehicles of destruction when that money could instead be going to bolster the nation’s public health infrastructure, which has so struggled to keep up with the pandemic. The Department of Defense’s budget, meanwhile, has proven seemingly impossible to audit because of bookkeeping errors, deficiencies, and irregularities.

In a press release put out after the vote, Downtown/Yale Alder Eli Sabin, who is the aldermanic representative on the Peace Commission, applauded the move. He quoted Peace Commission Chair Joelle Fishman as saying, “this ballot referendum will allow New Haven voters to express their hopes and dreams, and perhaps inspire other cities to do the same, building the momentum needed to create the political will for every person to be treated with dignity and respect, for every person to have health care, housing, a living wage job, food security, in a peaceful and sustainable world.”

(Article continued on the right column)

Questions for this article:

Does military spending lead to economic decline and collapse?

How can culture of peace be developed at the municipal level?

(Article continued from the left column)

Westville Alder and Health and Human Services Committee Chair Darryl Brackeen, Jr. is also quoted in that release as saying that supporting the peace resolution “is the right thing to do and now it’s time to hear from the people.”

Peace Resolution

Below is the resolution adopted by the Board of Alders Monday night. The title of the resolution is: From the Peace Commission, a Resolution calling on Congress and the President to prepare for health and climate crises by transferring funds from the military budget to cities and states for human needs, jobs, and an environmentally sustainable economy and placing a non-binding advisory referendum to that effect on the November 3, 2020 New Haven municipal ballot.”

Whereas, the severity of the U.S. economic crisis, compounded by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, has caused severe budget shortfalls at all levels of government, necessitating a re-examination of national spending priorities; and

Whereas, every dollar spent on the military produces fewer jobs than spending the same dollar on education, healthcare, clean energy and other beneficial programs; and

Whereas, U.S. military spending has ballooned to more than half of federal discretionary spending – more than during the Cold War, the Vietnam conflict, or the Korean War; and

Whereas, the United States trails many other nations in life expectancy, infant mortality, education, housing, and environmental sustainability;

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Alders of the City of New Haven, Connecticut calls on the U.S. Congress and the U.S. President to end foreign ground and air wars; refrain from new military ventures; work toward an end to all nuclear weapons; reduce military spending in order to meet human needs; promote job creation; re-train and re-employ those losing jobs in the process of conversion to non-military industries; rebuild infrastructure; assist municipal and state governments; and develop a new economy based on renewable energy.

Be it further resolved that the most honorable City Clerk of New Haven is hereby directed to accomplish any and all actions necessary to place the following non-binding advisory referendum on the November 3, 2020 municipal ballot:

“Shall Congress prepare for health and climate crises by transferring funds from the military budget to cities for human needs, jobs and an environmentally sustainable economy?”.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

US: Progressive Caucus Announces Opposition to ‘Wasteful, Bloated’ $740 Billion Pentagon Budget Proposal

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A article by Jake Johnson from Common Dreams (reprinted under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License)

The Congressional Progressive Caucus said Sunday that it will formally oppose the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021 unless “significant action” is taken to reduce the bill’s proposed Pentagon outlay.


Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) speaks during an oversight hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill February 8, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Rubber-stamping a record $740 billion for the Pentagon shortchanges millions of families trying to get by in this crisis,” tweeted the CPC, which has more than 90 members. “Enhanced unemployment benefits expire in less than two weeks. The federal eviction moratorium expires in six days.”

“Congress should be focused on addressing these urgent crises,” the CPC added, “not passing a wasteful, bloated $740 billion defense bill to line the pockets of defense contractors.”

(Article continued on the right column)

Question for this article:

Does military spending lead to economic decline and collapse?

(Article continued from the left column)

Along with Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), CPC co-chairs Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) are advocating the passage of an NDAA amendment that would cut the proposed Pentagon budget by 10%—$74 billion—and redirect the savings toward healthcare, housing, and education in poor communities.

“This 10% cut is eminently doable and reasonable,” Jayapal said  during an event late last month. “But it’s not going to be easy… As progressives, it is our job to redefine and reimagine what it is to be strong. Strong means an end to endless wars and a return to robust diplomacy and international coalition building.”

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) are co-sponsoring a companion amendment in the Senate. In a speech on the Senate floor last month, Sanders described the proposed 10% cut as a “modest” way to begin shifting U.S. spending priorities away from endless war and toward urgent domestic concerns.

With the amendment expected to receive a vote this coming week, Sanders wrote in an email to supporters Sunday that “the time is now to cut military spending and use that money for human needs.”

“How can it be that we have enough to spend more on defense than the next eleven countries combined, but we don’t have enough to make sure every American child has a roof over their head and enough food to eat?” Sanders wrote. “A great nation is not judged by the size of its military budget, it is judged by how well it treats its weakest and most vulnerable citizens.”

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

The growing use of weaponised drones risks destabilising global peace and security

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from UN News

The growing use of weaponised drones risks destabilising global peace and security and creating a “drone power club” among nations, that face no effective accountability for deploying them as part of their “war on terror”, a senior UN-appointed independent rights expert said on Thursday.

At the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said that more than 100 countries have military drones and more than a third are thought to possess the largest and deadliest autonomous weapons.

‘No red lines’ in drone warfare?

States who used them on the grounds of self-defence, “defined in a very elastic fashion” against purported terrorists, risked creating a situation where “there will be no red lines really”, she told journalists later.

“As more Government and non-State actors acquire armed drones and use them for targeted killing, there is a clear danger that war will come to be seen as normal rather than the opposite of peace,” Ms. Callamard said. “War is at risk of being normalized as a necessary companion to peace, and not its opposite.”

Appealing for greater regulation of the weapons, and lending her support to calls for a UN-led forum to discuss the deployment of drones specifically, the Special Rapporteur insisted that their growing use increased the danger of a “global conflagration”.

(Article continued in right column)

Question for this article:

Drones (unmanned bombers), Should they be outlawed?

(Article continued from left column)

‘Influential States’ rewriting the rules

Such a move was necessary because “a small number of rather influential States” had sought to reinterpret the law of self-defence under Article  51 of the UN Charter, she explained.

She urged UN Security Council to meet in formal session to review and debate all such self-defence claim, before recommending that the High Commissioner for Human Rights should produce an annual report on drone strikes casualties for the Human Rights Council.

There was now the “very real prospect that States may opt to ‘strategically’ eliminate high-ranking military officials outside the context of a ‘known’ war”, she explained, and that they might seek to justify the killing “on the grounds of necessity – not imminence” as the target was classified as a “terrorist who posed a potential, undefined, future threat”.

Iranian general’s chilling death

In particular, she cited the killing by drone strike in Iraq of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani on 3 January for which the United States claimed responsibility and which she insisted was a violation of the UN Charter.

“Targeted killings until very recently to drones had been limited to non-state actors,” she told journalists. Until, for the first time in January 2020, a State armed drone targeted a high-level official of a foreign State and did so on the territory of a third State.”

Drone strikes were the preferred option for “decision makers and military alike for their relative efficiency, effectiveness, adaptability, acceptability, deniability, and political gain”, the rights expert maintained.

But she noted that their benefits were as “illusory” as the “myth of a surgical strike”. 

Because of the current absence of effective oversight, it was “practically impossible to know whether a person(s) killed in a drone strike was, in fact, a lawful target”, Ms. Callamard said, adding that harm to civilian populations, including deaths, injuries and trauma, was likely largely under-reported.   

(Thank you to Phyllis Kotite, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global, Uncategorized, United Nations,

Dutch pension fund divests from two Israeli banks over settlements’ finances

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from WAFA, Palestinian News and Info Agency

The ABP, the largest pension fund in the Netherlands, has decided to divest from Israeli banks, Hapoalim and Leumi, for their finance of construction projects in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to a statement attributed to the ABP’s spokesperson.

The spokesperson reportedly pointed out that the location where companies operate plays a role in investment appraisals and criteria, which include revenue, costs, risks, and sustainability.

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

Presenting the Palestinian side of the Middle East, Is it important for a culture of peace?

Divestment: is it an effective tool to promote sustainable development?

(continued from left column)

“We expect companies operating in areas with high risk of human rights violations to have a human rights policy,” said the spokesperson.

In January 2014, PGGM, the country’s second largest pension administrator, announced the divestment from five Israeli banks, citing their activities in the illegal Israeli settlements built in the West Bank.

The Netherlands and the European Union consider Israeli settlements as illegal.
Last April, the European Union issued a warning against the Israeli government’s intention to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, saying that such a move “would constitute a serious violation of international law.”

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the 27-member bloc does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Palestinian territory and that it will “continue to closely monitor the situation and its broader implications, and will act accordingly.”

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Mideast

The Elders urge European leaders to stand firm on Israeli annexation threats

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A press release from The Elders

The Elders have called on European leaders to maintain their resolve against Israel’s plans to annex swathes of the West Bank, and to insist that any such moves would have negative political and economic consequences for bilateral relations.

The absence of any direct military and legal moves towards annexation on 1 July – the deadline unilaterally declared by Israel’s Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu – should not be taken as grounds for complacency. Annexation of any part of the West Bank, including illegal settlement blocs, would constitute a flagrant breach of international law.

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

Presenting the Palestinian side of the Middle East, Is it important for a culture of peace?

(continued from left column)

In letters to French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, The Elders underscored the damage annexation would cause not only to any hopes of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also to global respect for the rule of law.

Annexation “is fundamentally contrary to the long term interests of both the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples. [It] will not dampen future Palestinian demands for rights and self-determination, but destroying hopes in a two-state compromise will increase the risks of future violence in one of the most combustible areas in the world”, the Elders warned in their appeal to Europe’s leaders.

They called on the EU leaders to consider suspending the bloc’s Association Agreement with Israel if annexation does go ahead in any form, and recalled the UK’s historical and abiding responsibility to the region as the colonial Mandate holder in pre-1948 Palestine.

The Elders also reiterated their support for human rights defenders and civil society activists in Israel and Palestine, whose voices need to be protected and amplified at this challenging time.

[Editors’s note: The Elders is an international non-governmental organisation of public figures noted as elder statesmen, peace activists, and human rights advocates, who were brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007.  They have included Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Graça Machel, Mary Robinson, Ban Ki-Moon, Juan Manuel Santos and Kofi Annan, among others.]

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global