Dutch Pension Fund Rejects More Calls to Divest From ’Israeli’ Banks

Local Editor

Dutch pension fund ABP, the world's third largest fund in the world, rejected calls on Thursday from activists including Nobel prize winner and anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu to disinvest from three "Israeli" banks they accuse of financially aiding the occupation of Palestinian territories.

The petition site Avaaz called on ABP, the Dutch public employees' pension fund, to disinvest from Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, in which it has holdings totalling about 51 million euros.

South Africa's Desmond Tutu said in a letter to the fund's board that the investments helped enable the expansion of "Israeli" settlements on occupied Palestinian territories.

Meanwhile, ABP said its board decided not to change its ethical investment policy.

In January, PGGM, another Dutch pension fund, decided to pull its investments from five "Israeli" banks.

An open-ended ceasefire is now in place in seized Gaza after seven weeks of aggression by the Zionist regime on the besieged enclave. Palestinian health officials have said that 2,139 people, most of them civilians and including nearly 500 children, have been martyred. Israel had launched its aggression on seized Gaza on July 8.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team