A powerful motion in response to the ‘ongoing genocide against Palestine by Israel’ will be taken to the Isle of Wight’s full council.
Speaking at County Hall last week, Empowering Islanders group leader Councillor Chris Jarman said it was a very tricky, very political and very emotive topic, but added that ‘people were very keen’ for the matter to be taken forward.
His comments came after the Isle of Wight Pension Fund Committee (IWPFC) privately considered a confidential report on a motion he had previously submitted to the panel. The report was confidential under the Local Government Act 1972 – ‘information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)’.
Cllr Jarman’s original motion was for the IWPFC to ‘strongly urge’ fund managers ‘to avoid any direct or indirect investment which may or may be seen to be supporting or enabling the continuing genocide in Gaza’.
He made a further proposal unanimously passed by the committee:
“The matter will be taken forward as a member motion to full council which is coming up very shortly – September 17 – and it will be for full council to consider the broader issue relating to the components raised in this motion, so deferring those issues to full council.
“That will not include the investment elements because that’s not a full council decision.”
After the meeting he said:
“It’s not something that is necessarily appropriate for the pension committee because they do have a fiduciary duty so taking it to full council as a wider motion seems to be a very appropriate route.
“People are very keen that this is taken forward – the sentiment is very powerful – it’s a very emotional topic. We’re all witnesses to an ongoing genocide against Palestine by Israel – 65,000 people have been killed by Israel, the majority of them have been civilians, 20,000 plus children.
“The problem we have is that very few people at the moment are taking effective action and the question before the council will be what action shall we take? It will be a powerful motion.”
Last week the nationwide Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said it had issued a legal notice to all councils in England and Wales overseeing a Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund.
The group said the notice, written by legal experts, outlines ‘that they (councils) must take steps to divest from companies enabling and profiting from Israel’s genocide, military occupation and apartheid against Palestinians’.
UNISON trade union representative Steve Milford, who serves on IWPFC, has said:
“Members have been given a deluge of legal information about this and it was very daunting to challenge the position. Whilst it is disappointing that they didn’t go for a full blown motion, I do understand the reasons.
“There are counter legal arguments put forward by PSC that all authorities that don’t at least consider divestment…are possibly open to legal action on the basis of international law.”
Liberal Democrat member of IWPFC, Councillor Nick Stuart, has said:
“I have repeatedly pointed out my full support to hold the Israeli government to account for the destruction of Gaza and the deaths and injuries of innocent civilians by arms and deliberate starvation.
“As well as the dreadful crimes committed by Hamas including the holding of Israeli hostages. The place to consider our collective response is in full council, and in parliament where my party colleagues have vigorously pursued this issue.
“The legal limitations upon the pension committee were obvious from the start and this specific motion should never have been allowed to waste so much time and resources while raising public expectations that could never be met.”
Idiots, worry about the island.
There is absolutely nothing this rediculous virtual signalling will achieve.
Really ? So you’re bothered about the island but not about the continuing genocide in gaza…seems a bit selfish to me. I don’t understand why the government haven’t banned all of the murdering Israelis from this country and announced a total boycott of Israeli goods !..
The IOW council should be focused on the island and nothing else. what goes on in gaza is not their problem. We pay our taxes for them to make the island better, not focus on some drivel half way across the world we don’t care about
for the same reason they haven’t banned chinese goods due to the treatment of uyghurs and nepalese. The same reason they haven’t banned african goods because african govts spend money on wars, yet let 4000 children a day die of starvation.
What murdering Israelis precisely would that be, Bum? Or do you mean all Jews? Now where have we heard that sort of rhetoric before?
I know this view will be unpopular, but I wish the council would concern themselves with Island issues rather than get involved in foreign ones. We have enough problems here to keep them busy thank you very much, and that is where they should concentrate their efforts!
“I wish the council would concern themselves with Island issues rather than get involved in foreign ones”
But surely that is the whole point of this motion…
to not get involved in foreign affairs (e.g. Israel’s genocide in Gaza,) by not investing their pension fund(s) in anything that ‘may or may be seen to be supporting or enabling the continuing genocide in Gaza’
TBH, IMHO, that should be the position of the UK government, not just local government.
Don’t forget the 1400 kids, murdered.
Nor the millions being deliberately starved to death in Sudan and all those children and adults subject to horrors and death around the world, Dicky. It’s tragic what we do to each other and have done for millennia, but I would have a small wager that most council tax payers would prefer those in authority to concentrate on solving waste and inefficiency problems rather than pointless virtue signalling.
You must stop believing everything the BBC, and the UN tell you, the BBC employs families of terrorists, the UN directly employs terrorists so logically anyone with a balanced view would say, show us the facts not the propoganda.
From a group of individuals who cant sort out how to shift a few rocks I am bewildered by this ridiculous and pompous idea that the Island can achieve anything on the world political stage! Did I miss the same behaviour when Israel was invaded and thousands murdered and injured by the same group you now want to support? You cannot remove Hamas involvement from Palestinian support, they run together and so I would urge caution in showing one side favour whilst ignoring the other sides victims. I would suggest that the council stick with what they know…. but.
Personally if some union oik told me to do something or some unelected body supposedly representing a group of terrorists said something similar I would do the opposite, they have no power, and the unions would be the first to scream if their members pensions took a dive because of poor investments.
so it’s OK to invest in funding genocide,.. as long as it makes a profit ??
It’s a particularly interesting conversation as it reflects the general situation of conflicting opinions in our country now. Do you do the humane and virtuous things and try to absolve us of guilt in respect of every activity and past misdemeanor like using fossil fuels and arms manufacture and offer reparation in atonement for past sins and go skint – or face reality and try go do the best you can in an imperfect world? And where and when do you stop doing the ‘ right ‘ thing? Shall we stop using fossil fuels and welcome every one of the billions of people who would understandably rather live here than where they are now? It’s a tough old world and I fear That Utopia really was a Never Never land.
Remember it’s because of unions that you no longer work at weekends, ( or get the time off on other days); you can have a works pension, you can have paid holidays, paid sick leave, fair and equal pay. I could go on . What have the unions done for us eh?
maybe the council should be thinking about our own invasion,instead of a foreign one thats nothing to do with us,oh hold on,its about money,so thats alright then!
point your beak elsewhere jarman,most of totland parish councillors dislike you,considering you are a tory in disguise!
The Reform Party have so many ex Tories in
their party it makes them the old Tory party with
a new name.
All the Deformers think they are voting for something
different, they are voting for the Tory party.
If IW Council were that concerned wny don’t they bring
some of the poor families to live on the island.
Hamas: Free the Hostages you kidnapped on Oct 7th!! Down with Palastine. Island Councillors: CONCENTRATE ON ISLAND MATTERS!
Down with Palestine? You seem to be blissfully unaware that the British were the last people who were in charge of Palestine and as such we have a responsibility to ensure there wellbeing..(read the balfour treaty), since the Israelis arrived they’ve done nothing except murder and steal land which is not theirs. UP WITH PALESTINE AND DOWN WITH ISREAL ! And I hope they continue to fight the illegal occupation of their country.
Bang on the money Zoe.
Anyone for a game of ‘principles’?
No, probably not. Too busy with whataboutaries and whether foreign lives matter at all….’notinmybackyard….there’s 50p toilets at stake’!
Here’s the thing. If you found out that pension profits went to fund paedophilia….would you be any more concerned? Or is that nothing to do with us either?
They said it would never happen again. Yet here we are witnessing a brutal, unnecessary genocide. And the world turns its head away. Some of you who have made comments on here should hang your heads in shame.