Palestine group protests against council pension fund

The group alleges the Greater Gwent Pension Fund, of which Newport council is a member, indirectly has investments in companies linked to “human rights violations in Palestine”.

“We urge our councillors to take decisive action and support divestment,” a spokesperson for the Newport Palestine Solidarity Campaign said, adding it was “imperative” the pension fund cuts ties with firms allegedly including “investments in arms and settlements built on illegally-seized Palestinian land”.

Citing “international condemnation”, the group claimed such investments “contribute to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, perpetuated by political leaders and arms manufacturers”.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service outside Newport’s Civic Centre, group member Pippa Bartolotti – who recently stood as an independent candidate for the Newport East seat in the general election – said: “Let’s have something ethical from our council.”

During Tuesday’s meeting, independent councillor Miqdad Al-Nuaimi called on Newport Council to request more information about the pension fund’s alleged links to the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine.

Cllr Al-Nuaimi warned colleagues about an “illegal settler economy”, and said “entire Palestinian communities have been displaced”.

The group’s “disturbing” allegations “need answering”, he added.

Newport Council leader, Cllr Dimitri Batrouni, said the authority had “already engaged with the Torfaen Council pension fund around these issues”.

Torfaen is the “administrative authority” for the fund, which is open to members of the four other councils in the Gwent region: Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire and Newport.

Cllr Batrouni told Tuesday’s meeting that any discussions about such issues “have to be very thought through”.

There is a “dispute” over “some of the facts” alleged by the Palestine group, he added.

Torfaen Council did not respond to requests for comment.