The ACT territory government moved a hugely significant motion in February 2024 which may result in the government divesting from a number of companies which are profiting from operating in the illegal Israeli settlements.
Mr Andrew Braddock (Greens) moved a motion in the ACT parliament on February 7,2024 titled – HUMAN RIGHTS INCOMPLIANT COMPANIES—DIVESTMENTS which sought to assess the ACT’s investments in nine companies which are operating in the illegal Israel settlements and on the UN Human Rights, list with view to testing these investments against the government’s 2023 Responsible Investment Policy and its ESG controversy assessment process.
The motion was amended resulting in the final motion see link below) which included this clause:
– calls on the ACT Government, following advice from the Investment Advisory Board regarding the current policy settings, to report back to the Assembly by the end of August 2024 on divestments that have or may be undertaken, to ensure that company ESG controversy exclusions fully consider companies involved in, or profiting from, any human rights violations, including the illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories.
Boycott of Israeli film fund by Israeli filmmakers
In a significant development against Israel’s use of culture to attempt to hide and normalise it’s crimes against Palestinians, key Israeli film directors and creatives have called out Israel’s apartheid, occupation and art-washing in a public letter declaring they will boycott a government film fund aimed at supporting Israeli film makers working in illegal occupied Palestinian territories.
Some 140 Israeli filmmakers have declared that they will refuse to do business with an Israeli film fund that operates in the West Bank. In a public letter organized by filmmakers Avi Mograbi, Rachel Leah Jones, Liran Atzmor, Yasmin Kini, Noam Sheizaf and others, they state that they will not cooperate with the Samaria Film Fund: They will not apply to it for grants, they will not participate in its projects and they will not be employed by it. They write that the endowment “is not a pluralistic fund, but rather part of the apartheid mechanism.”
“Behind this festival, as well as behind the establishment of the Samaria Film Fund, is not the love of culture but politics, which aims to erase the Green Line and the distinction between a military and civilian regime,” the letter from the filmmakers states. “Therefore, it is unsurprising that leading this political foundation are Esther Allouche, the spokesperson of the Samaria Regional Council, and Yossi Dagan, the chairman of the Samaria Regional Council. The foundation and the festival invite Israeli creators to take an active part in whitewashing the occupation in exchange for financial support and prizes.”
Settlement activists establish an illegal outpost near the settlement of Kiryat Arba, in July.Credit: Ohad Zwigenberg
BDS Australia
This website is maintained by BDS Australia, which is affiliated with the coalition of Palestinian organisations that leads and supports the BDS movement and by the Palestinian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a BNC member organisation.
