FOI reveals massive investments in occupation
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has lodged a formal complaint with the Charity Commission against Oxford University’s All Souls College regarding its huge business interests in illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
Freedom of Information (FOI) requests in July and August revealed that they college has £1,121,731.57 of investments in four companies that appear in the UN’s Commissioner for Human Rights’ database of businesses involved in illegal Israeli settlements. ICJP’s complaint alleges that these investments violate both domestic and international law as well as contravening UK Government policy and the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) formal opinion in July this year concerning Israeli apartheid, the illegality of Israeli settlements and Israel’s annexation of Palestinian territory.
All Souls is registered as UK charity #1138057, making it subject to charity law and regulation by the Charity Commission. The ICJ’s ‘advisory opinion’ in July explicitly stated that member States and their public bodies must prevent investments that support Israel’s illegal occupation.
The college’s investments are split across four companies complicit in Israeli settlements:
- £239,725.29 in Airbnb
- £613,613.16 in Booking Holdings
- £7,761.18 in Expedia Group
- £260,631.94 in Motorola Solutions Inc.
ICJP has called on the Charity Commission to investigate these investments as a matter of urgency and to take action including but not limited to providing guidance regarding charity investment in companies operating in illegal settlements.
ICJP Legal Officer Mira Naseer said:
The International Court of Justice has been crystal clear on the illegality of Israeli settlements. Not that there was before, but there can be absolutely no excuse now for a British educational institution to remain financially complicit in illegal settlements.
This is yet another example of a university or college putting their finances above their educational duties and the Charity Commission must step in and provide guidance to charities that are making such investments.
However, the Charity Commission has repeatedly refused to take action against the Jewish National Fund (JNF) UK, even though it funds settler militia groups involved in the illegal occupation and has wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu as its patron – and despite a recent Canadian court forcing JNF Canada to close as a charity because of its funding of illegal projects on Palestinian land:
ICJP is likely to need similar legal action to force the Charity Commission to take the action it should.
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And what’ll happen?
Nowt. Nada. Zilch. Bupkis. Diddly-squat.
Just like with JNF.
YOU’RE A BORN OPTIMIST Toffee….
It’s more likely that Sir Keir (future ‘Lord KLandslide’) will
i) get his Counter Terrorism people to
ii) collect every single ICJP-owned electronic devise, and
iii) redact all FOI-disclosed information on them and the cloud,
THEN – the very second the Anti-Terrorism police report to him that they
iv) found on the devices evidence of the location of Sadam Hussein’s WMD (the bed of the Baltic sea),
v) have all ICJP device-owners immediately Extraordinary Rendition ed to Guantanamo Bay for
vi) blowing up the NordSream 1 + 2 Russian gas pipelines, then immediately (due process/due process)..
vii) designate the ICJP a “proscribed” organisation, which (dirty terrorists)
viii) facilitated the cost of greed/living crisis (SEE – it wasn’t a schmcovid19 Depression)
,I’m hearing Sir K-landslide putting on his best George Peppard voice and saying “I love it when a plan comes together” and remembering Sir Keir is no A-Team leader.
Now you put it like that, I guess I am 🙄
Test post – please ignore (if this gets through).
unz