CAMPAIGNERS across Britain are stepping up pressure on councils to end ties with weapons companies that are complicit in “Israel’s apartheid” through their pensions schemes.
Lewisham residents and activists will hold a rally outside Lewisham Town Hall on Wednesday October 2, as councillors hold their regular meeting.
The rally will demand that the council disclose and divest the pension scheme it manages away from arms manufacturers.
The action follows the passing of a resolution this month by the council’s pensions investment committee to explore divesting Lewisham’s pension funds from companies involved in arms trade, facilitating human rights abuses and operating in illegally occupied Palestinian territories.
Cllr Liam Shrivastava, who seconded the resolution, warned 13.4 per cent of the council’s pension fund is managed by BlackRock, which holds significant investments in Israel and arms companies including Lockheed Martin, RTX Northrop Grumman, Boeing and General Dynamics.
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