Pension Giant Nixes Vote on ‘Divestment’
JNS.org //
The U.S. pension giant TIAA-CREF announced it would not allow a vote on an Israel divestment resolution at its upcoming shareholders meeting.
The announcement by TIAA-CREF came after it received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to “take no action” regarding the boycott, dvestment and sanctions (BDS) resolution as well as warnings from the Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center, an Israeli civil rights group, that the passage of the resolution would violate New York State and federal anti-discrimination laws.
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The pro-Israel education group StandWithUs—which has actively worked on this issue for years, attending TIAA-CREF shareholders meetings to counter efforts by Jewish Voices for Peace and other groups who lobbied the pension giant to divest from Israel—praised TIAA-CREF’s decision.
“StandWithUs commends TIAA-CREF for not putting the BDS resolution to a vote this year, thereby ensuring the shareholders meeting will focus solely on TIAA-CREF business,” Avi Posnick, the New York regional coordinator for StandWithUs, told JNS.org.
Additionally, StandWithUs noted that JVP and other pro-BDS groups falsely claimed that Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) was dropped from TIAA-CREF’s “socially responsible” fund due to their pressure over CAT’s involvement in Israel. According to a press release from MSCI, a research firm that provides portfolio assessment, CAT was actually dropped from the fund over its closure of a locomotive plant in Canada.
“It is clear that the anti-Israel movement will continue to obsessively spread misinformation about Israel, which will do nothing to advance peace between Israelis and the Palestinians,” Posnick told JNS.org.
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