Sunday, December 4, 2011

To CalPERS and CalSTRS : California Rejects Divestment

Its been 8 month and the divestment petition urging CalPRES and CalSTRS to divest from companies doing business in Israel is going down for the third time. After 8 months, less than 5,000 names are on the petition- the vast majority identifying themselves only as "California taxpayers"- with no funds invested in CalPERS or CalSTRS.

Organizers are in panic mode. The original intention was to present the petition to Fund administrators on Dec.12, no doubt accompanied by massive press releases declaring "California urges divestment from Israeli Apartheid"

From Sherna Gluck via Al Awda.

Note the charming new definition of "California tax-payer"- anyone who makes a purchase in California.

"We are getting down to the wire, going to PERS Investment Committee on December 12th with the IDC petition and a pretty compelling report/argument. We are making a final push in order to reach 5,000 signatures. Another 100 +_/- will do it.l Please forward widely to all your contacts in California. .

Remember, anyone who nakes any purchase in California is a tax-payer, so that means students, too.

ANYTHING you can do to help us reach that goal would be fantastic."

Onward!

Sherna



Dear Friends,

On December 12th, members of the Israel Divestment Campaign (IDC) will be presenting a petition to CalPERS (the Public Employee Retirement System), the largest public pension fund in the US) calling on it to start the process that leads to divestment. The campaign has targeted some of the companies that facilitate/profit from Israeli violation of human rights, International law, and UN Resolutions, including: Caterpillar, Elbit and Veolia.

I hope that you will help the campaign reach its goal by signing the petition online today! www.israeldivestmentcampaign.org/petition.htm
and be sure to respond to the automated message after you sign asking you to confirm your signature.

I signed, won't you?

December 1st, 2011
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition calls on its members and supporters to join the global effort to bring freedom and justice to Palestine.

This is the most significant BDS Project based in California and we need your help and support.

On December 12th, members of the Israel Divestment Campaign (IDC) will be presenting its petition to CalPERS (the Public Employee Retirement System), the largest public pension fund in the US, calling on it to start the process that leads to divestment. They have targeted some of the companies that facilitate/profit from Israeli violation of human rights, International law, and UN Resolutions, including: Caterpillar, Elbit and Veolia.

Help the campaign reach its goal by signing the petition online today!:

israeldivestmentcampaign.org/petition.htm

Be sure to respond to the automated message after you sign asking you to confirm your signature.

Please distribute this email widely!

Al Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition


What can you do? Drop CalPERS a line. Ask them to ignore the haters, and not to capitulate to extremist political groups while investing your retirement money.

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