M E C is a working committee of Women Against Military Madness focusing on Palestine
original post: January 29, 2010
The Swedes Stand Firm for Justice
By Polly Mann
(Minneapolis) While the DFL Party has ensured that the resolution passed by its obstreperous Progressive Caucus calling for the State of Minnesota to disinvest from Israeli bonds, was headed nowhere but the waste basket, the Danske and Pensioner banks of Swedish have decided to withdraw all their investments from two Israeli companies for their roles in constructing the apartheid wall built on Palestinian land in the West Bank. The decision came after human rights groups and boycott campaigns declared the wall to be in violation of an advisory ruling made by the Hague International Court.
The banks also decided to divest from the Africa-Israel Company, owned by Jewish billionaire Lev Leviev, for its role in financing the construction of settlements and the wall and also from the Elbit Systems which provide Israel with surveillance equipment installed atop the annexation wall.
The Pensioners Bank also decided to withdraw investments from American Detection Systems for its role in the wall’s construction.
None of this, however, deters Israel which has announced its intention to begin construction of the wall on Palestinian land west of Ramallah. This new section will annex more Palestinian land in order to expand the illegal settlement of Illit.
Polly Mann is a founding member of Women Against Military Madness and part of the WAMM Middle East Committee.
