Like councils all over Britain, Kensington & Chelsea (RBKC) has resisted calls to divest its staff pension funds from the lucrative war industry, and specifically from companies enabling Israel’s genocide of the indigenous Palestinians. Unlike councils all over Britain, RBKC has spent eight years claiming to be a local authority administering a profound transformation to make itself open, engaged, and fair. In supporting genocide the Grenfell Council is revealing its true face.

Divestment

Residents and councillors have pushed for RBKC to divest from companies known to be enabling Israel’s crimes. In April a group presented their arguments to RBKC’s Investment Committee, citing £18.4 million of investments from the council’s pension fund into weapons and tech companies complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Taking almost two months to respond, RBKC’s Lead Member for Finance, Cllr Cem Kemahli explained to a concerned resident that divestment remains “a matter of discretion” for the council. Cllr Kemahli also referenced the motion calling on RBKC to support a ceasefire and immediately divest in January, which councillors voted down. Kemahli stated that this vote “reflects the Council’s current position on divestment.”

Explanation

The Conservative councillor also explained that RBKC’s investment decisions are guided by the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), an organisation representing 86 local government pension funds. In his letter, Cllr Kemahli told anti-genocide campaigners that RBKC takes its lead from the LAPFF when it comes to environmental, social and governance issues. Kemahli stated that the cross-bench Investment Committee at RBKC shares the approach of the LAPFF in believing that “dialogue” with weapons companies regarding their human rights records “will better preserve the Fund’s ability to influence companies positively” than divestment.

In 2020 the LAPFF initiated “correspondence” with companies identified by the United Nations as complicit in Israel’s theft of Palestinian land. Zionist lobbyists responded by pressuring local authorities to resist divestment. The lobbying seems to have worked as the LAPFF now refuses to take a position on Israel’s violations of international law, despite their members being implicated through their investments.

Despite Israel’s crimes being obvious to anybody paying any attention, local authorities like RBKC have hidden behind some counterintuitive legal opinions. Last year, Nigel Giffin, King’s Counsel, told the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board that it is “not unlawful” to invest in “entities involved in activities related to Israel’s actions concerning Gaza”.

And Westminster Council’s Pension Fund Committee published a report that went even further, claiming that “there is insufficient public evidence to conclusively determine that Israel is committing ICC (International Criminal Court) offenses, so administering authorities cannot be considered to have the necessary criminal intent” – this despite the ICC issuing arrest warrants for Israeli PM Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Gallant.

RBKC

As you read this, children are being starved to death in the Gaza Strip death camp as part of an explicit policy of ethnic cleansing, yet RBKC is content to continue business as usual. Eight years on from its Grenfell Tower atrocity, the council dismisses the concerns of residents and councillors about genocide. The conceit of the richest local authority in Britain is so extreme that they not only believe that they have “changed” since Grenfell, they also want the public to believe that their Zionism reflects their newfound virtue. In his letter, Cllr Kemahli explained that by investing staff money in the companies that enable the mass murder of Palestinians, RBKC will “actively continue to promote positive change through engagement”.

They either believe this nonsense or they are knowingly lying to their residents. Either way, they are deeply unserious.

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by Tom Charles @urbandandyldn @tomhcharles

art by Ayman Farag @abusufsafs

See below for Councillor Cem Kemahli’s letter on behalf of RBKC in full.