Tag: Norway

Adalah-NY: Norway Divests from Leviev Companies Due to Israeli Settlement Construction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Norway's Coat of Arms — Norway divests from companies illegally building Israeli settlements.

New York, NY – In a major victory for the international movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, the Norwegian government announced today that it has divested from Lev Leviev’s company Africa Israel Investments and its construction subsidiary Danya Cebus due to their construction of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The move followed a campaign of more than a year by affected Palestinian villages of Bil’in and Jayyous and by Norwegian, Palestinian, Israeli, and international activist groups, including Adalah-NY, calling on the Norwegian government to divest from Africa Israel.

The companies of Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev have been the target of a boycott campaign that led UNICEF and Oxfam to renounce donations from Leviev, the British government to sever business ties with Leviev, celebrities to seek distance from him, and divestment by other major investment firms.

Mohammed Khatib representing the West Bank village of Bil’in’s Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements commented,

We’ve achieved another major victory in our struggle of protests and boycotts against Israeli apartheid. On April 21st, 2009 we wrote the government of Norway calling for them to divest from Africa Israel because it is one company that built the settlement of Mattityahu East on Bil’in’s land, and they responded that they were investigating. It is victories like this that demonstrate our commitment to continue our struggle for justice, despite Israel’s efforts to crush it through a campaign of arrests and intimidation, targeting activists like Abdallah Abu Rahmah from Bil’in who will be sentenced tomorrow for being an organizer.

Palestinian protest and boycott organizers like Abu Rahmah, Khatib, Mohammad Othman from Jayyous and Jamal Juma’ have all been arrested recently by Israel for their nonviolent activities, and Israel’s Knesset is reviewing a bill to criminalize pro-boycott activities by Israeli citizens.

In addition to divesting from Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus, the Norwegian Government announced divestment from the Malaysian Company Samling Global over its forestry operations. The Norwegian government had previously divested from the Israeli company Elbit Systems, due to its role in building Israel’s wall in the Occupied West Bank in violation of international law. The Norwegian government is maintaining its holdings in another Africa Israel subsidiary, Africa Israel Properties, saying it is not directly involved in settlement construction.

Riham Barghouti from Adalah-NY explained,

I met with a senior advisor from Norway’s Council on Ethics at their Oslo offices in May, 2010 to encourage them to divest from Africa Israel. So I’m glad to see that the Norwegian government has upheld its commitment to international law, and we encourage them to continue reviewing and divesting from other companies in their portfolio that are complicit in Israeli apartheid, including Africa Israel Properties.

Jamal Juma’, the Coordinator of the Stop the Wall Campaign and a member of the Palestinian Boycott National Committee, noted,

We appreciate the Norwegian Finance Ministry’s commitment to upholding international law through continuing to divest from companies profiting from Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people. It is a significant milestone in the Palestinian-led BDS movement aimed at holding Israel accountable for its violations of international and humanitarian law. We hope that the Norwegian Pension fund will fully divest from Israeli crimes through severing links with all Israeli companies and international companies complicit with Israeli violations of international law, and hope that other governments follow the lead of Norway until Israel ends its oppression and occupation of the Palestinian people.

On April 21, 2009, Bil’in’s Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements sent a letter to Norway’s Council on Ethics calling for Norway to divest from Africa Israel. The West Bank village of Jayyous where a different Leviev company, Leader Management and Development, is building the Zufim settlement, followed with a May 4th letter calling on Norway to divest. On May 11, 2009, eleven organizations from Norway, Europe, Palestine, Israel and the US sent a letter to Norway’s Council on Ethics supporting the letters from Bil’in and Jayyous.

Sharif Omar of Jayyous’ Land Defence Committee added,

We welcome this decision by the Norwegian government to divest from some of Leviev’s companies. But another Leviev company, Leader Management and Development, continues today to build settlements on Jayyous’ land. We call for additional international action to pressure these companies and the Israeli government to end construction and return our stolen farmland.

Why stop with Elbit?

Amira Hass | Ha’aretz

9 September 2009

The question is not why Norway divested from the defense electronics giant Elbit Systems, but why only now, and why only from that company? The country that gave the name of its capital city to what the world thought of as a peace process is still invested in companies involved in construction and development in the West Bank settlements – the principal factor in destroying any chance for peace (at least any peace other than the belligerent demand that the Palestinians say “thank you” for what Israel is willing to give them).

From the outset, instead of rebuking the Norwegian ambassador, the Foreign Ministry and Defense Minister Ehud Barak should have actually praised the citizens of Norway. Through their government pension fund, which invests oil revenues in 8,000 companies around the world for the sake of Norway’s future generations, those citizens continue to be active partners in Israeli construction in the West Bank.

Africa Israel (if its shares have not already been sold for purely economic reasons), Israeli banks that give mortgages to settlers, a Mexican company that has plants in the settlements and is a partner in mining in occupied territory, Israeli firms whose plants are in the occupied West Bank – these are just some of the over 40 Israeli and international companies that are involved in solidifying Israel’s occupation, and in which Norway invests, according to data from the “Who Profits” project, run by the Coalition of Women for Peace.

The Norwegian Finance Ministry’s Council on Ethics, which recommended that the pension fund pull its investment from Elbit, also explained why it would divest from that company but not, say, from the U.S. company Caterpillar. Elbit, it said, developed equipment used specifically in the construction of the separation barrier, while the equipment sold by Caterpillar to the Israel Defense Forces has legitimate uses as well, and the company should not be held responsible for it being employed in another, possibly illegal, way (namely, the wholesale destruction of Palestinian homes).

The council extended this conclusion to other companies involved in building the separation barrier that also benefited from Norwegian investment. In this way it corresponds indirectly with left-wing Norwegian activists, and with Palestinian and Israeli anti-occupation activists, providing a basis for their suspicions that the fund’s ethics guidelines have been violated. Those guidelines forbid investment in companies that “contribute to serious or systematic human-rights violations,” and are in blatant contradiction to the will or pretense of moving Israel and the Palestinians toward a just agreement.

And still, it seems that the Foreign Ministry and Barak know full well why they were so quick to issue a rebuke, and are once again trying to sow fear, forcing Norway to lower the bar it has set for itself and other countries, and blocking in advance the logical path the recommendations have paved. This is the first time a nation has adopted – actively and not just with words – the opinion of the International Court of Justice in the Hague about the separation barrier, 87 percent of which is built on occupied land, in contravention of international law.

If building the barrier is in itself illegal, it follows that so are the settlements, roads and factories serving the occupation. The Norwegian foreign minister also noted that the ICJ had ruled that it is the obligation of countries signatory to the Fourth Geneva Convention to prevent that charter’s violation.

It is said that members of the ethics council are not influenced by social or political pressure. But the very creation of the council in 2004 stemmed from public pressure and struggle. We can only hope that forces within the Norwegian public continue to tell their government (even if it is replaced this month by a right-wing administration) that it is obligated not to drag them into being an accomplice.

Oslo pressured to dump Africa Israel as well

Nimrod Halpern | Ha’aretz

7 September 2009

A day after Norway announced its divestment from holdings in electronics defense company Elbit Systems for ideological reasons, human rights organizations are calling on Oslo to dump its holdings in Africa Israel Investments as well.

Norway’s problem with Elbit Systems is its provision of equipment to monitor the separation fence between Israel and the Palestinian territories. The human rights organizations’ problem with Africa Israel is the role of subsidiary Danya Cebus in building homes in West Bank settlements, reports the Adnkronos International Web site.

The human rights organization Adalah argues that the Africa Israel group, led by Lev Leviev, is violating international law through its construction activity in the territories.

The Norwegian government owns $1.1 million worth of Africa Israel stock, according to figures from Norway’s central bank, Norges Bank.

Leviev was also recently put under pressure after announcing major liquidity problems with the Africa Israel group.

The British charity Oxfam and United Nations’ fund UNICEF have rejected donations from Leviev. In March, the British embassy in Israel decided against leasing a floor in a building owned by Africa Israel.

Last month, the investments fund Blackrock, which had been the second biggest shareholder in Africa Israel, wiped out its holdings in the company because of pressure from Scandinavian funds.

Blackrock denied that its decision resulted from pressure following Africa Israel’s construction in the West Bank.

Norway divests from Israel defense firm over ties to West Bank fence

Amira Hass | Ha’aretz

3 September 2009

The Norwegian government has decided to pull all of its investments from Israeli arms firm Elbit as a result of it involvement in the construction of the West Bank separation fence, the Norwegian Finance Minister announced on Thursday.

Kristin Halvorsen, speaking at a Oslo press conference, said that the decision was based on the recommendation of Norway’s Ministry of Finance council on ethics, whose role is to ensure that government investments abroad meet ethical guidelines.

“We do not wish to fund companies that so directly contribute to violations of international humanitarian law,” Halvorsen was quoted as saying in a Norwatch report.

Elbit manufactures the monitoring system installed on several parts of the West Bank separation fence.

The recommendation submitted by the Ministry of Finance council on ethics stated that it considered “the fund’s investment in Elbit to constitute an unacceptable risk of complicity in serious violations of fundamental ethical norms.”

The council is thus explicitly referring to a 2004 International Court of Justice ruling, stating that the separation fence represented a breach of international law.

Palestinian as well as Israeli anti-occupation groups, aided by Norwegian leftists, have all protested extensively against Norwegian involvement in companies involved in West Bank development and construction over last two years, which have seen an increase in Norway’s investment in Israeli firms.

Norway’s pension fund is invested in 41 different Israeli companies.

A research project by the Coalition of Women for Peace called “Who profits from the occupation” found that almost two thirds of those firms are involved in West Bank construction and development.

Norway examines the ethics of its Israel investments

Amira Hass | Ha’aretz

28 July 2009

Norway is reexamining its investments in several Israeli companies, in particular Elbit Systems. Two representatives of the Council on Ethics of the Norwegian finance ministry visited Israel at the beginning of June, in the wake of growing criticism of Israel in Norway in the months following last winter’s Israeli offensive in Gaza. The representatives met with, among others, groups of Palestinians and Israelis who claim that Norway invests in businesses directly involved in the Israeli occupation, which, they say, contradicts its commitment to abide by international law and to a just solution for the area.

The Council on Ethics was established to insure that foreign investments by the Norwegian Government Pension Fund-Global meet its ethical guidelines. At the end of 2008, the fund was invested in about 8,000 international companies, to the tune of 2,275 billion kroner, approximately $365 billion, according to this week’s exchange rate.

Of that amount, the Norwegian investment in Israeli companies totaled some 2.67 billion kroner, about $428 million, with another 627 million kroner in bonds, about $100 million. According to the Central Bank of Norway, the investment in Elbit Systems, which manufactures electronic equipment used by military and other security organizations, was 35 million kroner at the end of 2008, about $5.75 million, a little under a third of 1 percent of the company’s stock. The year 2008 saw a significant increase in the number of Israeli companies whose stock the Norwegian fund purchased, from eight in January to 41 by December.

Nearly two-thirds of the 41 companies are involved in development and building in the occupied territories, including the parts that were annexed to Jerusalem after the 1967 war. Another 11 international companies in which the Norwegians invest are also involved in the activities of Israeli companies on the other side of the Green Line, according to the “Who Profits from the Occupation” project of the Coalition of Women for Peace.

Earlier call for boycott

The Council on Ethics does not usually confirm or deny reports on the checks it conducts. But the examination of Israeli investments became known because representatives of the council met with the Israeli ambassador to Norway in Oslo before their visit to Israel. According to newspaper reports, Norwegian Finance Minister Kristin Halverson announced at the height of Operation Cast Lead, in Gaza last winter, that the pension fund was obligated to examine its Israeli investments.

The fund’s chairwoman, Gro Nystuen, told Haaretz that the Norwegian finance ministry itself published an announcement that investments in Elbit were under scrutiny, information that members of the council are themselves not allowed to volunteer. Finance Minister Halverson is a member of the Socialist Left Party, a partner of the Labor and Center parties in the coalition government. In 2005, when her party was in the opposition, Halverson called for a boycott of Israel. But after voicing a similar statement as a member of the government’s ruling coalition, she then recanted, when the government made clear that this was not official Norwegian policy toward Israel. The Socialist Left Party was among the most persistent political forces demanding the implementation of ethical guidelines for government investments.

The representatives’ June visit to Israel was also not a routine one. According to Nystuen, taking into consideration that Norway invests in 8,000 companies around the world, out of a potential 80,000, it is not possible to visit each relevant country. She said that one of the representatives was planning in any case to participate in a conference taking place in Israel, and so the examination, based on existing materials in writing, was combined with an on-site visit.

People who met the council representatives during their visit in the country said two major Elbit products – surveillance systems for the separation barrier and pilotless aerial vehicles (drones), both of them causes of the reexamination – were under special scrutiny, even though the drones are not included in the Norwegian category of forbidden weapons.

Erik Hagen, who works for the independent news service Norwatch, assumes that other Israeli companies are also under scrutiny. Norwatch is monitoring whether Norway’s foreign business investments match its criteria for human rights, workers rights and protection of the environment. Hagen’s previous reports in Norwatch led to the first exclusion recommended by the Council on Ethics – from the American oil-scouting firm formerly known as Kerr-McGee, which was operating in the Sahara, in territory occupied by Morocco.

The Government Pension Fund-Global, originally the Government Petroleum Fund, is meant to insure that Norway’s oil income will be available for the welfare of future generations; it began operating in the 1990s. The Council on Ethics was established in 2004, when the fact became known that – although Norway is party to the international demand for a ban on land mines – the fund was invested in a Singaporean company that manufactured mines, and the subject became a matter of public debate in Norway.

The council’s members include two lawyers, an economist, a biologist and a philosopher. The council’s ethical guidelines do not rule out investment in companies that produce weapons. A prohibition does, however, apply to producers of nuclear or chemical weapons, cluster bombs, land mines, and incendiary weapons of all types, such as napalm.

According to the guidelines, the fund may not invest in companies that “constitute an unacceptable risk of the Fund contributing to serious or systematic human rights violations, such as murder, torture, deprivation of liberty, forced labor, the worst forms of child labor and other forms of child exploitation, serious violations of individuals’ rights in situations of war or conflict, severe environmental damages, gross corruption or other particularly serious violations of fundamental ethical norms.” The council inspects the nature of the company’s products, and does not examine governments’ policies in countries where the Fund invests. Since its establishment, the council has recommended excluding some 30 companies and the Norwegian finance ministry adopted the majority of these recommendations.

The council has examined its holdings in Israel twice before: in 2006, when the fund was invested in only five Israeli companies, and in 2008 and 2009, when investments in Israel Electric Corporation bonds came under scrutiny. At that time the council decided there was no reason to withdraw its holdings, for it found no evidence that the electric company was involved as a company in the withholding of electric supply to the Gaza Strip. The examination and recommendation processes are likely to take many months; sometimes they can take as much as a year. If the recommendation is to exclude a company, and the Norwegian finance ministry adopts it, the decision will be made public only after the stocks are sold.