Aletho News

ΑΛΗΘΩΣ

Norwegian fund drops stake in US construction giant over Palestinian home demolitions

(Photo Credit: Kobi Gideon/Flash90)
The Cradle | June 26, 2024

Norway’s largest private pension fund, Kommunal Landspensjonskasse Gjensidig Forsikringsselska (KLP), has dropped its stake in US construction giant Caterpillar Inc, citing “concerns” the company is contributing to the destruction of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank.

“Although Caterpillar has shown itself willing to engage in a dialogue with KLP, the company’s responses failed to credibly substantiate its ability to actually reduce the risk of violating the rights of individuals in situations of war or conflict, or of violating international law,” Kiran Aziz, the firm’s head of responsible investments, told Bloomberg.

Aziz highlighted that KLP dropped $69 million worth of Caterpillar shares and bonds earlier this month over the Texas-based company’s equipment being used “to demolish Palestinian homes and infrastructure to clear the way for Israeli settlements.”

She also cited allegations that Caterpillar equipment is being used by the Israeli army in Gaza.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights last week named Caterpillar among several corporations supplying Israel with military equipment and urged investors with stakes in these companies to “take action.”

“These companies, by sending weapons, parts, components, and ammunition to Israeli forces, risk being complicit in serious violations of international human rights and international humanitarian laws,” the UN statement reads.

The UN report also urged western financial institutions and investing firms like Bank of America, BlackRock, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Harris Associates, Morgan Stanley, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, and Wells Fargo & Company – among many others – to “take action” and prevent funding the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza.

The decision by KLP comes one month after the Norwegian government officially moved to recognize a Palestinian state alongside Spain and Ireland.

“For more than 30 years, Norway has been one of the strongest advocates for a Palestinian state. Today, when Norway officially recognizes Palestine as a state, is a milestone in the relationship between Norway and Palestine,” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said on 28 May.

On Wednesday, Palestinian media reported that the Israeli army demolished nine homes in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, and another in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1948.

According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Israel conducted “47 demolitions, affecting 66 facilities, including 35 inhabited homes, five uninhabited, and 15 agricultural and other facilities,” across the West Bank in May.

June 26, 2024 - Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism, War Crimes | , , ,

2 Comments »

  1. And if CAT refuses to sell its equipment to Judeofascist Israel (who, btw, are using taxpayer’s hard earned money to buy CAT equipment, underwritten by corrupt, politically correct Dems and Zionist GOP politicos) then the Judeofascists will shriek “antisemitism” and claim CAT is in violation of ZOG’s “rules based order”.

    CAT is damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

    The problem is these Big Brother bodies of “elites” (like the UN) who get corrupted by these Judeofascists, Zionists and kosher liberals, and then start punishing industry for their sins, in what amounts to another shakedown racket.

    Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, said Jesus Christ. The Judeofascists have corrupted everyone and everything, and sit in their whitewashed capitols and hallowed presidiums shaking down industries and individuals caught in their vile web.

    Like

    Comment by Chris Moore | June 26, 2024 | Reply

  2. I threw out my Cat boots and vowed never to use any Caterpillar product the day they murdered Rachel Corrie.

    Like

    Comment by peterjohnarnold | June 27, 2024 | Reply


Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.