State-owned Norwegian pension fund divests from Israeli company
24 August 2010
The Government Pension Fund of Norway (GPFG) has divested from two Israeli firms and a Malaysian business claiming they engage in “grossly unethical activity”. The Ministry of Finance, which sets the financial guidelines for the fund, has excluded Africa-Israel Investments and its subsidiary Danya Cebus, as well as Malaysian company Samling Global.
"The decision to exclude these companies from the GPFG is based on the Council on Ethics assessment that they are contributing to or are themselves responsible for grossly unethical activity," Finance Minister Sigbjørn Johnsen was quoted as saying. Africa-Israel Investments is the majority owner of Danya, which develops Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance said in a press release.
"The Council on Ethics bases its recommendation on the fact that the international community is united in the view that the area east of the 1967 line is occupied territory and as such comes under the purview of the fourth Geneva Convention. Several United Nations Security Council resolutions and an International Court of Justice advisory opinion have concluded that the construction of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory is prohibited under this Convention," says Johnsen.
Samling Global, a producer of timber, plywood, veneer and palm oil, has operations in Malaysia and Guyana that contribute to illegal logging and environmental damage, the Ministry claimed.
The fund, which is managed by Norway’s Central Bank, owned around US$ 1.2 million worth of stock in Africa-Israel Investments. The GPFG’s total assets are worth US$ 450 billion.
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What "the international community is united in" is Jew-hatred; and that includes Norway. Almost everything the Council of Ethics (ha!) claims is either wrong or a lie. The legal status of West Bank land is very complex, but that "territory" is not "occupied." And so-called "Palestinians" were invented a few decades back.
Gershone...Don't hold your breath. As the song says, 'If you've a date in Constantinopol, she'll be waiting in Istanbul'.
Read the recent George Will article. He says that the are east of the green line of 1967 is legally Israel's because Jordan attacked Israel and lost. That is too bad. Turkey was conquered from its previous owners without a provocation. Are they turks going to leave Constantinopol and give it back? I AM WAITING....
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World Jewish Congress Secretary General Dan Diker speaks on the upcoming debate at the United Nations about the unilateral declaration of statehood by the Palestinians.
Raanan Gilboa, about 1 year ago
Israel's mistake was not returning the west bank to Jordan after the war with some minor teritorial boundary changes including keeping parts of east Jerusalem etc. That would have meant no Palestinian refugee problem.