Councillor Surgery Guidance 

Demand your councillor puts pressure on Croydon Council to divest!

Please note that this is a live document, subject to change as more information comes about or circumstances change. Most of this information was taken from PSC’s Divest for Palestine leaflet, their Guide for Campaigners and the Local Government Pension Scheme Divest page.

This document serves as a guide for having a conversation with your local councillor.

Your local councillors should hold a councillor surgery, which you can attend to raise issues and ask questions. Find out when your local councillor's surgery is on Croydon Council’s website here under each councillors profile. Most of the time you can drop-in, but for some you may need to book an appointment. If it’s not listed, email them to ask when theirs is.

Remember the aim is to create leverage. You want your councillor to push Croydon Council to divest - and for that to happen, they need to be on board. Try to approach your councillor in a friendly way.

Waltham Forest for a Free Palestine has useful information on this from page 6 in their toolkit here.

The Background

Israel can only carry out its grave breaches of international law and Palestinian human rights because of products, equipment and services it receives from companies and financial institutions

Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s research found that LGPS funds collectively invest over £4.4billion in companies complicit in Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights. This includes:

  • Companies supplying weapons and military technology to Israel, used in its attacks on Palestinians.

  • Companies conducting business activity in Israel’s illegal settlements, on land stolen from Palestinians.

  • Companies providing infrastructure for Israel’s illegal military occupation of Palestinian land.

  • Banks providing financing to companies conducting the above activities.

Croydon’s Complicit Investments

We know Croydon has investments in:

  • ABB LTD

  • Alphabet Inc

  • Altice

  • Amazon

  • Barclays

  • Boeing

  • Booking Holdings Inc

  • Expedia

  • Ford Motor Company

  • HSBC

  • Hyundai

  • Israel Chemicals Ltd

  • Israel Government Bonds

  • Maersk

  • Mitsubishi

  • Rolls Royce

  • Siemens

  • Teva

These come to a total of at least £15,978,688!

This information is from: https://lgpsdivest.org/lgps-investments 

Top Tips - Focus On:

  • Human Lives: Innocent civilians are being murdered and our pension fund is aiding this through its investments.

    • Croydon’s Pension Fund invests almost £16 million at least. 

  • The urgency of the situation: With more time passing, more people are being killed, injured and Israel is decimating more buildings, including hospitals and refugee camps.

  • Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a powerful movement: BDS helped end apartheid in South Africa - it can help end apartheid in Palestine too.

  • Croydon Council has already divested from tobacco and committed to divesting from fossil fuels: they can divest from companies complicit in genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes too.

  • Other councils have committed to divesting, like Islington and Tower Hamlets.

  • Remember a ceasefire is just the start - we want justice and liberation for all Palestinians!

    • With the ceasefire now in place, Israel increased its offence in the West Bank.

    • Israel’s apartheid and war crimes against the Palestinian people did not start in October 2023. For example:

      • The Nakba started in 1948, leading to mass displacement of Palestinians and involved ethnic cleansing.

      • Israel imposed a siege by land, air, and sea on the Gaza Strip in 2007.

  • The UK, as a state party to the Genocide Convention, has a legal responsibility to take action to deter and prevent further genocidal acts being committed against Palestinians.

    • Croydon Council can take lead in pushing the UK to take action in preventing genocide.

  • There is a case to be made that investments in Israel are not financially profitable due to their unstable economy, and that many businesses have closed down in a short period of time. As more organisations divest, Croydon’s investments in complicit companies become more risky.

  • Read through our petition and template email beforehand to familiarise yourself with the campaign’s aims.

  • You can signpost them to more information. Our linktr.ee here and Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s website here are good starting points for resources.

Further reading