Unite Union is proud of its commitments to peace, justice and solidarity. From these foundations, Unite has long been a supporter of the Palestinian people. Unite uses every tool at its disposal to advance its goals and principles. We have been given a mandate and responsibility from our membership to this end.
Unite has previously endorsed the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions campaign targeting companies that profit from Israeli apartheid. Previously this has meant Unite has committed to not using HP products in our organisation.
This year Unite has been reviewing its financial systems, and were mainly banking with ASB. We have decided to transfer our banking services away from ASB. We are currently completing the process of transitioning to a more ethical provider. BDS and ASB's position was a contributing factor in this decision
Don’t Bank on Apartheid!
Don’t Bank on Apartheid is a Aotearoa-based campaign that responds to the call of Palestinian civil society for boycott, divestment and sanctions on Israel until it complies with international law.
Israel is only able to maintain its apartheid regime, systematically and violently discriminating against Palestinians, and to expand its illegal settlements because of material support from the international community, including through unethical investments by global financial institutions
The vision for this campaign is a future in which New Zealanders’ money is not invested in Israel’s apartheid and ongoing colonisation in Palestine, in breach of international law.
We will achieve this by focusing our pressure on specific financial institutions to divest from Israel, or we will divest from them.
We’re starting by targeting ASB and its Kiwisaver funds’ that have investments in Motorola Inc., which is included in a UN list of businesses involved in activities that contribute to the Israeli settlements which are illegal under international law. But all financial institutions are on notice that New Zealanders don’t want their money invested in Israel’s discrimination and colonisation. If they continue to bank on apartheid, we’ll divest from them!
With integrity to the ethical and anti-racist principles of BDS movement the Don’t Bank on Apartheid campaign seeks to ground these principles in the context of Aotearoa. Alongside rejecting all forms of racism including anti-semitism and Islamophobia, a kaupapa which opposes settler colonialism abroad must respect the authority of mana whenua in our respective rohe. Working alongside iwi Māori to honour, defend and advance Te Tiriti o Waitangi is critical to opposing the colonisation of Palestine.
The campaign is the collective effort of the Palestinian solidarity movement of Aotearoa.
From: Justice for Palestine.
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