The ADL’s war on socially conscious investing is in service to Israel and the new oligarchy

 

Early this year investment research firm Morningstar caved to a multi-year ADL pressure campaign and exempted Israel from its socially responsible investing ratings. This success in exempting Israel from investor accountability is just the beginning.

In late February, just in time for its annual “Never is Now” conference, the ADL announced it had created an exchange traded fund (ETF), stock symbol TOV, so people could invest according to “Jewish values.” However, it will likely not surprise you that TOV, Hebrew for good, it turns out is not so tov.

The fund’s “Jewish Values” include investments in the major oil companies, the major defense contractors, and surveillance and spyware specialists like Palantir and Crowdstrike. In fact, the only S&P 500 companies excluded from TOV are two tobacco companies, a company that mines tar sands, and General Mills because that company sold its stake in a Jerusalem-based subsidiary.

What’s going on here? When did the ADL turn into an investment advisor?

It turns out this is part and parcel of the ADL’s campaign against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In fact, the ADL is aggregating stock ownership as just one part of a broad campaign to pressure companies to adopt pro-Israel policies, and remain quiet on Israeli state violence and human rights abuses.  (more...)

The ADL’s war on socially conscious investing is in service to Israel and the new oligarchy

How Miami Beach Became a Lab for Pro-Israel Censorship Laws

 

Despite winning an Oscar, the Israeli-Palestinian-made film No Other Land cannot be found on any streaming platforms in the United States, making independent cinemas the only places to view it. However, in Miami Beach, even featuring the film will get you labeled an antisemite and kicked out of the city.

Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner, who is Jewish and has deep personal and political ties to Israel, stirred controversy last week for seeking to shut down an independent art house cinema over its showing of the “No Other Land” documentary after attempting to pressure organizers to cancel a planned screening. Meiner claims that the film is antisemitic and a “propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our City and residents.”

The Mayor’s crusade against the cinema for daring to show an Oscar-winning film that is critical of Israel has led him to push through a draft resolution to halt a future grant payment of $40,000 to the nonprofit O Cinema in South Beach, Florida. Meiner is also pursuing legislative efforts to terminate a lease agreement with the independent theater that screened the film.

Despite its global success, “No Other Land” is currently not available to stream in the United States due to “political sensitivities.” This has meant that only a select number of independent theaters have been able to show the documentary.

Although the accusations made against the film claim that it is “an attack on the Jewish people,” “No Other Land” was actually created through a collaborative effort between two Israeli Jews and two Palestinians—Hamdan Ballal, Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor. Some Palestinian groups have even criticized the film for violating “anti-normalization guidelines,” according to a statement published by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).

Yet, for Mayor Meiner, Israeli involvement in the film’s production does not grant it any legitimacy. His intolerance for the documentary is consistent with Miami Beach’s broader crackdown on pro-Palestine advocacy. In March 2024, a city commission draft resolution was passed restricting the time, place, and manner of protests against Israeli policy.  (more...)

How Miami Beach Became a Lab for Pro-Israel Censorship Laws

Celebrating the 76th Independence Day of the modern State of Israel tonight at Hebrew Academy! I stand with Israel today, tomorrow and forever! 🇮🇱 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/vt7LRhRuCN

— Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner (@StevenMeiner) May 14, 2024

German Militarism is Back. Why That's Bad for Everyone

 

Brian and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss Trump's demands that European countries double their military spending, and the new German government has embraced the open remilitarization of Germany--a major shift in policy for Germany since the defeat of Hitler and Nazism in 1945.

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.

How Can We Stop The Wars?

 

Gaza ceasefire broken by Israel? Europe against Trump in Ukraine?

Are parents breaking Canadian law with 4 kids in Israel’s military?

 

“Any person who, within Canada, recruits or otherwise induces any person or body of persons to enlist or to accept any commission or engagement in the armed forces of any foreign state or other armed forces operating in that state is guilty of an offence.” Foreign Enlistment Act

Should Gil Troy and Linda Adams be investigated for violating Canada’s Foreign Enlistment Act? How about the parents of other Canadians who have joined the Israeli military?

Recently Find IDF Soldiers was created to detail Canadians who’ve enlisted with the Israeli military. In response to the website listing his four children (Aviv Troy, Dina Troy, Lia Troy and Yoni Troy), prominent McGill professor Gil Troy wrote “Mocking the Canadian-IDF enemies list: Entering Bizarro world”. In his Jerusalem Post commentary Gil wrote, “Our universe has turned topsy-turvy, with Palestinians’ global amen chorus romanticizing Hamas mass murderers while trying to demonize and criminalize Israel’s heroic soldiers.”

Gil Troy speaks regularly at events put on by the Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto Jewish Federations as well as its advocacy agent the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. Gil’s wife, Linda Adams, is the daughter of deceased Montreal billionaire Marcel Adams and her brother, Sylvan, is “self-appointed ambassador-at-large for Israel” and an aggressive proponent of suppressing anti-genocide students at McGill (where he’s a major donor).

Gil has written celebrating each of his children for joining the occupation force. In a 2013 Jerusalem Post article headlined “To my daughter, upon joining the IDF”, Gil stated, “You did it. This morning, you marched off to the Army. …we are so proud of your decision to serve. You know what you are sacrificing. In today’s Israel your two-year gift to the Jewish people is essentially voluntary.” While Gil is still a “distinguished scholar” at McGill, the family appears to have largely moved to Israel in 2013. In the 2017 article “A letter to my son as he enlists in the Israeli army”, Gil promotes the colonialist character of another of his child’s military service. He wrote, “Once, the Colt .45 revolver was the Wild West’s ‘Peacemaker’; today, you and your buddies are the Middle East’s peacemakers – protecting the civilized world against Islamist terrorism.”  (more...)

Are parents breaking Canadian law with 4 kids in Israel’s military?

Legal coalition to pursue Israelis accused of war crimes around the world

 

“We're here as part of the launch of the Global 195 Initiative to seek accountability of Israeli war criminals and those who are enabling them around the world.“

Lawyers have launched a global coalition to pursue legal action around the world against Israelis and Israeli dual nationals accused of involvement in suspected war crimes in Gaza.

At a launch event in London on Tuesday, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) said the Global 195 initiative would seek to use domestic and international legal mechanisms to seek justice against Israeli soldiers and others "spanning the entire Israeli military and political chain of command".

The press conference included legal scholars from Bosnia, Canada, Malaysia, Norway and Turkey, who will be working with the ICJP in bringing cases against nationals suspected of committing war crimes in Gaza.

Shawn Martinez, who heads the ICJP's branch in Canada, said several Canadian lawyers were working to prosecute Canadian nationals and charities who are fundraising or fighting for the Israeli army.

This latest project is one of several that have been launched since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza in 2023.

Can Canada get any more bizarre?

 

Yves Engler discussed pursuing parents whose kids join the Israeli military, Syria, an embarrassingly opportunistic NDP military policy, the rapid shift on F35s and possibilities in the federal election.