Jewish groups warn: BDS uses ESG to make gains in San Francisco Bay Area

Jewish groups sounded alarm on Tuesday about a new strategy to implement Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement policies through ESG investment in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area said in a statement that new Alameda County Board of Supervisors and San Francisco State University (SFSU) investment policies were part of a new push by local anti-Israel organizations to “distort impact investing” or “socially responsible or ethical investing” into a “tool” for BDS against Israel.

While in both cases, Israel was not explicitly named, the JCRC Bay Area noted that “BDS proponents celebrated these as advancements of their priorities.”

The San Francisco State Foundation Board of Directors ratified last Thursday an investment policy for endowed funds that committed to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing that included divestment from weapons manufacturing and contribute to violations of international law and human rights.

“As part of including human rights in its investment policy, the Foundation shall not hold any direct investments in companies that primarily engage in or profit from weapons manufacturing and will make best efforts to minimize exposure to such holdings in indirect investments,” said the new policy, which had been approved by the foundation’s investment committee in August. 

“We additionally strive not to invest in companies that consistently, knowingly, and directly facilitate or enable severe violations of international law and human rights. This commitment includes an annual review and ongoing monitoring of holdings.”

The SFSU General Union of Palestine Students praised the decision asserting the policy followed their protest encampment demands to divest from Lockheed Martin, Caterpillar, Leonardo, and Palantir. GUPS had organize protests at the Foundation meeting to show support the vote.

“As of today, these wins will now become a permanent policy that bars our university from investing in any company that violates international law,” GUPS said on Instagram. “The General Union of Palestine students calls upon every university president across the nation and internationally to divest from Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.”

New 'ethical investment policy'

Last Tuesday Bay Area Divest praised Alameda County for initiating a process to divest $32 million in public funds from Caterpillar and to adopt an “ethical investment policy.”

Council on American-Islamic Relations San Francisco Bay Area explained last Thursday that the company was involved in the destruction of Palestinian homes.

D9 Caterpillar bulldozers are used by the IDF to clear infrastructure and uncover tunnels during its war with Hamas in Gaza.

“This divestment is a victory not only for Palestinian communities, but for all marginalized people being impacted by Caterpillar equipment at home and abroad,” Bay Area Divest activist Aline Ban said in a statement. “It reflects our shared values and sends a clear message that our tax dollars will not support corporations that profit from war, apartheid, and systemic oppression.”

According to the policy, Alameda will develop investment exclusion criteria that includes “fossil fuel extraction, the production and sale of weapons, or companies with a persistent record of direct involvement in severe human rights violations, such as war crimes, apartheid, and crimes against humanity.”

CAIR-SFBA Policy Coordinator Musa Tariq said in a statement that “The decision to divest from Caterpillar sends a clear message that public funds should not support corporations complicit in human rights violations.”

JCRC said Tuesday that while Israel was not named in internal documents, Israeli companies involved in oil, gas, or weapons manufacturing may be impacted, but Israeli  renewable energy and sustainable agriculture should still qualify for investment.

The group expressed concern that Israel-based companies could be singled out using the broad mandate. As with ceasefire resolutions which “brought ugly antisemitism into our city halls and university campuses,” JCRC was concerned that the BDS campaign was “likely to result in further damage to the public safety of Bay Area Jews.”

Anti-Israel activists are “pursuing this largely hollow strategy because they recognize that explicit BDS proposals remain widely unpopular and are unlikely to pass in most forums,” said JCRC Bay Area. “To call this a victory for BDS is a stretch. It may remove some BDS-targeted companies from possible investment, but it may also open doors for new investments. On the whole, the effect is of negligible, if not zero, consequence for Israel’s economy and decision makers.”

JCRC Bay Area called on leaders to assure that the pursuit of ESG investing was not a roundabout way to implement BDS against Israel.