Ben & Jerry’s decided to no longer sell ice cream in the occupied West Bank because it is inconsistent with company values to be “present within an internationally recognized illegal occupation.” Explaining their decision in the New York Times, company founders Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, both Jewish and supporters of the State of Israel, described the occupation as “a barrier to peace [that] violates the basic human rights of the Palestinian people who live under the occupation.” The company will continue to sell ice cream in Israel.
Because of Ben & Jerry’s decision, the governing board of the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA), the pension administration for retired state employees, voted to divest its $42 million investment in Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s London-based parent company. The board is complying with a state law passed in 2016 that requires PERA to disengage from international companies that act in ways that “are politically motivated and are intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or otherwise limit commercial relations with the state of Israel.” PERA will divest its Unilever holdings within a year if the company does not alter its course.
The retirement fund should not have to; rather it is the legislature that should alter course by repealing the law. PERA’s investment decisions should be made in the best interest of the health of the pension fund for the sake of retirees, future retirees, and taxpayers, not because the legislature wishes to make a foreign policy statement. Thoughtful people disagree about how to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and it is inappropriate for the state legislature to politicize PERA’s investment decisions and sanction companies by taking a side.
The law singles out and punishes criticism of one country. While Israel is a close American ally, its policies are still subject to scrutiny like any other nation. Israel and the territories it has occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War are home to Jewish Israelis, Arab Israelis, and Palestinians who all have a deep community, religious, and historic connection to the land.
Many Americans yearn for a solution that will bring peace, self-determination, and safety for all who live there. Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem render a future, viable, contiguous Palestinian state unfeasible.
This archipelago of Israeli-only communities, protected by Israeli troops and linked by Israeli roads, also violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that forbids a country from transferring its own civilian population into a territory it occupies. The United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Security Council and the International Court of Justice have repudiated Israel for the violation.
The settlements are not the only impediment to a two-state solution and peaceful relations between the two people groups; actions by the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority and especially Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, also deserve scrutiny and criticism. If a company disapproves of Palestinian Authority policies and stops doing business in the region, however, its stock can remain in the PERA portfolio. In fact, a company can oppose any country’s policies to the point of limiting its business dealings there except for one — Israel. That country must remain beyond reproach according to Colorado law.
In the marketplace of investment and the marketplace of ideas, the Colorado General Assembly has placed its thumb on the scale on behalf of a foreign country. That is not an appropriate role for a state legislature especially given the diversity of opinions in this purple state regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
PERA directors should not be forced to make investment decisions based on the foreign policy preferences of the elected officials in office six years ago. They must focus on what is best for the pension fund and its beneficiaries, not politics. Itap time to repeal the law.
Krista L. Kafer is a weekly Denver Post columnist. Follow her on Twitter: @kristakafer.
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