Cardiff has led the way on divestment for Gaza. Now the rest of Wales must follow

Jamie Green, Welsh Labour Councillor 

On 17th July, a little piece of history was made in Cardiff Bay that you may not have heard about.

Following a debate on cross-party proposals from Plaid Cymru and Welsh Labour, Cardiff Council became the first in Wales to declare its ambition to divest pension funds away from companies complicit in the war on Gaza.

Although we shouldn’t get carried away, we should still recognise the importance of this vote and its potential to kickstart a movement across Wales, the UK and, perhaps, even beyond.

Few words can capture the scale of horror in Gaza, where 70,000 tonnes of bombs have rained down since October 2023 — more bombs than were dropped on Dresden, Hamburg, and London during World War II — and reduced it to rubble.

Victims

Over 60,000 people are dead with generations of Palestinian families and their homes gone forever. A third of the victims are innocent children and if I were to read out each of their names, it would take over 12 hours. Never has such devastation taken place in full view of the world in real-time.

As families starve and queue for aid only to be gunned down by snipers, Western democracies, including ours, are yet to implement a single serious sanction on the perpetrators. The UK Government has begun condemning the unfolding atrocities, yet it continues to train IDF soldiers and sell arms to the Israeli military.

However, local government can take a meaningful stand for Gaza and make a difference. Together, UK local authority pension funds invest around £12 billion in companies linked to Israel’s assault on Gaza that help sustain the machinery of war. Ending that financial support is one of the clearest ways we can show that these war crimes are not in our name.

The recent debate in Cardiff was largely thoughtful and held in a cross-party spirit. Jewish and Muslim councillors stood side by side, united in their concern and their call for peace. Liberals, Welsh nationalists, and socialists came together to back this cause and reaffirm Cardiff’s commitment as a city of sanctuary. The final vote ended with 57 in favour and only 4 against.

However important this debate was, it’s still only the beginning and the road toward divestment requires other councils in Wales to follow suit.

Complicit

Cardiff Council pools most of its investments with 22 local authorities in the Welsh Pension Partnership (WPP). Research by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign suggests around £1.1 billion of these investments are in firms who may arm the Israeli military, provide surveillance tools for checkpoints, or profit from the apartheid wall and illegal settlements. Divestment requires the member authorities of the WPP to change its policies so fund managers cannot pour money into companies complicit in potential war crimes or human rights abuses.

In short, to divest from the war on Gaza, every council in Wales must now step up and be counted.

The Wales I know and believe in is a nation of solidarity. In the 1930s, Welsh miners took up arms in Spain to fight against tyranny and for democracy, while communities back home raised funds and sent aid. Decades later, the Welsh anti-apartheid movement saw local authorities across Wales ban South African goods, and refuse to host officials linked to the regime. Indeed, Nelson Mandela himself praised Wales’ efforts as “a great inspiration to us in our struggle” in 1998.

It’s easy to look back and praise this history of solidarity. As my colleague, Cllr Dan De’Ath said during the recent debate in Cardiff: “Everyone condemned the South African apartheid … once it was over”. Standing up to oppression takes courage and conviction, not when it’s finished and the cost of doing so is low, but in the here and now. With aid continually blocked at the Gazan border and one-in-five children malnourished, there’s never been a more important time to act. And time is running out.

Long-term impact

Wales is also the first nation to adopt the Well-being of Future Generations Act, a pioneering law that implores public bodies to consider the long-term impact of their decisions. Pension investments, whether they be in arms used to kill civilians, or in fossil fuels that pollute the atmosphere, clearly have ramifications for future generations both at home and overseas. The simple truth is: If the world continues to stand by, there may not be future generations of Palestinians left in Gaza and our pension funds could be one of the reasons why.

Back to Nelson Mandela who famously said “It always seems impossible until it’s done”. It’s easy to think that people in Wales and our local councils can’t make a difference in a conflict over two thousand miles away. If other local authorities in Wales join Cardiff on this issue, not only can we begin divesting our own funds, but others will almost certainly follow elsewhere. Wales can set the pace for a movement, not just in the UK but across the world.

As the humanitarian crisis worsens in Gaza, history will judge us not only on the condemnations we gave, but the things we did to try and stop it. Let’s make sure Wales is on the right side of history.

Jamie Green is a writer and Welsh Labour Councillor in Cardiff.