We the students, faculty, and staff of Northeastern University are deeply concerned that TIAA-CREF is using our university pension funds to invest in and profit from violations of international law and human rights abuses. The most significant cases to date are those companies profiting from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. The companies that profit from, are implicated in and enable these violations are as follows;  

CATERPILLAR - profits from supplying armor-plated and weaponized bulldozers used for demolishing Palestinian homes and orchards and constructing segregated settlements built on ethnically-cleansed Palestinian land, currently for Jewish Israeli use only. In addition, Caterpillar equipment was used to construct the Apartheid Wall which was ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004. One of these bulldozers was also used to murder Rachel Corrie, a 24 year old non-violent peace activist from Olympia, Washington while she was protesting an illegal home demolition.  

NORTHUP GRUMAN – profits from supplying the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) with weapons and military technology used in the 1995-2006 operations in South Lebanon, the 2008-2009 assault on Gaza, the 2010 Flotilla attack, among others. These operations alone have killed thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians. 

VEOLIA – profits from the construction and expansion of illegal Jewish-only settlements by operating settlement landfills, exploiting Palestinian natural resources to serve the settlements, and by contracting for the future operation of an illegal light rail system connecting these settlements with Jerusalem. Veolia also operates segregated bus services, some by gender, others by ethnicity.  

MOTOROLA - profits from communications systems used by the IDF and West Bank settlers. Motoralla systems are also used around chekpoints, military camps, the Apartheid Wall, and around the settlements.  

ELBIT – profits by supplying drones used for targeted killings and in the 2010 Flotilla attack, along with surveillance systems for the Apartheid Wall and unmanned vehicles used to patrol it.  

Therefore, We, the undersigned, condemn TIAA-CREF's irresponsible investment practices and demand TIAA-CREF divest from companies that: directly profit from or contribute to the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. This includes companies that provide products or services that contribute to the construction and maintenance of the illegal Israeli settlements and the Apartheid Wall, along with products or services that contribute to or enable violent acts that target civilians. We also demand that TIAA-CREF establish investment criteria to exclude any such companies in the future.

P.S. Please include your NU Id # in the comments section when signing! 

This petition has been modified specifically for the campaign at Northeastern University and is a part of the national TIAA-CREF: Divest from the Israeli Occupation campaign. Signatories will be included in both petitions. To learn more about the national campaign and/or to read the original petition go to: http://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/tiaa-cref. To find out more about this campaign and other BDS efforts happening at Northeastern visit the Northeastern University Students for Justice in Palestine on facebook.

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