LONDON // Christian clerics today demanded that the Church of England honour its commitment to disinvest from Israeli companies operating in the occupied territories.
More than 20 clerics and theologians, including Alun Morinan, national co-ordinator of the Christian Network's Campaign Against the Arms Trade, signed a letter to be published today in The Guardian newspaper, calling for immediate action.
Amid growing public protests in Britain since the Gaza offensive, including a sit-in at a leading Scottish university and a mass demonstration on Saturday at an Israeli import centre in London, the clerics complain that the General Synod, the ruling body of the Church of England, had done nothing to implement a three-year-old commitment to disinvest.
The letter says: "In February, 2006, the Church of England voted at the General Synod to disinvest in companies that operated in the Palestinian occupied territories, saying that there was a need for 'morally responsible investment'.
"This was a highly principled decision by the Synod, one that we totally support.
"However, since that resolution was passed, the Church has not acted on that decision and it still remains that the Church of England has investments in companies that profit from the suppression of human rights in the Palestinian occupied territories.
"We believe that given the events in Gaza as well as the continued illegal occupation of whole swathes of Palestinian land and the illegal land grabs by settlers, supported by the Israeli government, that the Church of England must make good on its policy of disinvestment and withdraw its investments from those who profit from the misery of millions of Palestinians immediately."
The London-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) applauded the move. Betty Hunter, its general secretary, said the General Synod had taken "a morally courageous decision" to disinvest.
"Sadly, three years on and the Church of England retains investments of £2.2 million [Dh12m] in a company, Caterpillar, whose bulldozers and heavy machinery are used to extract the legitimate residents of Palestine to be replaced by illegal settlers.
"I hope that the General Synod will take heed of what their own clergy and congregations are saying and disinvest now."
Nobody from the Church of England was available for comment yesterday but, after the General Synod vote, Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, appeared to back away from the call to disinvest.
Apparently alarmed by the angry reaction of leading Jews in Britain, Dr Williams, who voted in favour of the motion, denied that it was a commitment to disinvest but, rather, "to engage with companies about whom we had concerns".
Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian campaigners in the United Kingdom were celebrating a victory in academia yesterday after a student sit-in in the foyer of Strathclyde University in Glasgow ended when the university authorities agreed to cancel a contract with an Israeli water company.
About 40 students took part in the protest, organised by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, demanding that the university cut all ties with Israel following the Gaza offensive.
The students' demands included the cancellation of a contract with Eden Springs, its main water cooler supplier, and the creation of a scholarship programme for Palestinian students at Strathclyde.
The university authorities agreed to both of these demands and also to broadcast an appeal across the campus for funds to help those suffering in Gaza.
Danny McGregor, one of the protesters, told yesterday's Scotsman newspaper: "We are happy with what we have achieved. We were in there for 24 hours and we feel we made a lot of progress."
Peter West, the university secretary, said: "The university expresses its deep concern about the plight of the people of Gaza. We are particularly aware that the infrastructure of higher education has been damaged, making it particularly difficult for Palestinian students to pursue their studies.
"The university has made a number of undertakings, including supporting its students in their effort to raise funds for the rebuilding of Gaza. In addition, it will create a scholarship scheme for Palestinian students, similar to the scheme already offered to students from Rwanda."
Dr West added that he hoped Strathclyde's actions would "encourage universities across Scotland" to join the scholarships scheme.
In London, the Boycott Israeli Goods (Big) campaign organised a demonstration outside the main depot of Carmel Agrexco, the Israeli state export company.
Tom Hayes, a spokesman for Big, said: "The aim of the protest was to draw attention to this company's sale of flowers from occupied Palestinian land on Valentine's Day.
"We are asking the British public not to buy bloodstained flowers for their loved ones this year. Following the murder of more than 1,300 people and the maiming of nearly 6,000, the majority women and children, in Gaza, it is vital that we keep in the public consciousness that, by purchasing Israeli goods, they are supporting the slaughter of innocent people."
dsapsted@thenational.ae
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The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Specs
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