Council / Armitage calls for council to pull investments out of Israel
He criticises ‘undemocratic’ decision not to allow emergency motion to be heard by councillors
AN “UNDEMOCRATIC” decision not to consider an emergency motion in the council chamber about the SIC’s investments in Israel has been criticised by one elected member.
Alex Armitage submitted a last-minute call for the council to consider pulling its investments in Israel following the United Nations finding that the country has committed genocide on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Armitage had asked for the motion to be considered at last Wednesday’s full SIC meeting.
However he was told beforehand by chief executive Maggie Sandison that convener Andrea Manson had decided the motion was not deemed to be an “urgent” one.
It is understood that the SIC has just over £1 million invested in companies based in Israel – though none in companies supplying weapons to Israel.
SIC’s fund managers BlackRock had £322,000 of investments in companies linked to Israel as of the end of December 2024, while one holding in a global equity fund with Baillie Gifford relates to a company listed in the US but headquartered in Jerusalem.
This had a value of £758,000 in December.
There was a tense exchange at Wednesday’s meeting when Armitage attempted to make a comment about Israel, saying the SIC risked reputational damage by keeping money invested in the country.
Manson said that was “not something we can speak about today”, and said she did want to “put extra pressure on our already hard-working staff” to produce a report on the matter in a short time period, if it was an urgent motion.
She also said fund managers would need to be involved too.
Armitage tried to make a comment about how he felt the council’s own standing orders were not being followed, but was told by Manson: “The decision has been made, that’s the end of the subject.”
The motion, brought forward by Armitage and fellow councillor Dennis Leask, will be heard at Monday’s special SIC meeting instead.
Armitage said he tried to speak to the council’s convener about the disagreement in the council chamber once Wednesday’s meeting had stopped being webcast to the public.
He claimed Manson had told him “this was ‘not a life and death decision’”.
Armitage said this was “a point I disagree with, as Palestinians are being killed by the IDF every day”.
The Green councillor said he had decided to submit the motion after being contacted by a concerned constituent, who had found that the SIC’s reserve fund has a number of investments in Israel.
“Given the recent finding of the UN Commission of Inquiry that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, I feel that the SIC should be acting with urgency to take our money out of the Israeli economy,” he told Shetland News.
“I understand from speaking with officers that there is some work required to do this, so Dennis Leask and I submitted an urgent motion instructing officers to investigate how this may be done.”
However they were told that there would not be time for a report on this to come to the council by 6 October, and that convener Manson had decided the motion was not urgent.
Manson told the meeting that the council would be “more than happy” to accept the notice of motion on 6 October instead.
Armitage said he “understood and respected” the decision”, but that he “did not agree with it”.
“I feel that the UN commission’s finding of genocide is extremely serious and carries with it an urgent call for action,” he said.
“One clear action that the SIC can take is to remove our investment from the Israeli economy.”
He explained that he had been expecting the motion to be read out to councillors at the beginning of the meeting, and was “surprised that it wasn’t”.
The council’s standing orders on urgent motions state they will be read out the meeting by the executive manager of governance and law.
Armitage tried to question this during the meeting last Wednesday, but said Manson “did not let me explain this”.
However he said he was told by the SIC’s legal department after the meeting that reading out the motion would only have happened if Manson had agreed to it, adding he accepted this.
“My reflection is that if two councillors properly submit an urgent motion to a council meeting, then it should be at least acknowledged publicly, and if the motion is not to be heard then the reasons should be set out publicly,” he said.
“Though I have accepted the advice of the governance and legal officers, I still feel that what happened at last Wednesday’s meeting was undemocratic.
“Furthermore from a political perspective, I feel we missed an opportunity to reassure our community that we are acting promptly in line with the findings of the United Nations.”
Armitage said he will be absent from Monday’s meeting, but that he hopes the motion will be passed and the SIC will be in a position to withdraw its Israeli investments.
The motion urges Shetland Islands Council to note the recent finding from the United Nations that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, and to investigate pulling its investments from companies in Israel.
The SIC is also asked to report back to a subsequent meeting with a proposal as to how the council may divest from these assets.
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