Activists claim divestment win, but Minnesota board says policy hasn’t changed
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Boycott, Divest and Sanction advocates are claiming victory with the Minnesota State Board of Investment, which it has been pressuring to divest from Israeli assets.
The groups MN BDS Community and the Anti-War Committee claim that information they've obtained from a data practices request to the board revealed it has divested 96 percent of its Israel bonds.
But in a statement, the SBI said it has “not changed its investment policy regarding permitted investments.” The board hires third party investment managers and said that holdings are not static. The board also said the recent reduction was in part due to the maturity and payment of one 10-year bond.
Activists noted that a $10 million bond matured in July, according to data they said the state provided to the group.
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Israel holdings were valued at $13.3 million in December 2020, said Karen Schraufnagel, a retired stock analyst and founding member of MN BDS Community.
The BDS movement has existed for decades but has become more visible during the war in Gaza.
Bob Goonin, also with MN BDS Community, said because Minnesota has held these Israel bonds in its portfolio, it is complicit in what the groups believe is a genocide.
“The state of Minnesota is complicit in Israel's genocide and apartheid and occupation,” he said.
Oscar Perry Abello is the senior economic justice correspondent at the nonprofit publication Next City and the author of "The Banks We Deserve." Abelllo said that for people concerned about Palestine and Gaza, state and local investment decisions feel like one of the only accessible, concrete ways to act politically. “It’s both an outlet and a rallying point for folks," Abello said. "Something they can use to build momentum for broader change."
Next up for the groups, Goonin said, will be to develop a strategy for another campaign. They want the SBI to divest from companies that manufacture weapons and high-tech that is used by the Israeli military.
The board has $5.6 billion in stocks “in these companies that profit from genocide and apartheid,” he said. “We need to now get the divestment win that we've had with the Israel bonds. We need to take that forward into these other stocks and holdings.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include more of the Minnesota State Board of Investment's response.
