Celebrating Palestinian Land Day

At the rate the Separation Wall is being built, soon Palestinian Land Day (March 30) will need only a few hours. The Wall and the Israeli mandated buffer zones jut into the Palestinian territories by as much as 300 feet, gobbling up fertile agricultural land and precious water reserves, and make cool profits for companies like Elbit Systems Ltd. contracted to build the massive structure.

Because we believe in the human rights to land, water and food as fundamental rights, and because Elbit reaps massive profits from land grabs like the building of the Separation Wall, Grassroots International is asking TIAA-CREF to fully divest from Elbit Systems, Ltd. As the largest retirement fund for those in the academic, medical, cultural and research fields, TIAA-CREF’s investment of $1.68 M in Elbit contradicts its public commitment to social responsibility and should end. Grassroots International joins with Jewish Voice for Peace in asking TIAA-CREF to truly serve the greater good by pulling its investments from Elbit Systems Ltd.   Palestinian Land Day commemorates the day in 1976 when Israeli military forces shot and killed six young Palestinian citizens of Israel as they protested the Israeli government’s expropriation of Palestinian land. Protest continues today, and includes selective divestment campaigns against companies like Elbit and investors like TIAA-CREF that profit from illegal and immoral land and resource grabs.