The Campaign

What do we want?

TIAA-CREF is one of the largest ﬁnancial services in the United States, considered to be one of the largest retirement systems in the world. We want TIAA-CREF to stop investing in companies that proﬁt from the Israeli occupation

Why TIAA-CREF?

1. TIAA-CREF is big, one of the biggest fund of its kind in the world. If we help them change their policies, this will have a substantial impact on the Israeli Occupation.

2. TIAA-CREF is near you. With 60 ofﬁces in the US and 15,000 client institutions in the academic, research, medical, cultural and nonproﬁt ﬁelds, chances are that wherever you may be in the US, you will ﬁnd a network of TIAA-CREF participants close to you.

3. TIAA-CREF cares about socially responsible investment. In 2009, TIAA-CREF divested from companies involved in Darfur. However, it continues to invest in companies that reap proﬁts from the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and violations of Palestinian rights. Until it divests, TIAA-CREF violates its own ethical principles and is complicit in Israel’s breaches of international law and violations of human rights. Join us in giving TIAA-CREF the opportunity to live up to its motto: TIAA-CREF, Financial Services for the Greater Good.

More reasons to join the We Divest Campaign.

Brief History of the We Divest Campaign

In 2009, Adalah-NY discovered that TIAA-CREF was invested in Africa Israel, whose owner, Lev Leviev, was the target of an existing Adalah-NY boycott campaign. While TIAA-CREF divested soon thereafter from Africa Israel, it maintained its investment in many other companies supporting the Israeli occupation.

Using Adalah-NY’s initial research, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) began planning a national campaign to persuade TIAA-CREF to divest from many of these companies. In June 2010, JVP launched the campaign with a petition drive, which is ongoing. In July 2010, the campaign was endorsed by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation coalition.

In October 2010, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) issued a statementsupporting the We Divest Campaign which reads in part:

“We urge all groups working on boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaigns in the US, especially on university campuses, to endorse this campaign and join it, whenever possible, to amplify its reach and impact across the US.”

In 2011, The US Palestinian Community Network, Grassroots International, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and numerous Student for Justice in Palestine groups around the country joined the growing national campaign.

In January 2012, the We Divest Campaign formally became a coalition based-effort, led by a National Coordinating Committee made up of representatives of the six leading organizations: Jewish Voice for Peace, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation,Adalah-NY, The US Palestinian Community Network, Grassroots International, the American Friends Service Committee.