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Pembrokeshire Herald
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Pembrokeshire Herald
West Wales campaigners cals for pension fund to divest from Israel-linked companies
Petitions delivered as pressure mounts on Dyfed Pension Fund over alleged links to Israeli arms and settlement firms PALESTINE solidarity campaigners across west Wales are stepping up efforts to pressure the Dyfed Pension Fund (DPF) to withdraw its investments from companies alleged to be complicit in Israeli violations of international law. Activists from Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire are collecting signatures and engaging with local residents to raise awareness of the DPF's investment portfolio. Their campaign targets funds allegedly tied to arms companies, financial institutions, and firms operating in Israeli settlements deemed illegal under international law by the United Nations. On Thursday (May 15), campaigners plan to lobby the DPF Board at County Hall in Carmarthen, coinciding with the 77th anniversary of the Nakba—marking the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Letters will be handed to board members urging immediate divestment. Campaigners will return on Monday, June 23, when a petition with over 1,700 signatures gathered across Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire will be presented to the Pension Committee. This follows the submission of a 672-signature petition from Pembrokeshire in March. The Dyfed Pension Fund is one of eight local government pension schemes in Wales and manages the pensions of over 50,000 employees and retirees. It is administered by Carmarthenshire County Council on behalf of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire councils, as well as Dyfed-Powys Police, Mid & West Wales Fire & Rescue Service, and other public bodies. Campaigners have directed particular scrutiny at Councillor Elwyn Williams, Plaid Cymru member for Llangunnor and chair of both the DPF Committee and the Wales Pension Partnership. They argue that, given Carmarthenshire's administrative role in both the Fund and the national partnership, the council holds significant influence and must take responsibility. According to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), recent research shows that the DPF has invested around £235 million in companies with ties to Israel—significantly more than the £1.3 million figure originally disclosed by the Fund. Yvonne Redfern of Carmarthenshire PSC said: 'Councils must avoid investing in or procuring from companies complicit in Israel's breaches of international law. That includes arms manufacturers, financial backers, and businesses active in illegal settlements.' However, critics of the campaign note that many of the companies in question are large multinationals involved in a wide range of business activities, and their presence in Israeli markets does not necessarily reflect political support for Israeli government actions. They also argue that investment strategies must consider long-term financial stability for pension holders, not just political concerns. Pension funds like the DPF operate under strict fiduciary duties and regulatory frameworks, requiring them to maximise returns for their members—primarily public sector workers and pensioners—while navigating complex ethical and financial considerations. This balance can make divestment from controversial sectors legally and financially challenging. The DPF has stated that its investment decisions are guided by Robeco, an independent asset management company specialising in responsible investing. Campaigners, however, argue that the Fund is using this as a shield to avoid ethical responsibility. The Herald has approached the Dyfed Pension Fund and Carmarthenshire County Council for comment. Campaigners are calling for the DPF to: Divest from firms listed by the UN as operating in illegal Israeli settlements; Publish clear ethical investment procedures; Establish time-limited engagement strategies with offending firms and outline consequences if they fail to reform; Update the Fund's investment principles to exclude complicity in international law violations. Since launching the campaign in October 2023, activists have staged street stalls, film screenings, and direct engagement with councillors and pension holders. However, they say they've met resistance from the councils, which claim to have limited control over the Fund's investment strategy. Dinah Mulholland of Ceredigion PSC said: 'Pension contributors and future beneficiaries have no meaningful say. That's unacceptable. These are public funds from workers—there should be democratic accountability.' Some fund members, however, argue that decisions about ethical divestment must be weighed against financial performance, and that pension funds should not become platforms for political protest. The UK Government has also proposed legislation limiting the ability of local authorities to boycott or divest from companies on political grounds, arguing such decisions should align with national foreign policy. This has added a layer of complexity for campaigners pressing for local action. While Plaid Cymru officially supports divestment from companies complicit in human rights abuses, activists claim that progress in Dyfed has been slow—despite the party leading both Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion councils. Photo caption: Campaigners gather signatures outside Brynmeurig Stores in Tregunnor, Carmarthen (Pic: Supplied)
Fox News
25-04-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Alex Soros trashed as difficult, 'wrong person to lead' megadonor foundation in NY Mag profile
Print Close By Rachel del Guidice Published April 25, 2025 A New York Magazine profile on Alex Soros, son of George Soros, who has been chosen to take up his father's leadership mantle, doesn't paint the heir in a positive light. "The real story is that every single person who knows the family knows that Alex was exactly the wrong person to lead the foundation," the New York Magazine profile on Alex Soros, published Tuesday, reads, quoting an anonymous source "with deep OSF ties." George Soros started what the Open Society Foundations (OSF) website calls his "philanthropic network" in the mid-1980s. It eventually became OSF, which has been led by George Soros for decades. In June 2023, he passed the leadership torch to his son, Alex. ALEX SOROS FUMES AT LEFT-WING CLIMATE GROUP OVER 'PALESTINE' OBSESSION: 'WHAT THE HELL' "In private he is brooding and cerebral and has a propensity for candor and bursts of hot-temperedness," the New York Magazine piece, authored by Simon van Zuylen-Wood, says of Alex Soros, who is chair of the board of directors at OSF. "His halting, Peter Thiel–like baritone is full of ahs and ums, and his sentences can sound like records skipping, as if he were unable to easily put into language what is clear in his mind. This slightly tortured persona has invited comparisons with his elder half-brother Jonathan, who sprang from Harvard Law School and a federal clerkship to work alongside his father in finance and philanthropy." Van Zuylen-Wood writes that people, including OSF's first president, Aryeh Neier, thought that Jonathan Soros, a co-founder and partner of the investment firm, One Madison Group, would be his father's successor. "When Soros insiders try to explain the family dynamic, they draw on the standard texts of empire and heredity," van Zuylen-Wood says. "'Roman is Alex,' says a former OSF senior official, referring to Roman Roy, the sardonic failson in Succession. 'Smart but f**king impossible and not particularly interested in the details.' Another Soros insider cites not HBO but the Gospel of Luke, casting Alex in the role of the Prodigal Son, who is rewarded with his father's love despite his wayward years." During the 2024 presidential campaign, Alex Soros held a fundraiser at his New York City apartment for vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, and posted photos of the event on X. The New York Magazine piece says that Alex Soros "created a PR headache by posting photos from the event on social media, as is his custom after meeting heads of state and elected officials. (As a former OSF higher-up says, Alex likes to collect "shiny objects.")." The piece points out that Alex Soros' X account is filled with photos of powerful Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Presidents Joe Biden and Bill Clinton, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, the late Pope Francis, and Ukrainian Head of Presidential Administration Andriy Yermak. ALEX SOROS AND HUMA ABEDIN HOLD STAR-STUDDED ENGAGEMENT PARTY AT ANNA WINTOUR'S HOME: PHOTOS Previous reporting from Fox News highlighting a Media Research Center study on Alex Soros, found that he politicized mass shootings, praised Biden's "disastrous" 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, supports abolishing the Electoral College, embraced disparaging claims against conservative Supreme Court Justices and supports decriminalizing "sex work." Since the 2018 elections, Alex Soros has given more than $5 million to federal political coffers, and records show that his largest contribution was $2 million to the Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC during that time. With billions to spend, the New York Magazine profile questions the 39-year-old's ability to be an effective leader. "Exactly how to push back against the [Trump] madness he leaves unclear," van Zuylen-Wood wrote. "Nor does he offer any coherent agenda for the Democrats, whose roiling, inconclusive debates can seem personified by Alex himself. He was a regular presence at the Biden White House, one-half of an odd power couple, yet few in the broader political universe have a grasp of how he thinks about the world and plans to spend the wealth at his disposal. "That money could help determine the fate not only of a rudderless Democratic Party but of a country that every day is disappearing legal residents and immigrants, shaking down universities, defying court orders, and otherwise taking aim at the very open society his father's global philanthropy exists to uphold." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital reached out to the Open Society Foundations for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. Print Close URL
The Hill
28-03-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
NN: Student visa revocations update
--- LIVE INTRO A DOCTORAL STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ... ONE OF THE PALESTINIAN SUPPORTERS NOW IN FEDERAL CUSTODY.. VO IN CHI BIT: SHAFER PRO PALESTINE CRACKDOWN-VO ALABAMA STUDENT THE UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SAID.. ALIREZA DOROUDI.. FROM IRAN.. IS IN THE U-S ON A STUDENT VISA... STUDYING MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. HE WAS DETAINED THIS WEEK.. THOUGH IT'S NOT CLEAR WHAT.. IF ANY CHARGES HE'S FACING. VO IN CHI BIT: SHAFER PRO PALESTINE CRACKDOWN-VO TUFTS DETAINMENT BUT THIS MORNING — THE TRUMP ADMINSTRATION DEFENDING THE DEPORTATIONS AND DETAINMENTS.. LIKE THIS ONE OF A 30-YEAR-OLD FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY. ICE AGENTS IN MASSACHUSSETTS APPROACHED AND ARRESTED HER ON HER WAY TO MEET FRIENDS THIS WEEK. A HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL SAID AN INVESTIGATION FOUND SHE'D ENGAGED IN ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF HAMAS. HER VISA WAS REVOKED. HER FRIENDS DENY SHE'S DONE ANYTHING WRONG. VO IN CHI BIT: SHAFER PRO PALESTINE CRACKDOWN-VO RUBIO SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO.. ON THURSDAY.. DOUBLING DOWN ON THE EFFORTS TO REMOVE STUDENT VISAS. SOT IN CHI BIT: 5A BROOKE CAMPUS CRACKDOWN-SOT RUBIO Marco Rubio/ Secretary of State "I think it's crazy to invite students into your country that are coming onto your campus in destabilizing it. We're just not going to have it. So we'll revoke your visa and once your visa is revoked you're illegally in the country and you have to leave." VO IN CHI BIT: 7A BROOKE CAMPUS CRACKDOWN-VO PROTESTS SECRETARY RUBIO SAID THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS REVOKED THE VISAS OF AT LEAST 300 PEOPLE.. INCLUDING THOSE TWO STUDENTS THIS WEEK. AS THEY ASSERT THESE INDIVIDUALS WHO PARTICIPATED IN PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTS.. SUPPORTED HAMAS.. A DESIGNATED TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. SECRETARY RUBIO SAYS THEY EXPECT TO REVOKE MORE VISAS. LOOKLIVE TAG AS SOME IMMIGRATION ATTORNEYS ARGUE.. THESE DETAINMENTS VIOLATE FREE SPEECH. BROOKE SHAFER NN.
