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"Fifty-nine clients from a US-based financial services and retirement firm have called for it to divest from a company involved in the construction of Israeli settlements and owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. The move came just over a week after the Norwegian government decided to withdraw all its investments from an Israeli defence firm involved in the separation wall in the West Bank.
The clients of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) launched an appeal for it to divest from Leviev's Africa-Israel holding group.
The TIAA-CREF clients made the appeal in an open letter published by Adalah-NY, a non-governmental organisation involved in a campaign calling for divestment against Israel.
Signatories of the letter include renowned author, philosopher and University lecturer Noam Chomsky, American historian Howard Zinn and prominent law professor George Bisharat among others.
"Increasingly we are witnessing investors, organisations and celebrities disassociating themselves from Leviev as more information surfaces of his companies' human rights violations, " Adalah-NY spokesperson Dena Qaddumi told Adnkronos International (AKI).
The divestment call came shortly after Africa-Israel announced that it was unable to repay debts, sending its stocks plummeting, and triggering emergency meetings of shareholders.
"The movement to boycott and divest from Leviev's companies, the government of Norway's decision to divest due to it's role in building the apartheid wall, and the protests over the Toronto International Film Festival's focus on Tel Aviv all show that the movement for a boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel is breaking new ground," Patrick Connors, a media specialist from Adalah-NY told AKI."
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.3758448930