Trading in Death responsibly: ‘Progressive’ funds Cash In on $5 Trillion in Arms Sales

As we get poorer Capitalism is BOOMING for the RICH

from thefreeonline on 5th Dec 2023 by @runews /Bloomberg /Wiki /FT

ESG funds, once champions of environmental causes, have raised ethical concerns after investing heavily in defense stocks

As of Q3 2023, over 1,200 ESG funds, pledged to uphold Environmental, Social, and Governance standards, collectively grip shares worth around $5 trillion in the defense sector.

This unexpected plunge into Arms Race investments within the ESG framework has triggered heated debates.

Profits of Western arms makers top $200 billion – report.. US, EU, and UK defense contractors have been major beneficiaries of weapons sales to Ukraine and Israel

Questions swirl about the blurred lines between “defense” and “aggression” and why ESG fund managers aren’t putting up a fight against these investments that seem incompatible with ESG or sustainability ideals.

ESG May Surpass $41 Trillion Assets in 2022, But Not Without Challenges … BLOOMBERG … Jan 24, 2022 – Global ESG assets may surpass $41 trillion by 2022 and $50 trillion by 2025, one-third of the projected total assets under management globally..

The financial industry, once singing praises for ESG’s ethical focus, now faces a reality check as investments cozy up to an industry inherently at odds spreading lethal war around the planet.

Let’s be clear: Every ESG fund investor potentially has grounds to pursue legal action against the fund manager funneling money into weapons and defense stocks. These investments violate the core ethical principles of ESG funds, opening the door for clients to consider legal recourse.

Despite the ethical eyebrow-raising, funds dipping their toes into the defense sector are laughing all the way to the bank.

Notably, the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. fund, playing the European defense game, has skyrocketed by nearly 90% since February 2022 and a cool 13% since October 2023.

US and UK fund honchos wave off regulatory hurdles blocking ESG managers from diving into defense assets. They stress the need for transparent, top-notch reporting from these funds, arguing that investments in specific defense companies can jive with responsible investing, as long as they’re not cranking out banned weapons or supplying arms to countries not approved by the US .

Responsible investing in the war machine, all neatly packaged with the ESG stamp – what a hoot!

Mairead McGuinness, Commissioner for Financial Markets at the European Commission, goes on about how defense is “crucial for sustainability and security” of the EU, adding to “peace and social sustainability.”

-Racist Genocide by Israel-Over 1,000 Murdered in 48 hrs- with US/UK Arms, Finance and Permission

Israel-Hamas war live: Another deadly night amid Israeli attacks

from thefreeonline on 4 Dec 2023 By Virginia Pietromarchi, Stephen Quillen and Edna Mohamed at Al Jazeera

Israel’s military widens its ground offensive in southern Gaza as Palestinian officials say more than 800 people killed since Saturday.
Israeli forces arrest more Palestinians in overnight and early morning raids across the occupied West Bank.

51 Updates

Over 700 killed in last 24 hours as Israel intensifies strikes

The Israeli army has ordered more people to evacuate from southern Gaza, which was earlier declared ‘safe zone’.

Relatives of Palestinians, died in the Israeli airstrikes, mourn as they take the body from the morgue of En Neccar Hospital for the funeral ceremony in Rafah, Gaza on December 03

Hundreds more Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids in the past 24 hours in Gaza as the Israeli army ordered more areas in and around the enclave’s second-largest city of Khan Younis to evacuate.

The Director General of the Government Media Office in Gaza told Al Jazeera on Sunday that more than 700 Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed bombardment after a seven-day truce ended on Friday.

52 infants and children were killed by Israel in the last 10 hours.

Israel kills a child every 10 minutes in Gaza.

Since the start of its genocidal war on Gaza, Israel killed 8300 children.

Footage for last hour bombardment in the south of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/oI6J0V9muG
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) December 1, 2023

Keep reading

Israel bombs hundreds of targets in Gaza as truce efforts continue

Israel issues ‘evacuation map’ as it targets south Gaza

‘I miss my routine’: A displaced Gaza mother recalls life before the war

Analysis: Israel resumed bombing Gaza, what has happened since?

More than 1.5 million people have been displaced, most of them from northern Gaza, since Israel launched a military offensive on October 7 in the wake of a deadly Hamas attack.

Overnight and into Sunday, intense bombing was reported in Khan Younis, Rafah, and some northern parts targeted by Israel’s air and ground attacks.

“Everywhere you turn to, there are children with third-degree burns, shrapnel wounds, brain injuries and broken bones,” James Elder, UNICEF’s global spokesperson, told Al Jazeera from Gaza.

“Mothers crying over children who look like they are hours away from death. It seems like a death zone right now.”

People check the damage in a house hit by Israeli bombing in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 3 — People check a house hit by Israeli bombing in Khan Younis [Mahmud Hams/AFP]

The main hospital in Khan Younis received at least three dead and dozens wounded on Sunday morning from an Israeli air raid that hit a residential building in the eastern part of the city, according to an Associated Press journalist at the hospital.

Separately, the bodies of 31 people killed in Israeli bombardment across the central areas of the strip were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza’s central city of Deir el-Balah, said Omar al-Darawi, an administrative employee at the hospital.

In northern Gaza, rescue teams with little equipment scrambled on Sunday to dig through the rubble of buildings in the Jabaliya refugee camp and other neighbourhoods in Gaza City in search of potential survivors and dead bodies.

An injured man is carried away after a house was hit by Israeli bombing in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 3 — An injured man being rescued after a house was hit by Israeli bombing in Khan Younis [Mahmud Hams/AFP]

Hopes of any future cessation in the fighting were dashed on Saturday when Israel announced it was pulling out negotiators from the Qatari capital, Doha, saying talks had reached an “impasse”.

At least 60 Palestinians arrested in the occupied West Bank

At least 60 Palestinians, including former prisoners, have been detained in Israeli forces’ raids in the occupied West Bank overnight and this morning.

As Israel resumes its deadly bombing with US warplanes, its goal is crystal clear: a 2nd Nakba, #EthnicCleansing of Palestinians in Gaza.#BDS calls for mass mobilization and peaceful disruption of business-as-usual to stop Israel's #GazaGenocide. If not now, when? pic.twitter.com/CExsfVWQKJ
— BDS movement (@BDSmovement) December 1, 2023

In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said that some of the arrests were concentrated in the Dheisheh camp in Bethlehem, while the rest were distributed across the occupied West Bank.

Some of those arrested were later released.

Since October 7, more than 3,540 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank.

As our colleague Hoda Abdel-Hamid reported earlier, raids took place across the occupied territories last night, including in Qalqilya, where two Palestinians were killed.

14m ago

(09:55 GMT)

Row over gun permits to Israeli civilians deepens

The head of Firearms Licensing Department has quit his post after learning that Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s staff issued gun permits to Israeli citizens without proper training.

Yisrael Avisar was head of the department responsible for issuing gun permits. During a Knesset hearing, he said that Ben-Gvir’s staff were given the title of “temporary licensing official” after one day of training that usually lasts at least a month, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Citing security sources, Haaretz said firearm licenses were granted to people not meeting the criteria, including mental and physical health requirements.

President Biden has morphed into the Murder Monsterhttps://thefreeonline.com/2023/11/29/president-biden-has-morphed-into-the-murder-monster #Gaza #GazaMassacre #GazaGenocide #Netyantahu #Biden #UK #France #WestBankj #Iran #Yemen #UN #CeasefireNOW pic.twitter.com/I0EOGkXPUz
— Mike Gilliland (@MikeGilliland11) November 30, 2023

“They are handing out guns like candy,” a security official told Haaretz.

Ben-Gvir defended his weapons distribution policy as “clear and continuous”.

Since October 7, Ben-Gvir and Netanyahu have encouraged the arming of civilians. According to Channel 13 TV, there have been 150,000 applications for gun licenses since the war started – compared to 42 applications the same period last year.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attends an event at which new weapons are distributed to Israel's police volunteer security teams in Ashkelon — Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attends an event at which new weapons are distributed to Israel’s police volunteer security teams in Ashkelon, Israel, October 27, 2023 [Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters]

What areas in Gaza has Israel targeted today?

Overnight and early morning Israeli attacks have hit homes, commercial centres and hospitals across the north, centre and south of Gaza.

Here are some of those areas in Gaza that have come under Israeli attacks today:

Shujayea and Tuffah neighbourhoods, east of Gaza City
Mosque in Zeitoun neighbourhood, east of Gaza City
Homes and central square in Gaza City
Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza
Entrance of Kamal Adwan Hospital, northern Gaza
Homes in Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon, northern Gaza
Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza
Deir el-Balah, central Gaza
Homes and a commercial centre in Khan Younis, southern Gaza
At-Tannour neighbourhood, southern Gaza
Al-Janina neighbourhood, southern Gaza
A Palestinian boy carrying a baby stands at a site of Israeli strikes in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]