Dear ASB, All we want for Chanukah is . . .

18 December 2024

Vittoria Shortt, Chief Executive

Adam Boyd, EGM Personal Banking

Dear Vittoria and Adam,

We are two members of the Jewish community, co-leaders of an independent Jewish worship space and co-founders of Alternative Jewish Voices. Fred met with Adam and others from ASB in November. We write regarding the request that ASB divest KiwiSaver funds from Motorola Solutions Inc, a campaign we fully support.

We expect that you will be receiving messages from NZ Zionist groups. We want to shed some light on the voices and ideas that are assumed to reflect our community. Then, you’ll be relieved to be reminded that divestment is not about the Jewish community at all. It is a way of upholding the laws which protect civilians of every ethnicity. 

Two questions will help you to contextualise any messages you’ve been receiving: how Jewish is Zionism? And, is non-violent economic choice antisemitic?

Zionism is Jewish nationalism, embodied in the state of Israel. Zionism is an ideology, a political project rather than a religion; and Jewish anti-Zionism (ie Jewish opposition to that nationalist project) is exactly as old as Zionism. In no way is the modern project of Zionism a synonym or a substitute for millenia of rich, complex, pluralist Jewish life and aspirations. Similarly, NZ’s Zionist-Jewish institutions are not the totality of our community’s secular / cultural / religious / political breadth.

By far, most Zionists are Christian. 65 NZ Christian clergy publish together as COMS-Israel; 13 times the total number of rabbis in the country. Much Zionist communication in NZ is wrongly attributed Jewish community. For example, a statement opposing the ICC’s arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyanhu and Yoav Gallant was issued by 7 Christian, 1 majority-Christian and 2 Jewish groups.

Zionists are fond of claiming to speak for a huge majority of Jews. Actual research shows Zionism’s declining hold, particularly on young Jews. In a recent poll commissioned by three Zionist-Jewish Canadian organisations, only 50.9% of Jews self-declared as Zionist.

Therefore, you must not confuse ‘Zionism’ with ‘the Jewish community of New Zealand’.

Perhaps you have been warned that divesting from Motorola would make you ‘anti-Zionist antisemitic’. We must untie this knot, which deters a great deal of principled action. 

Antisemitism is the hatred of Jews, Judaism or Jewishness. To conflate criticism of Zionism or Israel with antisemitism is both wrong and harmful to any open, democratic political participation. Opposition to Zionism is not New Zealand’s definition of antisemitism.

The Human Rights Commission affirms that speech and action which uphold human rights is essential, protected speech. Our request to divest from Motorola is an attempt to uphold the rights of Palestinians, and we urge you not to confuse standing up for the rights of Palestinians with any hatred of Jews.

Is divestment an antisemitic act per se? Our website features statements confirming that divestment (an element of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions or BDS) is not antisemitic, including by Harvard Law School and Oxford philosophy lecturers. As Jews, we would vociferously oppose any campaign that was ethnically based or religiously motivated.

Divestment is not about—and will not harm—our Jewish community. Motorola is not in any sense a Jewish entity. It’s a publicly listed, international company which chooses to engage with an illegal occupation. 

With these clarifications, we urge you to reconsider your investment. This is a matter of principle and international law. In July of this year, the International Court of Justice directed states not to aid, invest in or normalise an illegal occupation. We are asking you to respect that. 

One more consideration. Principled, non-violent, economic choice can drive change in the real world. To ward off its effectiveness, a stiff counter-campaign seeks to influence the risk assessments ASB relies on. We encourage you to read the following reports, which illustrate the politics that are being brought to bear on risk assessments including those of Sustainalytics, which is used by ASB. 

• 2023: Under political pressure, Morningstar reduces the risk it assigns to Israeli companies 

• Report from the Brandeis Centre: Morningstar is instructed not to use geographic locations or the legal term ‘Occupied’ when assessing companies.

• In depth, Jewish Currents examines how Morningstar applies exceptional parameters to its risk assessments of companies doing business with Israel.

Conveniently, Sustainalytics’ current risk rating of Motorola has been bleached of any reference to the West Bank, Gaza, Palestine, Occupation, etc. 

For us, this is not about risk management. It’s about valuing life. Watch the news from Gaza this evening, and ask yourself where ASB’s values-led advertising belongs. Should ASB support civilian protections in this world, or are you content for your customers to associate ASB’s logo with the (profitable) devastation being inflicted upon civilians? 

International humanitarian law is a way of taking the side of civilians. We ask you to adhere to it.

Warm regards,

Fred Albert and Marilyn Garson

Co-founders, Alternative Jewish Voices of Aotearoa