TIAA-CREF is being asked to divest from Israel. <div>Evidently, share-holders in the huge retirement firm are lining up to ask TIAA-CREF to divest.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>
From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Aaron Levitt on behalf of Jewish Voice for Peace</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:divest@jewishvoiceforpeace.org">divest@jewishvoiceforpeace.org</a>></span><br>Subject: Divestment movement breakthrough<br>
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<p><span style="font-size:small"><b><span style="font-family:Verdana"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><br>
</span><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=2ASemQ1zjRaGUQxE4W8iHERhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u>Watch our brief video of the<br>
TIAA-CREF meeting.</u></span></a></span></b></span><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family:Verdana"><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=gDDdtoRryK2AK1Go2mwzAURhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><br>
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</a></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana"> <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=W141H4z%2B9P%2Fl1exLBlCQjERhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><img style="width:283px;min-height:228px" alt=""></a><br>
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</span><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana">Aaron Levitt and others on <br>
TIAA-CREF success</span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana">.<br>
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<p><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=TPDzDEMNmEtdZEynntCzSURhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u><b><span style="font-family:Verdana">SIGN THE PETITION NOW.</span></b></u></span></a></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:small">Dear Karen, </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana"> Wow! <br>
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I'm writing you from New York City where I just <br>
got back from the TIAA-CREF annual meeting <br>
and I'm still a bit overwhelmed by the experience. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana">TIAA-CREF is one the largest retirement funds in the world, and it holds investments in companies that profit from the Israeli occupation.</span></span><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana"><br>
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I can't tell you what it meant to have so many people at the TIAA-CREF meeting asking them to do better. <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=wg1Xmrk3nmz2bKf7C65Rb0RhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u><b>15,300 people to be exact</b></u></span></a>. Each one had signed a petition or a postcard, or secured hundreds of postcards in their own community asking the fund to divest from the Israeli occupation. And you know what? That made all the difference --- to us, and<span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana"><span style="font-size:small">to the leadership of TIAA-CREF</span></span><b>.</b><span style="font-size:small"><b><span style="font-family:Verdana"> </span></b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana">
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<div>We finally got a chance to <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=oQBuWdHaAEq3KXFFKpzhi0RhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u><b>call on TIAA-CREF, in person, to divest from companies like Caterpillar and Elbit that profit from Israel's occupation</b></u></span>.</a> As a fellow activist in the room said, "This was a real breakthrough today." I couldn't agree more.<br>
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At the meeting, those who have retirement accounts with the company can stand up and speak. We had a designated speaker delivering the postcards to TIAA-CREF management, and we knew a few other people, mostly professors and teachers, would get up and ask that their money not be invested in companies that profit from discrimination, death, and destruction, and push hope and peace ever further away.</div>
<p><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0)">But happened was extraordinary.</span> First 5, then 10, then 14 people, then more got up, one after another, to speak from the heart about why TIAA CREF must not profit from Israel's occupation. These people weren't just JVP members, but included TIAA-CREF shareholders attending the meeting for entirely different reasons, who were spontaneously moved to speak in support of our campaign.<br>
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Not a single person spoke to defend Israel's occupation. Not one. But we all know that will change, which is <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=4Hzt%2F2S71%2FI0wjEVnpCq0ERhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u><b>why we need you now to join our call and help us grow the 15,300 to 25,000 and then 50,000</b></u></span>.</a></p>
<p><u><b><font face="verdana"><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2B9RqGTAtqqnYqTyF0BmjLURhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u><b>Please sign the TIAA-CREF petition now.<br>
</b></u></span></a></font></b></u></p>
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In that meeting, the voice for justice, for full equality, for a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, dominated the room. So many inspiring and courageous JVP activists stood up to say how TIAA-CREF was fueling death and destruction by literally investing in it. To implore TIAA-CREF to find a new way. <br>
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During the meeting, we had the honor of delivering the many stacks of petitions and postcards directly to the Chief Financial Officer, and could feel the energy in the room change as the TIAA-CREF executives saw how many people we were representing.<span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><b> </b></span>The CEO of TIAA-CREF announced they would be meeting with our campaign team tomorrow, and I knew they were taking us seriously.<br>
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It was impossible for anyone in that room to not have been affected by what they saw and heard. Just imagine - <span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"><i>statement after statement opposing the Israeli occupation were made in the boardroom of one of the largest financial services companies in the world.</i></span> The executive managers and board members present listened attentively, respectfully.<br>
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We know the struggle will be long to actually get TIAA-CREF to divest, but this is just the beginning. Our story is already spreading across the world, with media coverage in <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=w4ZkZ9kRfCuDYwfT3OHnGERhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u><font face="verdana"><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana"><font face="verdana"><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana"><b>US News and Report</b></span></span></font></span></span></font></u></span></a><font face="verdana"><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana"><font face="verdana"><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><b>,</b></span><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><b> <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=9mvESrg0v8s4ob32ptPYgkRhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u>Inside Higher Ed</u></span></a>, </b></span><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=CKvEdY1FpwUX%2BKCJMOff5Dt%2F4mVQNTxB" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u><b>Israel's Ha'aretz</b></u></span></a><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)">, <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=BhS5auBHrAhm3S%2BzvnoVdERhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u><b>Tablet</b></u></span></a> </span>and the <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=aA3XTbKc%2BzH21nOfiaQl4ERhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u><b>Jewish Telegraphic Agency</b></u></span></a><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><b>.</b></span></span></span></font><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana"><br>
</span></span></span></span></font><br>
<span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><b><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=4tzSALARoeemsByC3qmt%2BURhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u>Please join our call! We are already having an impact at 15,300 but want to grow to 50,000. Please sign our petition today.</u></span></a><br>
</b></span><br>
Thank you for listening. I wish we could have videotaped the statements of every person in that room-I promise you, you would have been moved and inspired. <i><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0)">But none of us who were there will ever forget it.</span></i></div>
<p><a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=l8nqr0BqBnF1MzEbvnBeMURhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"></a><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana">Onward,<br>
<font size="-1"><font size="-1">Aaron Levitt<br>
Jewish Voice for Peace</font></font></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana"><font size="-1"><font size="-1">P.S. At the meeting, TIAA-CREF's corporate leadership announced they would be meeting directly with Jewish Voice for Peace this morning, and so they did. This is a very exciting step--and it's also just the beginning. We still need you to <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=VaCNJ%2FPF6Q8%2B387hRFPCDERhICOf9u%2Bj" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(128, 0, 0)"><u><b>sign our petition and help us get more signatures</b></u></span></a>, especially from TIAA-CREF participants who are predominantly professors, teachers, medical and nonprofit workers.</font></font></span></span><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:Verdana"><font size="-1"><br>
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<img width="1" height="1"></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>karen medina<br><~~~~~~~~~~~~~><br>"In this universe, we are given two gifts: the ability to love, and the ability to ask questions." (Mary Oliver, American poet)<br>
A third gift is the ability to laugh. (Jenifer, a friend)<br>
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