Divestment Campaign
Throughout 2025 and 2026, Pasadena for Palestine organized a campaign at
Pasadena City Hall for divestment from companies supporting the genocide
in Gaza.
The divestment campaign was modeled after Pasadena’s divestment from
apartheid South Africa in the 1980s, led by Loretta Jean Thompson-Glickman,
the first African-American mayor of Pasadena.
We felt that the South Africa divestment established ample precedent for
divestment from companies supporting Israel, considering that beyond the
apartheid system enforced upon the Palestinians in general since the Nakba
and Six Day War, Israel was now perpetrating a genocide in Gaza.
We thus began our campaign in earnest and found that Pasadena residents
broadly supported our campaign. We canvassed in Old Town and at the Pasadena
City College flea market and found nearly universal support, gathering 600
signatures over time. Additionally, over the duration of the campaign over 100
individuals volunteered public statements of support during Pasadena City Hall
meetings. The group who gave their voices included those of Palestinian
descent, some with relatives who had died in Gaza, Jews, Christian clergy,
students, professors, local activists, long-term Pasadena residents, and
parents. The profound diversity of our coalition was a testament to the
universal appeal of our cause.
We only encountered resistance from a small group of local Zionists who
vigorously opposed our campaign. These groups often employed outrageously
hypocritical or disingenuous arguments in defense of Israel. For example,
Jason Moss, the Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of the Greater
San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, would argue that the council should focus on
local matters, and that the Gaza conflict is “beyond the scope” of Pasadena
local government. Beyond the fact that this completely ignores the South
African precedent, this same Jason Moss invited City Council members on a
summer trip to Israel and 2 members, Jason Lyon and Steve Madison, took up the
offer, went to Israel, and met with Israeli President Herzog.
Despite the flimsy nature of our opponents’ arguments, our campaign
encountered barriers that were not experienced during the South Africa
divestment. While the South African divestment campaign was able to achieve
divestment from all companies doing business in South Africa, City council
members were too intimidated by the proponents of Israel to even include a
mention of Israel in our final divestment resolution. Rather, what was passed
was a pared down ethical investment policy divesting from weapons
manufacturers, fossil fuels, private prisons, and tobacco, with no mention of
Israel.
Despite the amendment not explicitly mentioning Israel, the amended resolution
contains explicit divestment from many companies that would have been targeted
by a BDS divestment anyways. In that, it was a pragmatic win.