The Divest from Occupation campaign calls on Australian superannuation funds to divest from all companies listed on the United Nations Database of companies that are complicit in Israel’s illegal settlements.
There are limited ways that the general public can meaningfully engage with their superannuation fund around issues like these. Using social media to call out your fund draws attention to their poor behaviour in a very public and highly visible way. It’s also a way to inform other customers about their bad investments – a lot of people have no idea that their retirement money is invested into an illegal occupation.
Often a lot of your fund’s social media content is heavy virtue-signalling. E.G, they might often post feel-good things about gender, or inequality as a way of demonstrating their brand and trying to connect with their customers. This makes a perfect opportunity to remind them of their hypocrisy and complicity.
HASHTAGS: #DivestFromOccupation #FUNDNAMEDivestFromOccupation
Who should I be targeting?
- Your fund’s social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and TikTok.
- The LinkedIn Profile of the CEO and all board members.
TAKE ACTION:
Comment-bomb their socials.
Jump onto one of their social media profiles, find either the most recent post or a post that touches on relevant themes, and make a comment about the fund’s investments into Israel’s illegal occupation, ask them a question, or share a link to our campaign resources. The main objective is to publicly draw attention to our campaign amongst their customers, and force the fund to engage!
Your fund will often make posts that virtue signal values that they think will resonate with their audience. Try to relate your comment to the original post and the values they are projecting, leaning on their own messaging to demonstrate their hypocrisy.
For example, HESTA’s posts often reflect women’s rights, gender issues, workers rights, free and equitable access to healthcare, care work, ageing, maternity services.
Asking questions is a really good way to encourage your fund to engage with this topic in front of an audience. If they ignore you, their silence will speak volumes.
Other useful lines for social media comments:
“[fund name], some of the companies you are investing in are linked to human rights violations and war crimes like forced displacement and forcible population transfer. How does this fit into your ESG framework?“
“[fund name], can you tell me about the due-diligence you’re undertaking into the Israeli banks you’re investing into? We know they’re linked to human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
“[fund name], what would it take for you to divest from companies that the United Nations has deemed complicit with Israel’s illegal settlement expansions?”
“Hey [fund name], we are just wondering whether you are going to uphold your corporate obligations to avoid or mitigate the human rights impacts of your investments into companies operating in the illegal Israeli settlements?”
We strongly encourage you to write comments in your own words. We’re after lots of strong, authentic comments, rather than hundreds of identical ones!
Leave your fund a bad review:
Take five minutes to write a bad review about your fund’s complicity on a popular online review platform.
Create some content for APAN to re-share!
Feeling inspired by our campaign? We’re always on the look out for new content to share. Why not make a video or post about this campaign, and share it with your social media followers? If you tag us, we’ll reshare it for broader reach.
What else:
- Tag your fund in news stories and articles about the occupation
- Amplify APAN and BDS Australia’s campaign news and actions, and don’t forget tag the fund.
General tips:
- Be respectful and use common sense. Don’t hijack posts about sensitive topics.
- Don’t argue with anyone, particularly not trolls!
- Try to be consistent, but not spammy. A well-worded post every few weeks is a lot more impactful than five identical posts in one day! We’re looking for genuine member engagement, which is far more difficult to dismiss.
- If you get blocked, find another platform and call them out for blocking you.
- If they respond to you with a long-winded, copy/paste reply, respond to them again. Ask them for clarity, or to explain exactly what they mean.
Stay in touch with us via social media:
APAN
BDS Australia