In correspondence to the City Council, residents offered sharply divided views on an amendment to the city’s investment policy, with some urging officials to adopt stricter ethical investment standards tied to the war in Gaza while others warned the measure would improperly inject international politics into municipal finances.
However, that was never part of the recommendation for the policy. As a matter of fact, the Legislative Policy Committee made that clear in December when it announced there was no appetite for a boycott of Israel.
Still the letters kept pouring in on Monday.
“At a practical level, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) proposal accomplishes nothing,” wrote Jason Moss, executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. “Pasadena holds no direct investments in Israeli companies and does not meaningfully invest in firms whose limited activities in Israel would be affected by a municipal policy change. Any action would therefore be purely symbolic — an expression of political alignment, not financial stewardship.”
Supporters pushed the city to include language targeting investments tied to what they describe as genocide in Palestine and mass surveillance technologies.
The debate comes after more than a year of public comment at City Council meetings tied to the Israel-Hamas war and the broader Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, commonly known as BDS.
The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing roughly 1,200 people and taking hostages into Gaza. Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at dismantling Hamas, resulting in widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“I am hoping that on May 11, as you decide on whether council will prohibit investments in weapons manufacturers, fossil fuel companies and private prisons, you do not disregard the call to prohibit investment in mass surveillance,” wrote Marianne Albina. “And most importantly, that you include language about divestment from genocide, specifically naming the genocide in Palestine.”
Public correspondence submitted to the city included emails, opinion pieces and petitions. Pasadena for Palestine told city officials it had submitted more than 600 physical signatures supporting the amendment and calling for divestment from companies “complicit in the genocide in Palestine.”
Supporters argued Pasadena’s investment practices should reflect humanitarian and environmental values.
“We are asking you to ensure that Pasadena is not financially complicit in the destruction and suffering inflicted on Palestinians,” Albina wrote. “Other cities across the United States have already taken steps toward divestment because they recognize that neutrality in the face of mass suffering is not moral leadership.”
Opponents argued the proposed changes unfairly target Israel and risk alienating Jewish residents.
“When a standard is applied to one nation, and one nation alone, that is not justice — that is discrimination,” wrote Alexandrea Douglas, a Pasadena resident and parent. “And it seems to only be driven towards the one and only Jewish state.”
Pasadena is not alone in facing divestment pressure. In 2024, Richmond voted to divest from companies doing business with Israel after a similar action in Hayward. Other municipalities, including Portland and Dearborn, have considered or adopted measures related to Israel-linked investments since the Gaza war began.
Several residents called on the City to focus on local issues and avoid foreign policy matters.
“Pasadena faces real and pressing local challenges — fiscal, social, and infrastructural,” Moss wrote. “Our City’s investment policies should reflect those priorities, not serve as instruments for highly polarizing symbolic foreign policy pronouncements.”
Moss added that “municipal investment policy is not a platform for geopolitical signaling” and said such matters belong to “national governments and international institutions — not for municipal bodies.”
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
