Campaigners in Enfield worked hard for months to collect and submit over three thousand signatures calling for the local council to divest from companies complicit in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. The council, however, has so far failed to commit to voting on the matter. But pressure is building in the London borough, as campaigners refuse to back down.
Enfield: thousands back the petition, but the council drags its feet
At least 81 local government pension funds invest in complicit companies. And a Freedom of Information request revealed in 2024 that Enfield Council “invests more than £53 million of workers’ pension funds in companies complicit in human rights violations, apartheid and genocide in Palestine”. Subsequently, a grassroots effort from Enfield Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Enfield Solidarity with Palestine, and Enfield Stop the War Coalition managed to collect over 3,500 signatures for a petition calling on the Enfield Council Pension Fund committee to “divest all Local Government Pension Scheme funds from companies complicit in Israel’s violations of human rights and International Law”.
Enfield4Palestine told the Canary that campaigners haven’t yet received a response to the petition from the council, saying:
Despite the submission on the 7th April we are disappointed to be still waiting for confirmation of presenting the petition at the June 24th council meeting.
They had previously asked for a rough timeline of what to expect and received a response asserting that, upon receiving the petition:
We will then need to verify the signatures – this normally takes about 2 weeks. If the verification process confirms that you have triggered a debate at either OSC or Council, we will place the item on the next meeting date that suits all parties.
Although they expected an update after “about 2 weeks”, two months have now passed. And they’re calling on Enfield residents:
to contact their local councillor to make their views known about the situation in Gaza and for the councillors to fulfill their fiduciary duty and vote to divest pension funds from unethical companies complicit in the atrocities that we see.
This is the link for residents to contact the council.
Grassroots power is growing
The council recently refused to let campaigners use a local council hall for educational meetings on Palestine, claiming this “had the potential to raise community tension with the event dealing with a delicate and emotional topic”. This was the topic in question:
This week commemorates the 77 anniversary of the Nakba- come and hear about how it began and what is still happening today.@PSCupdates pic.twitter.com/D68Wszg9kV
— enfield4palestine (@Enf4Palestine) May 10, 2025
This obstacle hasn’t stopped campaigners from organising, however. And they will host an event on 5 June:
The context surrounding the campaigning is one of increasing community engagement in Enfield.
In 2024, Khalid Sadur ran as an anti-war, anti-austerity independent to challenge Labour in the general election. Later in the year, in an Enfield Council by-election race for which he received Jeremy Corbyn’s endorsement, his low-budget community movement became the main opposition to Labour-Tory domination in the area.
Sadur has been supporting the calls for divestment. And he told the Canary:
Since the Independent challenge at the General Election last year, we have seen a growing number of people becoming more involved in local activism.
From by-elections to divestment, library closures to the felling of the 500 year old oak tree in Whitewebbs park, Enfield residents are coming out and making their voice heard.
He added:
There is a growing understanding that campaigning and protest is necessary to hold elected officials to account, especially when these same represenatatives fail to reply to emails or attend local surgeries.
The local elections in May 2026 will certainly provide a real alternative to the mainstream parties.
Why won’t Enfield council respond?
Councillors’ silence has so far disappointed campaigners, in an area that is increasingly standing up for what it believes is right.
With thousands of local residents asking the council to divest from unethical companies, holding a vote at the meeting on 24 June would seem like the most appropriate course of action. The question for the council to answer, then, is ‘why won’t you commit to a vote?’
Featured image and additional images supplied
