SMART MONEY: $3.5 Billion Wants Answers from Boeing on Israel

Boeing has an Israel problem . . . and that
means Chicago has a Boeing problem

Boeing's shareholder meeting on May 2, 2016, revealed that people holding $3.5 billion in Boeing stock said they want the facts on Boeing weapons sales to Israel.

The way Boeing spun the story last week, "only" 5% of shareholders voted in support of a shareholder resolution calling on the company to detail their military sales to Israel.

But when you do the math, that 5% of the 300 million shares outstanding -- even if you only count the 88% of the total that Boeing says was actually voted -- is worth $3.5 billion (at the current Boeing share price).

That means people (including a lot of institutional investors, to be sure) who hold $3.5 billion in Boeing stock said, "YES: we want the facts on Boeing weapons sales to Israel."

Boeing 2016 stockholder meeting:
"Murder from a distance is still murder."
"Boeing: No arms to Israel."
"Boeing products kill kids. Divest this death tech stock."
(Photo: Chicago Monitor)

According to the Antiwar Committee Chicago,

Israel recently completed its largest arms deal with the U.S., to purchase almost $2 billion in missiles, bombs, and guidance systems for bombs. Boeing manufactures most of the components of these, including the guidance systems that turn regular bombs into “smart bombs.” A report by Amnesty International – UK showed that the bombings which caused the most casualties in Gaza came from Boeing’s laser guided, one ton bombs, the MK-84/GBU-31. Israel is purchasing 10,000 of these smart bomb kits.

(See "5% of Boeing Stock Holders Vote for Resolution Challenging Arms Sales to Israel")

Palestinian rights - a big issue in Chicago

This story is especially interesting to me because I attended a conference on Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) in Santa Cruz just days before the Boeing meeting. What I learned there is that (a) the BDS strategy to bring international pressure on Israel to end its occupation of Palestine is succeeding; and (b) there is no an established sequence of escalation that BDS successes follow. The five percent vote at the Boeing shareholder meeting is a clear stepping stone to a success in the Boeing campaign.

The events at Boeing are also inspiring in light of what I wrote recently after viewing the film about US weapons sales, Shadow World. So many places in the US just sit back and accept the fact that their home is profiting from war. Apparently, people in Chicago are different.

I can't wait to see what happens next at Boeing.


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