Divest from Oppression, Invest in our Communities
MARYLAND IS DIRECTLY SUBSIDIZING ISRAEL’S SYSTEM OF APARTHEID AND GENOCIDE
Maryland’s State Retirement and Pension System has $73.7 million of investments in Israeli bonds (as of July 30, 2025). These are loans to Israel’s treasury, directly tying our state government to an economy of displacement, dispossession and death. Communities everywhere deserve to live safely with dignity, free from harm or discrimination.
Israel has been upholding a brutal system of total domination over Palestinians since 1948 — a separate-and-unequal, apartheid system and a violent occupation of stolen Palestinian land. And for the past two years, Israel has been committing a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Jewish Voice for Peace Baltimore and DC Metro have joined the nationwide call for state governments to Break the Bonds of apartheid and genocide through ending all investment in Israeli bonds, and reinvesting in ways that sustain, rather than harm communities.
ISRAELI BONDS ARE A BAD INVESTMENT
Israeli bonds’ returns are dependent upon the status of the Israeli economy, as official Israeli data indicates that it’s steadily declining and it’s expected to decline further. The 3 top global credit rating agencies (Moody’s, S&P and Fitch) have downgraded Israel’s credit rating since Oct. 7th, 2023, citing “the ongoing military conflict and increased geopolitical risks.”
Investments in our state’s local and state communities can earn comparable returns. Investments in vitally important public goods such as medical research, education, transportation, and infrastructure here in Maryland have proven to provide high investment returns.
Israel‘s brutal system of oppression over Palestinians directly conflicts with our pension system’s public commitments to socially responsible investing and obligations as a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. The pension system’s own Investment Policy Manual also outlines steps to protect human rights.
Maryland should instead invest in assets and policies that support our local communities, and prioritize sustainable, socially responsible investments that align with our state’s values and avoid complicity in human rights violations.
WE DEMAND THAT THE MARYLAND STATE RETIREMENT AND PENSION SYSTEM DIVEST ALL OF ITS ISRAELI BONDS!
RECENT CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT
The ceasefire does not bring an end to the genocide. We are hopeful that it will fully halt the mass killing of Palestinians through bombardment and stop its blockade of food and medicine. Trump’s plan seeks to create a new Middle East in which Israeli apartheid and genocide are normalized and integrated into a regional and global economy that maintains Palestinian subjugation.
Two years of Israeli genocide were possible because the Israeli government has never once been held accountable for decades of human rights abuses and crimes against humanity. Justice can only begin once Israeli impunity is challenged.
About our campaign
Maryland Break the Bonds was initiated by Jewish Voice for Peace and has grown to include multiple Break the Bonds coalition campaigns across the US. Our statewide Maryland campaign includes members of organizations throughout the state, including many Jewish Marylanders, distressed about Maryland’s current funding and fueling of Israel’s devastating Gaza genocide and its apartheid system throughout the occupied Palestinian territories. We need your help to pressure our state to immediately stop our state government’s funding of its unconscionable and risky Israeli bonds!