The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today applauded the Dublin City Council’s unanimous Sept. 16 vote updating its Statement of Investment Policy to add three new prohibited business sectors.
SEE: STATEMENT OF INVESTMENT POLICY FOR THE CITY OF DUBLIN
Under Section XI of the revised policy, Dublin will not invest in companies that:
- Develop or manufacture commodities that facilitate violence or war.
- Engage in border or mass surveillance industries.
- Are involved in mass incarceration or detention industries.
These additions build on existing exclusions for fossil fuels, tobacco, and companies that support the production of firearms.
CAIR-SFBA recognizes the Dublin community whose tireless advocacy for divestment from war, surveillance, and incarceration helped secure a unanimous vote and a meaningful shift toward ethical investing. While the Council did not formally adopt a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) policy, community members made clear that divestment from corporations profiting from occupation and human rights abuses is a broad, common-sense demand.
In a statement, CAIR-SFBA Policy Coordinator Musa Tariq said:
“Public budgets are moral documents. By updating its investment policy, Dublin is sending a clear message that taxpayer dollars should not fund companies complicit in genocide, mass surveillance, or mass incarceration. With atrocities in Gaza and wars in Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cities have a responsibility to ensure their investments do not fuel harm.”
In a statement, CAIR-SFBA Executive Director Zahra Billoo said:
“We applaud Dublin for aligning city investments with community safety and human dignity. Our values are clear: protect civil rights, reject profiteering from oppression, and keep public funds out of industries that endanger our communities—at home and abroad. We encourage other Bay Area jurisdictions to adopt similar standards.”
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR-SFBA Communications Manager Lorrie Adam, 408.498.5779, ladam@cair.com