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Last month, I joined more than 45 bus drivers, teachers, and government workers to testify before the Washington State Investment Board, demanding responsible investment of our pension funds. I arrived grateful to be surrounded by fellow pensioners who were grounded in a shared commitment to fighting for investments that reflect our values.

Quickly it became clear that the Washington State Investment Board was going to strictly enforce the 45-person speaker limit that it implemented last year after beneficiaries began regularly demanding divestment at their meetings. This meant that my friend, a Palestinian member of my union who had taken off the day to testify, was barred from speaking. I had a minute to speak and yielded my time to him. We would not allow their bureaucratic procedures to silence us. We spoke out because we believe our state’s investments should earn money for our retirement funds without compromising our values.

This mobilization of beneficiaries began with Washington’s Cut Ties with Genocide campaign, launched by Washington for Peace and Justice and Jewish Voice for Peace Seattle. Sitting in an early meeting of the campaign, I was heartbroken to learn that the Washington State Investment Board invests my pension money into companies that enable genocide abroad, surveil and warehouse my neighbors, and contribute to climate chaos around the world. When I began my career as a bus driver in 2016, I was proud to have a pension. Now I felt like my pension was tainted. I could see clearly that my future financial stability was built on the destruction of other people’s futures.

What are these harmful investments? The Washington State Investment Board has invested over $204 million in Lockheed Martin, one of the world’s leading weapons manufacturers. Lockheed Martin produces the F-35 fighter jets that have been crucial to the Israeli military’s genocide in Gaza. These jets have the capacity to carry and detonate 2,000-pound bombs — bombs that destroy whole families, buildings, and neighborhoods in Gaza, leaving behind craters in the earth. In just one horrifying example from 2024, the Israeli military used F-35 jets to drop three 2,000-pound bombs on an Israeli designated “safe zone” in Khan Younis, killing 90 Palestinians and injuring hundreds.

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