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Former 'unreliable B'tselem propagandist' steps down from ratings giant Sustainalytics

Reader comment on item: My Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations

Submitted by Rita V (United States), Aug 10, 2022 at 17:18

Alana Goodman, "Anti-Israel Exec Departs Ratings Giant Amid Scrutiny."

Free Beacon, August 8, 2022.

Heather Lang steps down after allegations that Morningstar subsidiary blacklists companies that do business in Israel.

A senior executive at the ratings giant Sustainalytics—who spent years working at an anti-Israel advocacy group—announced last week that she is stepping down amid scrutiny of the company's reliance on sources that critics say lead to bias and discrimination against Israeli companies.
Heather Lang, a onetime official at the anti-Israel activist organization B'Tselem, announced last week her departure as a senior vice president at Sustainalytics, a subsidiary of the corporate-ratings giant Morningstar, after 18 years at the company.
"Tomorrow is my last day at Sustainalytics after an incredible 18-year journey!" wrote Lang in a social media post last week. "It's been an absolute privilege to work with such wonderful colleagues and friends."
The news comes as Sustainalytics—one of the major ratings agencies that score companies based on their environmental, social, and governance practices—has faced allegations that its scoring system is biased against Israel and that it downgrades companies that help the Jewish state's national security operations. Prior to joining Sustainalytics, Lang worked at B'Tselem, a self-described human rights group that asserts that "Israel's regime of apartheid and occupation is inextricably bound up in human rights violations," according to its website. NGO Monitor, a watchdog group that monitors Middle East organizations, describes B'Tselem as "part of a network of NGOs that promote artificial and manufactured definitions of apartheid to extend the ongoing campaigns that seek to delegitimize and demonize Israel."
Morningstar enlisted law firm White & Case to conduct an internal investigation into potential anti-Israel bias at Sustainalytics. This came after the Illinois Investment Policy Board, a state commission, launched a probe into whether the company was in violation of Illinois laws against anti-Israel boycotts.
Lang's presence at Sustainalytics raises questions about the neutrality of its executives, a week after the Missouri attorney general launched an investigation into allegations of anti-Israel bias at the ratings giant.
Lang did not indicate that her departure is related to the investigation or allegations of bias. But Israel advocates said the company should be cautious about anti-Israel activism among its leadership.
"If Morningstar is serious about rooting out anti-Israel bias in their ranks, it would behoove them to ensure no more of their officers have a history of demonizing the Jewish state," a former Israeli government official told the Washington Free Beacon.
Sustainalytics referred a request for comment to Morningstar. Morningstar declined to comment on Lang's departure, telling the Free Beacon that the company "does not support the anti-Israel BDS movement. Matters related to an individual's employment are confidential."
According to an online biography of Lang, posted by a conference at which she spoke, she previously worked as a "corporate social responsibility consultant and spent several years living in Israel, working for leading human rights watchdog organization B'Tselem."
While at B'Tselem, Lang was the editor of the group's 1999 Human Rights Report, which accused Israel of various humanitarian abuses, including blocking water from Palestinians and discriminatory deportations.
Lang's prior work for B'Tselem was not mentioned in the White & Case probe.
According to the White & Case investigation, Sustainalytics has relied on research from Who Profits, a group that supports boycott campaigns against Israel.

Update 2:31 p.m.: This piece has been updated to include comment from Sustainalytics and Morningstar.

Published under: Anti-Semitism, Israel

https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/anti-israel-exec-departs-ratings-giant-amid-scrutiny/

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Title Commenter Date Thread
Former 'unreliable B'tselem propagandist' steps down from ratings giant Sustainalytics [569 words]Rita VAug 10, 2022 17:18284999
Another Pallywood fake B'tselem Basel Adra: Ma'on Farm [268 words]Diana from CaliforniaApr 15, 2022 12:02279811
Inviting people to use symmetry in reasoning [361 words]PrashantApr 16, 2022 16:39279811
Pallywood: more "Palestinian" cry for cameras only [Dec 2021] [187 words]Diana from CaliforniaApr 18, 2022 03:49279811
Assymetrical Posturing in Irrational Diatribes Rather Than Common Ground of Understanding Do Not Reconcile [76 words]M ToveyApr 18, 2022 18:55279811
"sustained and systematic effort to alter a bellicose mentality" [111 words]
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David BakinJun 5, 2007 15:0596116
Dr Pipes changing tone.. [112 words]
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HarrakApr 16, 2007 21:0189431
Thanks Dr Pipes [10 words]HarrakApr 17, 2007 21:2589431
Jaw-dropper [86 words]Mark RothApr 13, 2007 07:5489130
Martin Indyk and Dennis Ross are badly misinformed and a real danger to Israeli Jews [152 words]Kenneth BesigMar 18, 2007 02:4886685
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Hearings on Israeli-Palestinian "Progress" [23 words]Herb JuristMar 16, 2007 23:1086586
Pipes subcommittee comments [141 words]DeanMar 16, 2007 22:5286583
House subcommittee hearing [45 words]Steven LMar 16, 2007 17:2386543
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OK, rot or prosper, I don't care which [194 words]Linda MooreFeb 28, 2007 17:4778889
Rot or Prosper continued [172 words]Fred SchlomkaMar 1, 2007 00:0878889
I find it hard to believe you are Israeli - all of your hostility is directed at Israel [310 words]Linda MooreMar 1, 2007 17:4478889
1There are many types of Israelis. We are no more homogenious than people in the USA [283 words]Fred SchlomkaMar 2, 2007 09:3578889
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Visit this site... [143 words]Linda MooreMar 2, 2007 19:0578889
Of Maps and fatalities [454 words]Fred SchlomkaMar 4, 2007 05:1478889
To: Fred Schlomka, Incredible. "You just can't make it up!" [454 words]marianaMar 19, 2007 20:4178889
To Daniel and Gabriel: on "Winning" [522 words]marianaMar 20, 2007 00:4978889
to Mariana [100 words]ASMar 22, 2007 00:3878889
Fred Schlomka: -Israeli leftist- Is there a difference? [87 words]Mr. ShawarmaMar 27, 2007 23:4678889
Boorish title from Mr. Shawamra [192 words]Fred SchlomkaMar 29, 2007 04:1178889
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I applaud those whom you and Jonathan Cook refer to as "thugs" and yes, Jew hater = Ashkenazi Leftist [402 words]Mr.ShawarmaMar 29, 2007 17:0578889
attack by Shawamra [197 words]Fred SchlomkaMar 31, 2007 02:3078889
Fred Schlomka's comments [319 words]Mr. ShawarmaMar 31, 2007 17:3078889
To: Fred Schlomka: on "armchairs and nonsense." [1572 words]marianaApr 1, 2007 12:5078889
some comments for Mariana [878 words]Fred SchlomkaApr 2, 2007 04:3278889
To: AS: This is an ISLAM vs EVERYONE ELSE issue [943 words]marianaApr 2, 2007 11:3878889
To Fred Schlomka: Your "Middle Eastern" Construct is clear. Forgive me if "I pass." [776 words]marianaApr 4, 2007 17:0378889
Fred Schlomka - Hill Top Youth comments verified [40 words]Fred SchlomkaDec 3, 2008 03:4178889
B'TSELEM: Anti Israel liars, unreliable source, propagandists , posing as "human rights activists" [2927 words]FilipSep 1, 2020 11:5778889
Btselem: fake & hypocritical In face of publicized racist Arab attacks inside Israel [77 words]NazariasApr 19, 2021 06:5578889
Fake lying B'Tselem' / Haaretz Basel al-Adara reminds Jussie Smollet [712 words]BassemDec 3, 2021 16:4078889
Exposure of B'tselem's criminal Ezra Bawi and unreliable Haaretz's war on program that exposed him [2865 words]FilipDec 5, 2021 09:1978889
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consider this... [140 words]JoshuaFeb 22, 2007 00:0578292
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Subcommittee Investigations [435 words]MichaelMar 3, 2007 12:5578054

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