November 26, 2024. Don't Buy Into Occupation – a coalition of 28 European and Palestinian organizations, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) – publishes its latest report, exposing the major involvement of more than 800 European financial institutions in companies helping and encouraging the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The study finds that between January 2021 and August 2024, 822 European banks, asset managers, insurance companies and pension funds provided $211 billion in loans and underwriting and held $182 billion in shares and bonds in 58 companies involved in illegal colonization activities.
“Financial institutions have a major responsibility for the violations committed in the occupied territory, and it is regrettable that they do not appreciate the seriousness of the situation,” declared Gaëlle Dusepulchre, Deputy Director of the Business, Human Rights and Environment office of FIDH.
These findings come against a backdrop of an unprecedented escalation of Israeli atrocities. Palestinians in Gaza face attacks that bear all the hallmarks of genocide, while annexation in the West Bank, settlement expansion, forced displacement and violence by the Israeli army and settlers have continued. considerably intensified. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice issued a historic advisory opinion declaring the Israeli occupation illegal and urging States to end commercial activities, financing and investments that perpetuate or maintain this illegal situation.
A subsequent United Nations resolution reaffirmed these obligations, calling on states to ensure that their nationals, companies and entities under their jurisdiction do not engage in actions that recognize, aid or assist Israel's illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian territory.
The report highlights the main European creditors, in terms of loan volume and underwriting, of companies involved in Israeli settlements, namely BNP Paribas, HSBC, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Société Générale. Major investors, in terms of stock and bond volume, include the Norwegian government pension fund Global, Crédit Agricole, Legal & General, Deutsche Bank and Nordea.
Among the companies supporting illegal colonization and receiving the most money from European financial institutions are: Coca-Cola, Booking Holdings, Volvo Group, Siemens, Cisco Systems, IBM, Caterpillar, Vinci, Motorola Solutions, Airbnb, CNH Industrial, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Carlsberg, Heidelberg Materials, Expedia Group, Carrefour, Alstom and Cemex.
The report calls on financial institutions to respect their duty of care, and use their influence to ensure that their clients and the companies in which they invest respect international law. In the absence of results, they must consider disengaging. The report calls on companies involved in the Israeli settlement enterprise to withdraw from settlements and cease any contribution to their establishment, expansion or maintenance.
European governments must also take concrete measures, in particular by banning the import, marketing and sale of products from the colonies on European markets. States must prohibit trade with and economic support for illegal Israeli settlements. They must stop the export, sale or transfer of weapons and surveillance technology to Israel.
Note to editors:
Don't Buy Into Occupation is a coalition of 28 Palestinian, regional and European organizations that investigate and highlight the financial relationships between European financial institutions and commercial companies involved in the illegal establishment of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The current report is the fourth annual report the coalition has published since September 2021.
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