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The Boycott Israel (BDS) movement has achieved new success in its fight against the complicity of financial companies in the Israeli settler colonization and genocide system, with the French insurance company “AXA” being forced to sell its investments in all major Israeli banks. The institutional accountability organization “Echo” published a new report on Wednesday.
Israeli banks are the backbone of the Israeli colonial project, and they all provide “direct and massive” support for the maintenance and development of Israeli colonies. The global boycott of AXA campaign targets the company’s investments in Israeli banks and military manufacturing company Elbit for their complicity in the establishment of Israeli colonies on stolen Palestinian land, and other violations and crimes against our people. In addition to the reputational damage and the expansion of the boycott, French insurer AXA is facing divestment pressure due to this collusion.
The AXA boycott campaign forced the French company to divest part of its investment in military manufacturing company Elbit in December 2018 and March 2019. It also succeeded in forcing AXA to divest its investments in two Israeli banks, Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank and Bank of Israel. The First International Bank of Israel is set to be established by the end of 2022.
In turn, the corporate responsibility organization “Echo”, which is part of a broad coalition that puts pressure on AXA to stop its involvement in Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people, commissioned a study from the independent research organization “Profundo”, which showed that in September 2023, AXA still held more than $20 million in shares invested in three Israeli banks: Hapoalim, Discount and Leumi.
As of June 24, 2024, the global boycott of AXA has escalated, with the French insurance company apparently withdrawing its investment from three Israeli banks. The report confirms that AXA has no longer invested in Mizrahi-Tevahot Bank or First International Bank of Israel since at least the end of 2022.
The report also confirmed that AXA sold its investments in Israeli banks, with the last portion of its shares remaining in Bank Leumi.
Commenting on this success, Fiona Ben Chakroun, coordinator of the European Boycott Israel (BDS) movement, said:
“The pressure from the BDS movement is influential. After years of strategic action by the BDS movement, AXA confirmed its divestment from all Israeli banks and the military manufacturing company Elbit, which is an important achievement of the movement.
All states, local authorities, companies and institutions are legally obliged to end all forms of direct and indirect complicity in Israel’s system of settler colonialism, apartheid and illegal occupation, which would be an important step in dismantling this genocidal regime that has existed for more than 76 years.
These complicit companies tried to make us realize that we could not outdo them, but the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has successfully outdone AXA and many other complicit and larger companies. We are certainly able to outdo each other on many issues as we seek to achieve freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people.”
At the AXA shareholder meeting in April 2024, the company’s CEO was forced to declare that “he has no [الشركة] Any investment, direct or indirect, in an Israeli bank.
Regarding the Corporate Accountability Organization (ECO), Laila Kishani said:
“The new Eco report shows that AXA has clearly, rapidly and deliberately divested from Israeli banks, which have long been targeted by Eco and other human rights activists for their complicity in war crimes against Palestinians.
The sharp declines in the data and charts in the report suggest that AXA’s withdrawal of investment was due to external pressure to stop crimes against Palestinians, rather than in response to market prices, despite the company’s stable or rising share prices. “This is a major success for the growing Palestinian solidarity movement around the world and proves that sustained pressure can pay off.”
However, AXA is not immune from punishment. As Israel commits genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, the Alliance will continue to monitor AXA’s investments to ensure that it is not complicit in the ongoing genocide.
It is noteworthy that the campaign to boycott the insurance company “AXA” has been going on for five years and was caused by the company’s investments in Israeli banks, which finance the crimes of the Israeli occupation forces such as settlement, killing and displacement, in addition to its investment in the company “Elbit”, which is the largest Israeli weapons manufacturer and supplies the Israeli army with weapons to kill… displacement and oppression of our people, and also provides logistical support for the infrastructure of the occupation, such as annexation and the apartheid wall.
In conclusion, the Boycott Israel (BDS) movement and its partners and allies around the world once again call for increased pressure on all financial institutions that profit from Israeli crimes. Investing in Israel’s colonial and apartheid system has always been an immoral and illegal act, but today it has also become a madness!
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