26 November 2024. Don’t Buy into Occupation —a coalition of 28 European and Palestinian organisations, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)— releases its latest report, exposing the extensive involvement of over 800 European financial institutions in companies aiding and abetting the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The research reveals that between January 2021 and August 2024, 822 European banks, asset managers, insurance companies, and pension funds provided $211 billion in lending and underwriting and held $182 billion in shares and bonds in 58 companies involved in illegal settlement activities.
"Financial institutions have a major responsibility in the violations taking place in the Occupied Territory, and it is regrettable that they still refuse to gauge the gravity of the situation and act accordingly", said Gaëlle Dusepulchre, Deputy Director of FIDH’s Business, Human Rights and Environment Desk.
These findings come amid an unprecedented escalation of Israeli atrocities. The Palestinians in Gaza face ongoing attacks that bear all the hallmarks of genocide, while annexation in the West Bank including settlement expansion, forced displacement and Israeli army and settler violence has dramatically intensified. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark Advisory Opinion declaring Israel’s occupation wholly illegal and urging states to end trade and investment activities that sustain this unlawful 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 recognise, aid, or assist Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The report highlights the largest European creditors, by volume of lending and underwriting, to companies involved in Israeli settlements, namely BNP Paribas, HSBC, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Société Générale. Major investors, by volume of shares and bonds, include the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, Crédit Agricole, Legal & General, Deutsche Bank and Nordea.
Of the companies aiding the illegal settlement enterprise, the ones receiving the most 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 adopt heightened due diligence measures. They must use their leverage to ensure that clients and investee companies comply with international law and divest from those that fail to do so. Moveover, businesses involved in the Israeli settlement enterprise must withdraw from settlements and halt any contributions to their establishment, expansion or maintenance.
European governments must also take concrete actions, including by prohibiting companies operating illegally in the OPT from doing imports, marketing and sales in European markets; banning trade with and economic support for illegal Israeli settlements; and halting the export, sale, or transfer of arms and surveillance technology to Israel.
Note to editors:
Don’t Buy Into Occupation is a coalition of 28 Palestinian, regional and European organisations that investigates and highlights the financial relationships between European financial institutions and business enterprises involved in the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The current report is the fourth annual report that the coalition has published since September 2021.