The AXA scandal
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
Innocence can be dangerous, AXA Insurance warns jokingly in its ads for families with lively kids.
Palestinians aren’t laughing though -- and they are demanding that AXA stop investing in arms makers and banks involved in the brutal occupation of Palestine.
A,
AXA crushes the lives of defenseless families in Palestine, while providing life insurance around the world. What a sickening paradox.
The French insurance giant is accused of violating international law by financing Elbit Systems -- Israel’s leading arms company -- infamous for supplying prohibited weapons that have already killed and injured hundreds of innocent Palestinian women and... children.
What’s more, a new report reveals that AXA also invests in three major Israeli banks that finance Israel’s illegal settlement expansion.
The job of an insurer is to guard families against risks, to their lives and homes. But AXA is endangering Palestinian families both by supporting the manufacture of weapons used against them, and the infrastructure of occupation.
These shocking revelations are an embarrassment for AXA which is proud of its commitment to responsible investment, and is already breaking ties with manufacturers of certain weapons. Let’s push it to drop Elbit Systems and the three rogue banks, too. We know people power works -- the peaceful mobilization of the global BDS movement has already forced multinationals, including Veolia and Orange, to drop investments in illegal Israeli settlements. Now it’s AXA's turn!
Elbit Systems is accused of providing weapons banned by international conventions, including chemical weapons like white phosphorus, which was used during the deadly offensive against civilians in Gaza in 2014.
Elbit Systems also participated in building the massive “security wall” project in the occupied Palestinian territories, which the International Court of Justice ruled in 2004 is illegal.
Financial institutions and insurance companies cannot ignore the illegality of Israeli settlements and the daily suffering they cause. Arbitrary confiscation of property, the separation of families, imprisonment of children, and the humiliating and endless checkpoint controls are the daily dehumanizing experiences of Palestinians living under an apartheid regime.
Such corporations must also be aware of the conclusions of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) report, which states that ‘large French financial groups (BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale, BPCE), including AXA are directly or indirectly involved in the colonial project in Palestine’.
According to the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), banks and insurers are seeking profit at any cost, including getting involved in illegal activity. Let’s make them put an end to it.
Taking advantage of the suffering of the Palestinians is unspeakable. During our campaign against Airbnb, more than 151,000 members like you expressed their outrage. And the tide is turning: the United Nations has started to take measures against these outlaw companies. But as AXA continues to bury its head in the sand, let’s push it to stop their illegal and immoral investments.
Thanks for all that you do,
Leyla, Eoin and the team at SumOfUs
More information:
70 french organizations, associations, parties and unions have published a call to AXA to respect international law and cut ties with Israel’s colonial and apartheid policy BDS, 28 July 2017
Report reveals links between five French banks and insurance companies and the Israeli settlements FIDH Report, 29 March 2017
French banks finance Israeli settlements, report RFI, 29 March 2017
Israel: White Phosphorus Use Evidence of War Crimes, Human Rights Watch, 25 March 2009
Precisely Wrong, Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles, Human Rights Watch, Report, 30 June 2009
International Court of Justice finds Israeli barrier in Palestinian territory is illegal, UN News, 9 July 2004
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