Our coalition came together to investigate European companies and financial institutions that are involved in illegal Israeli settlements.

Amongst its key findings is that between January 2018 and May 2021, 672 European banks and pension funds had financial relationships worth a total of $255 billion with 50 companies involved in Israeli settlements, with $114 billion invested in the form of loans and underwritings, and $141 billion in shares and bonds held by European investors in these 50 companies.

The report findings are critical to defunding Israeli occupation by understanding which European financial institutions have financial relationships with companies that are involved in human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory.

BNP Paribas is one of the leading financiers with a total presence of nearly EUR 17 billion. The bank is the very largest European lender to settlement companies with EUR 14.14 billion, and also the 12th largest European investor with EUR 2.73 billion. An important footnote here is that the Belgian government is the largest shareholder of BNP Paribas. The Belgian State thus receives dividends based on these investments and has co-decision rights on what BNP Paribas does with the money they control.

The “Don’t Buy into Occupation” (DBIO) coalition is a joint project between 27 Palestinian, regional and European organisations based in Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom (UK).

The coalition aims to investigate and highlight the financial relationships between business enterprises involved in the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and European Financial Institutions (FIs).

The initiatives will advocate and campaign for these businesses and institutions to take up their responsibilities in disengaging from illegal settlements.