French insurance giant AXA has investments in Israeli businesses that have direct links to Israel’s persecutions of Palestinians, according to an online petition which has called on AXA to “stop investing in Israel’s arms trade and brutal occupation” of Palestinian territories. As of end of Tuesday, the petition had gathered over 75,000 signatures in its support.

The petition was started by SumOfUs, an international consumer group, in partnership with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS), a global campaign “to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law.”

According to the petition, AXA is violating international laws by its investment in Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms company which the petitioners say supplied Israeli forces with weapons, including chemical weapons prohibited by international conventions. Specifically, it mentions white phosphorus, which was used on Palestinian civilians in Gaza during the 2014 unrest. The use of white phosphorus by the Israeli military is well-documented by various organizations.

Previously, Elbit was also involved in the construction of a massive wall that Israel was building in the Palestinian territories. The project was ruled illegal in 2004 by the International Court of Justice.

Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

A recent report by the International Federation of Human Rights was also cited in the petition, which found five banks and insurance companies from France had links with businesses in Israel that were involved with the Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories, also illegal under international law. These French financial companies were identified as BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole (and its subsidiary Crédit Lyonnais), BPCE (and its subsidiary Natixis) and AXA.

AXA specifically was found to have invested in three major banks in Israel — Hapoalim, Leumi and Mizrahi Tefahot — who finance the expansion of Israeli settlements.

“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,” the petition said.

This is not the first time AXA has been a target of protests for its investment in Israeli businesses. In July 2017, activists from BDS protested outside the company’s annual meeting in Paris. At the time, dozens of other organizations, including political parties and trade unions, also urged the French government to pressure financial companies to stop their investments in Israeli businesses that support what the activists called “Israeli apartheid.”

“Financial institutions and insurance companies like AXA 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 — and it is unacceptable,” Leyla Larbi, campaigner at SumOfUs, said in a statement.

Even as the petition continues to gather more signatures, AXA shareholders seem to not be a worried lot. During Tuesday trade on the Euronext Paris exchange, AXA share price went up by 1.09 percent, while the ADR traded in the United States also gained 0.78 percent Tuesday.