AXA’S EUROPEAN HEAD offices in Dublin have today been occupied by pro-Palestinian activists as part of its “Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign”.
The protest involved activists from CATU (Community Action Tenants’ Union) and Dublin for Gaza.
They say it’s part of a BDS campaign, which is a movement that promotes boycotts and sanctions against Israel, as well as withdrawing investments from Israel.
The protestors are calling on people to boycott AXA Group and its recently acquired subsidiary Laya Healthcare.
AXA Group is a multinational insurance company that looks is involved in car, home, health and business insurance.
They added that AXA has been added to the list of companies targeted by the BDS movement because it invests in four Israeli banks.
The group also claims that AXA is among “725 European financial institutions that have subsidised apartheid Israel’s colonial settlements”.
However, in a statement to The Journal, a spokesperson for AXA said AXA Group “has no proprietary investments in any of the banks cited in recent calls for boycott”.
The AXA spokesperson added that “AXA Group is committed to conducting business to the highest ethical standards”.
They added: “AXA’s investments comply with all applicable laws and regulations and respect all internationally recognized human rights principles.
“This is also the case for AXA’s investment in the Middle East Region.”
CATU’s Stephen Curran however said “it is unconscionable that AXA’s complicity” with Israel “goes unopposed”.
He added: “Activists have decided to protest the firm in solidarity with the people of Palestine who suffer due to AXA’s financing of illegal Israeli settlements.”
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