BNP Paribas finances Israel in the midst of a war against the population of Gaza. A revolting support!
Press release from AFPS, CGT, CGT Banking and Insurance Federation, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Human Rights League, Platform of French NGOs for Palestine, Solidaires Trade Union Union
BNP Paribas is financing the Israeli state in the midst of a war against the civilian population of Gaza and in the context of a “national priority” colonization in the occupied West Bank.
In a context of massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by the Israeli army, seven organizations are warning about BNP Paribas’ involvement in a State of Israel bond issue.
On August 2, the AFPS, the CGT, the FIDH, the LDH, the Platform of NGOs for Palestine and the Union Syndicale Solidaires sent a letter to the management of BNP Paribas to request confirmation of this information and, if so, what measures BNP Paribas intended to take to disengage from it and return to compliance with its duty of vigilance and its own commitments.
According to documents from the American Securities and Exchange Commission dated March 5, 2024, consulted by the daily newspaper l’Humanité, BNP Paribas committed $2 billion to an $8 billion bond issue by the State of Israel carried out with three other financial operators. This was the first financial transaction of this type for Israel since the start of the war. By financing the sovereign debt of the State of Israel, the BNP Paribas group is contributing to the continuation of a war that the highest international court has stressed carries a risk of genocide.
BNP Paribas could not ignore the order of the International Court of Justice of 26 January 2024, which confirmed the plausible nature of a genocide carried out by the State of Israel against the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the Israeli military operation on 7 October 2023, massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have been widely documented.
The BNP Paribas group also supported, through this bond issue, the aggressive colonisation policy of the occupied Palestinian territory, one of the priorities of the current Israeli government.
The prolonged occupation of the Palestinian territory has just been considered illegal by an opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024, which assimilated it to a de facto annexation. The Court recalled that the colonization of this occupied territory constitutes a war crime, under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
As a company, BNP Paribas has an obligation to comply with its duty of care regarding the consequences of its operations in terms of respect for human rights. The BNP Paribas Group Code of Conduct also states that “the Group does not wish to participate in any violation of human rights through its investment and financing activities.”
The seven organisations mentioned above say they are determined to continue their action to obtain BNP Paribas’ withdrawal from this revolting financing.
