At midday on Thursday 5th December, two dozen campaigners gathered outside financial services giant Allianz’s Guildford Business Park office, to protest the firm’s ongoing dealings with Israeli arms producer, Elbit Systems.
Elbit is Israel’s leading defence company and the world’s 22nd largest arms manufacturer. It is publicly listed in the US and Israel, and it recorded revenues for the twelve months ending September 30th 2024, of $6.5 billion, an eleven percent increase on the previous year.
Elbit supplies the Israeli military with Hermes series 450 and series 900 drones, tank and cannon shells, laser-guided mortars, artillery rockets, and armoured vehicle systems, all of which have been used to varying degrees during Israel’s genocidal assault on Ghazzah.
Allianz provides Elbit with employers’ liability insurance enabling it to operate multiple weapons factories across the UK. Allianz is also believed to hold shares in the company through its investment arm.
The financial sector’s first meaningful divestment from Elbit came in December 2018, when HSBC cut ties with the arms firm after 24,000 people emailed the bank and forty of its UK branches were repeatedly picketed.
In early October, Palestine Action targeted ten Allianz offices, including Allianz’s Guildford Ladymead office, covering them in red paint. The offices were occupied for several hours rendering them unusable.
Allianz claims to operate a human rights policy which guides its business decisions: “Allianz recognizes the importance of human rights, as both a value-based and a business issue. We see respect for human rights as a minimum standard for responsible business, both within and beyond our direct operations.”
As the protestors gathered at Allianz’s offices, Amnesty International presented their latest report on Ghazzah: “Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Ghazzah. These acts include killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm and deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Ghazzah conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.”
When will Allianz listen?
© Sul Nowroz – Real Media staff writer
