—-SEE UPDATE AT END OF PIECE BELOW (second night of action)—-
According to underground direct action group Shut The System, the global insurance giant Allianz renewed their cover for Israeli weapons manufacturer on November 1st despite previous protests and actions against the company.
November 2nd was Balfour Day, and last night activists from organisations around the world staged a variety of co-ordinated actions against Allianz, ranging from poster and sticker campaigns to smashing windows and spraying blood-red paint.
A UK spokesperson said: “Palestine is a crux point for our shared struggle for justice against imperialist forces. They massacre communities so that greed-driven multinationals can ravage the land for oil, gas and minerals, devastating the support systems for all life on Earth. We will not stop until we bring down the deadly giants that threaten us all.”
Allianz also insure Chevron which is Israel’s largest natural gas producer, and has for nearly two decades been aided in its extraction off the coast of Gaza, by the Israeli military blockade.
Actions were carried out in at least eight countries overnight, including UK, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Taiwan, Italy and the Netherlands. As well as Shut The System in the UK, some of the groups involved were Carnage Total (France), Boycott Allianz and Scintists Rebellion (Germany), Shut Elbit Down (Austria) and Palestine Action (Global).
Activists in Berlin postered the Metro with information about Allianz, in order to counter advertising and to remind passengers that the company “uses their bloody money to finance genocide and ecocide. Boycott Allianz!“
In Birmingham, UK, glass doors were smashed and black fake oil sprayed.
UPDATE 4th NOV:
Activists continued global actions against Allianz offices for a second night in response to the renewed insurance contracts with Elbit. According to a UN report released in July, “global insurance companies, including Allianz and AXA, also invest large sums in
shares and bonds implicated in the occupation and genocide, partly as capital reserves for
policyholder claims and regulatory requirements, but primarily to generate returns.” The report values Allianz’s investments at more than $7 billion. In total, the Shut The System wave of protest has now affected at least 15 Allianz offices, with new actions reported from Padova (Italy), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Barcelona (Spain), Dublin (Eire), and Mexico City.
