HSBC invests in and provides financial services for companies providing military technology and weapons to Israel, which the Israeli military has used to commit war crimes and systematically violate international law. This includes investments of nearly £100million in the company Caterpillar.
Caterpillar supplies the Israeli military with bulldozers which are weaponised and used to assist in Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, including the demolition of Palestinian homes, schools, villages and civilian infrastructure – in order to make way for the ever-expanding illegal Israeli Jewish-only settlements.
Since 1967 the Israeli military has demolished nearly 50,000 Palestinian houses, and Caterpillar equipment has been involved at many of these demolitions, which amount to war crimes. Currently Caterpillar Bulldozers are being used by the Israeli military to aid in the demolition of 70 Palestinian homes in the Sur Baher village in East Jerusalem. Over 1000 Palestinians are being displaced from their homes, forcing them to live in exile
Caterpillar also provides equipment used to reinforce Israel’s apartheid infrastructure, including Israel’s checkpoints, seperation wall alongside the West Bank as well as the wall in Gaza, and for the construction of illegal settlements and settlement infrastructure on stolen Palestinian land.
Public pressure led HSBC to divest from Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms company, but HSBC remains deeply complicit with Israel’s war crimes.
Mobilise and take creative action at your local HSBC branch, join in with local actions, spread the word on social media and call on HSBC to #StopArmingIsrael!
List of Actions (more tbc)
September 7th
Wolverhampton (10am outside HSBC Bank Queen’s Square)
September 14th
Birmingham
Brighton
Bristol Meet 12.00 am noon outside Cabot Circus (near Sainsburys) in Broadmead Shopping Centre BS1 3HF Cardiff 12-2 HSBC Queen St Facebook event
Chester
East Ham Edinburgh Protest at 11AM-1PM outside Corner of Castle Street and Princes Street
Exeter
Hereford
Leicester
London
Young London PSC
Liverpool
Manchester
Newcastle
Northampton
North Herts/ Hitchin
Norwich
Plymouth
Portsmouth
Richmond & Kingston
Sheffield
Slough
Wakefield
Nottingham
More TBC