Good Day Mr. President and fellow shareholders,
My name is Inna Michaeli, I am an Israeli, and the Development Director of the Israeli NGO
Coalition of Women for Peace. We have been following closely the developments of Dexia Israel
in the scope of our research project, "Who Profits?". Last year our research on Dexia Israel was
mentioned in this Assembly, and so I am glad to have this opportunity to present a question. "Who
Profits" is a research project specializing on the economic activities and aspects of the Israeli
control and occupation of Palestinian Territories. Since 2007 this research project has become the
leading resource for information, knowledge and expertise of the occupation industry and
economy.
Mr. President, the involvement of Dexia-Israel in the occupation and its complicity with violations of
international law and human rights has been known to you for a long time. And so I am taking this
opportunity also to adress fellow shareholders and I would like to invite us all to consider the
actual facts so that each and every one of us could judge for themselves whether the activities of
our bank on the ground are acceptable, or whether they should be stopped without delay.
Last October our project "Who Profits" published a report on the Israeli banking industry and its
highly active involvement in the occupation of Palestinian Territories. The report also covers the
developments in the involvement of Dexia Israel in the occupation and so I will not repeat those
facts here, but draw your attention to its relevance for us as shareholders.
First, it is apparent that Dexia Israel does not provide the complete information to Dexia Group,
and subsequently to the shareholders. While Dexia Group announced in June 2009 that it has not
given any new loans to settlements since June 2008, excluding East Jerusalem, Dexia Israel has
denied that there was any change in their policies towards Israeli settlements.
When approached directly by us – that is, "Who Profits" Project - in December 2009, the Dexia
Israel bank gave the following statement, I'm quoting:
‫בנק דקסיה ישראל מעניק שרותים לרשויות מקומיות בישראל ואין כל החלטה להבחנה על פי מיקום גיאוגרפי‬
.‫ולכן לא נשקלת כל אפשרות להפסקת שרותים למי מהם‬
“Dexia Israel Bank gives services to local municipalities in Israel and there is no decision to
discriminate [against them] according to geographic location”.
The spokesperson actually telephoned us later to make sure we understood that by Israel she also
meant the settlements in the West Bank and the Golan Heights.
The anti-discrimination argument is cynical at best here. Israeli settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law, contradict the Fourth Geneva
Convention, and their construction is essentially based on expropriation of Palestinian lands,
including private lands of families and communities. Providing services to illegal settlements
cannot be explained as anti-discriminatory act, while in fact the settlements are the essence of
discrimination and theft of land and resources. Financing the settlements is in fact financing
discrimination and occupation of Palestinian land and the Palestinian people.
In the same manner, arguing that Dexia Israel finances also municipalities of Arab towns as if it
creates certain symmetry, is absurd. It is basically saying: we finance both legal and illegal
activities, so that we do not discriminate between them. It also exposes the underlying ethnic
segregation in the approach of Dexia Israel as they attempt to create symmetry between illegal
settlements on the one hand, and the legitimate legal municipalities on the other, only because
they are populated by Israeli citizens of Arab descent.
The question is why Dexia Group and we as shareholders do not receive this information from
Dexia Israel as it is? Could it be because Dexia Israel is in fact aware of the legal problems and
expects us to object to this activity?
Second, it has been argued that the loands provided by Dexia to settlements deal with funding
which was decided and agreed upon by the Israeli government and which is allocated in the
budget of the Israeli state. That could mean that Dexia Israel is not responsible for the agreements
of this financing, nor is profiting from it.
However – and this is the main point here – this agreement has ended on the 31st of December
2008. In June 2008 Dexia Group announced it will not issue anymore loans to the settlements. On
the 23 of September 2008 the Ministry of the Interior notified the municipal councils of the
settlements that as of November 10 2008 the funds that are paid to the councils will be
transferred directly to the account of each council and that each council will be able to choose to
receive the funds to an account in any of the commercial banks or to its account in Dexia Bank.
The documents I have here from the Israeli mortage registrar are evidence that Dexia continued
giving loans after that date – not because of contractual obligations but of its own free will. It is
also clear from the annual report of Dexia Israel itself. For instance in June 23th 2009 (which is to
the best of my knowledge comes after 2008) Dexia gave a mortage loan to the local council of
Emanuel through Kolhei HaShomron Nahal Kane LTD. Kolhei HaShomron Nahal Kane is a water
company which is fully owned by five councils in the West Bank.
Now, what this means is that Dexia Israel is profiting from the illegal settlements and the
occupation of Palestinian Territories, plain and simple. There is more than enough evidence and it
cannot be disproved. The only question is do we, as owners of the bank, truly wish to make this
kind of profit?
Clearly, for me as an Israeli to profit from activities that contradict international law in the Middle
East is unacceptable, but I am certain that all of us here would like to see our bank operating in full
accordance and without compromises according to international standards of law and human
rights.
The third and final point is that there are facts, reports and legal definitions, all of them pointing
to the illegitimacy and illegality of the current activity of Dexia Israel. But its not just about facts and
numbers - there are millions of people trapped in life under occupation, their lands are confiscated,
their homes are demolished, their family members imprisoned for political reasons, or they are
being shot at and find their death at the end of a bullet or a bomb dropped on their house. It is of
course not the sole responsibility of Dexia Israel, but it is the responsibility of every one of us who
is profiting from human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories - including Dexia
Israel.
Last year the issue of Israeli-Belgian friendship came up. As an Israeli, I can clearly declare that
supporting violations of international law and human rights is not friendship but a crime.Let us
remember that it is not about friendship or romantic feelings, it's about making business in a
socially responsible manner.
So finally, I would like to draw your attention that as research experts, we in Who Profits have
been working with both civil society and public bodies such as the Norwegian Pension Fund. In
2009 we have analyzed their investment portfolio, met with their Ethics Committee and ultimately
the Norwegian Pension Fund decided to follow on its own ethical guidelines and divested from
Elbit Systems due to company's profit from selling equipment for the Separation Wall that was
rulled illegal by the International Court of Justice.
Deutsche Bahn, the German railway operator, has just now declared that it pulled out of the Israeli
railway project that cuts through the occupied Palestinian West Bank, recognizing the illegal
aspects of the project under international law.
Along with the positive examples, we can also learn from the case of Veolia. Due to its several
types of involvement and profit from the occupation, numerous campaigns have been launched
against Veolia world-wide, and its losses are estimated in billions of Euros, one example being the
cancelation of contract with the Stockholm Municipality for the construction of the Metro system.
As dozens of companies divest from the occupation, I am sure that none of us here wants to see
the name of Dexia Bank among the last businesses that were profiting from the occupation. This
kind of stain stays for a long time over history.
The policies of Dexia Group is in place. The time to apply them has come long ago. My question
here is: when exactly can we expect that to happen?