Mayor of Sligo calls for boycott of insurance company

THE Mayor of Sligo has called for a boycott of leading insurance company AXA for its alleged links with Israel.

At Monday’s meeting of Sligo County Council, councillor Declan Bree said he welcomed the announcement at the weekend by the Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath, that the State-owned Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) will divest itself of shareholdings in Israeli companies that have activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. He also welcomed the message from Simon Harris to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, saying Ireland is repulsed by his actions

“To date, more than 33,000 people have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza, the majority of them women and children; 17,000 children have been left without any surviving family; over 120 journalists have been killed; over 160 UN officials and aid workers have been killed, and 2.3 million people have been displaced many of them barely surviving under shocking famine conditions.

“This is not a war of defence against Hamas; it is an effort to collectively punish the people of Palestine. It is the ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza. It is a genocide. The AXA Insurance Group is a multinational insurance company and holds around one-third of the motor market in Ireland. “Israel is only able to maintain its apartheid regime of occupation over the Palestinian people because of international complicity and unfortunately a number of corporations, including AXA have played a key role in this.

“An insurance company should protect lives, not destroy them. AXA’s investment in Israeli banks that finance Israel’s illegal settlements has made it complicit in grave violations of international law,” Cllr Bree alleged.

He added: “We now need to make our voice heard in calling on the AXA insurance company to cease its investment in all banks and companies that subsidise or otherwise enable Israel’s illegal settlements in occupied Palestine. We need to see a boycott of AXA and products.

Cllr Bree proposed that the Council call on AXA Insurance Co. Ireland, to cease its investments in all banks and companies that subsidise or otherwise enable Israel’s illegal settlements in occupied Palestine. The motion was seconded by Cllr Gino O’Boyle and passed.

Members and supporters of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign held a protest outside the offices of the AXA Insurance Company, at Hyde Bridge in Sligo, on Thursday afternoon last

Among those participating were Cllr Bree, Cllr Gino O’Boyle and Cllr Arthur Gibbons.