DiEM25 condemns Luxembourg’s decision to approve the sale of Israeli bonds – financial instruments that bankroll apartheid, occupation and genocide against the Palestinian people.
After significant public pressure, Ireland rightly stopped hosting Israel’s so-called “war bonds”. Yet Luxembourg has stepped in to fill the gap, granting approval that enables Israel to raise funds not only in Luxembourg but across the entire European Union.
The proceeds from the Israeli ‘war bonds’ includes, at least in part, the financing of its war in Gaza, as confirmed by the CEO of Israel Bonds, who is a member of the international board of directors, in a television broadcast on 16 October 2023, and settlements in the illegally occupied Palestinian territory, as confirmed by Peace Now and Associated Press News.
This is the same “war campaign” of which: the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in January 2024 that the claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is plausible; Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Association of Genocide Scholars and the UN Commission of Inquiry have all confirmed that genocidal acts have been undertaken by Israel since that ICJ ruling; and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has concluded that crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed, resulting in arrest warrants being issued against the Israeli Prime Minister and former Defence Minister.
States, organisations and individuals have obligations not to provide aid or assistance to “war campaigns” where there is evidence of a plausible risk that genocide is being committed, or crimes against humanity or war crimes are being committed. Also, conforming to the ICJ ruling in July 2024, States and organisations should not be helping to fund settlements in the illegally Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Luxembourg must, therefore, fulfil their obligations by refusing to enable Israeli ‘war bonds’ to be sold in the EU.
Recognition of the State of Palestine, as Luxembourg has done, must carry meaning. It cannot be paired with the financing that helps destroy its future.
We therefore demand that Luxembourg’s leaders:
- Withdraw approval for Israel’s war bonds so they cannot be sold across the EU;
- Ban Luxembourg’s institutions from promoting, distributing or investing in these bonds;
- Close loopholes by refusing approval of any financial product that bankrolls atrocities and blocks their marketing in Europe.
Luxembourg now faces a choice: will it break with war profiteering, or will it entrench its complicity in genocide?
DiEM25 stands with those demanding justice, freedom and equality for Palestine. We call on Luxembourg to live up to its responsibilities under international law and its own recognition of Palestine: Drop the Bonds. Stop the Bombs.
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