Join the campaign to let Scotiabank know that we are not going to sit idly by while they invest in Israeli war crimes.

Even if you have sent a letter earlier, send an updated letter now!

Update: March 2024

Over one hundred and forty days into Israel’s latest genocidal massacre in Gaza, Canada’s political establishment remains wholly committed to providing diplomatic, military and economic support to Israel, even while the majority of people in this country support a ceasefire. Across this country, in communities large and small, hundreds of thousands have marched for Palestine, one of the largest political mobilizations in recent memory.

Why is the gap between the sentiments of the mass of people and that of the political establishment so wide? Because the Canadian ruling class is totally invested in Israel. They rely on Israel to act as an armed outpost of the Anglo-American imperialist alliance, of which they are a part. They do $2 billion+ in annual trade with Israel via the Canada Israel Free Trade Agreement. And the big Canadian banks, the cornerstone of Canadian imperialism, have billions invested in Israel, and particularly in its military and ‘security’ industries. Scotiabank with its $500 million investment in Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems is Exhibit A of Canadian capital’s genocide profiteering.

As a Palestine solidarity movement, we need to start to address these concrete financial links, and raise the cost of the Canadian ruling class, and its political functionaries, support for Israeli colonization, occupation, war crimes and genocide.

Join the March 15 day of action to shut down Scotiabank! Shame on Scotiabank!

Learn more about how you can be part of the action to shut down Scotiabank.

Video: Shame on Scotiabank and its asset fund for investing half a billion dollars in Elbit Systems!

In October 2022, Scotiabank’s asset fund put $500 million into the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems Ltd, which amounts to 5% of the company. This also made them the largest foreign investor in a company that profits off Palestinian death.

According to Who Profits, “Elbit is Israel’s biggest military and arms company. The company has a tightly-knit relationship with the Israeli security apparatus...”. Elbit drones were reportedly in use and Elbit personnel part of the operation room of a special drones unit deployed during Israel’s 11-day onslaught against Gaza in May 2021, which left 248 people dead and over 1,900 injured.

There were already attempts to hold Scotiabank to account. At the annual shareholders meeting in April 2023, the group Eko presented a petition with 12,000 signatories calling on them to divest from the firm and all deadly weapons companies. However, according to reports, Scotiabank did not respond directly to questions about Elbit at the meeting, and a bank representative “characterized all fund decisions as being driven by ‘the interests of shareholders’.”

Scotiabank fund manager David Fingold was quite blunt in a 2019 interview about how the defense industry in Israel “will remain strong” and further noted:

"The cycle at Elbit is not connected to the state of the economy, but to the state of global arms procurement, and it can be seen that militaries in both Europe and America continue to arm themselves and in particular need upgrades for their old equipment."

Teresa Diewert, a member of BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish, pointed out: “While working people struggle to make ends meet, Banks make massive profits while investing in machines of war and death. Scotia Banks’ investment in Elbit Systems makes them complicit in war crimes against the Palestinian people in particular and Canadians should be demanding that Scotia Bank divest from Elbit Systems now.”

Several banks, including HSBC, and sovereign wealth and pension funds in Australia, Sweden and Norway have already divested from Elbit. They realized that investing in war crimes can never be “socially responsible”; send your message now to Scotiabank to demand that they also immediately cancel their huge investment in Elbit Systems.

December 2023: With over 20,000 people killed including over 10,000 children by Israel over 75 days, close to 2 million people displaced, thousands still under rubble, 50,000 injured, and infrastructure destroyed including hospitals, schools, places of worship, homes and utilities, Scotiabank through its investments in Elbit is complicit through its investment in war crimes and genocide.