A REPORT ON UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH’S UNETHICAL AND IRRESPONSIBLE INVESTMENTS

We are writing to you as a collective of students, staff, faculty, and alumni of the University of Guelph who are demanding an end to the university’s complicity in genocide through its investments. As a collective, we are committed to anti-colonial and anti-imperialist action and are joined in solidarity to call an end to the 75 years of brutal occupation, ongoing ethnic cleansing and displacement, and the relentless bombing of Gaza by the Israeli Occupation Forces. As we stand almost half a year into the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the death toll becomes higher each day, and the more imperative it becomes for institutions such as the University of Guelph to divest from genocide. We refer to the university’s 5.2 Special Action Policy for Social Injury clause to argue that its investments in BAE Systems and Honeywell – arms manufacturers that create parts for fighter jets that are used to drop bombs on Gaza – as well as in Siemens, AXA, and TEVA are troubling, unethical, and do not align with the university’s responsibility for ethical and responsible investment.

“In 2015, the University of Guelph, recognizing its responsibilities not only to respond to current concerns on climate change but also the broader issue of “responsible investing” created an ad hoc committee- the Working Group on Responsible Investing (WGRI). After extensive consultation and review of practices in other universities and organizations the WGRI committee issued a number of recommendations to the University’s Board of Governors for consideration in developing policies and practices regarding “responsible investing” for its endowment fund. The major recommended direction in the report with regard to overall management of endowment investments was to consider Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors in making investment decisions. A suggested revised endowment investment policy is being developed to be presented for review and consideration by the appropriate governing committees.” (5.2 Special Action Policy – Endowment Portfolio, University of Guelph) https://www.uoguelph.ca/finance/policies-procedures/general-policies/special-action-policy

SUBSIDIZATION AND INDUSTRIAL COMPLICITY IN APARTHEID

Siemens is a German electronics and industrial engineering conglomerate that is involved in the displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank through their contributions to the electrification and automation of Israeli settlements. This displacement is carried out under the apartheid policies of the Israeli government in which Palestinians are not allowed to travel on the same roads as Israelis – between 2009 – 2015, the Who Profits team investigated how Siemens traffic control systems in the occupied West Bank prohibit Palestinians from traveling on Roads 5 and 443. Furthermore, the A1 train route designed to connect Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in 2010 violates humanitarian and international law as it crosses through the Green Line into occupied West Bank, using occupied Palestinian land, for an Israeli transportation project that Palestinians are prohibited from using while displacing them from their homes (Who Profits 2022).

AXA is a multinational insurance company that holds shares of over 15.5M USD in four Israeli banks that finance illegal settlements – a report from 2019 from research conducted by Profundo details how between 2019–2022, 725 European financial institutions including AXA funded Israel’s expansive apartheid project through 115.5B USD in shares and bonds as well as 171.4B USD in loans and underwritings (Profundo 2022). AXA ranks 30th among these companies that help subsidize and fund the apartheid project that displaces Palestinians from their homes.

TEVA is an Israeli pharmaceutical company accomplice to the apartheid and operates in 60 countries and currently holds its place as the largest commercial and industrial company on the Israeli market by equity, net profit, operating income and market value (Who Profits 2019). It benefits directly from the apartheid through exploiting the Palestinian market. The Paris Protocol has made it so that the import and export of Palestinian goods is dependent on Israeli policies, customs laws and services (Who Profits 2012, Executive Summary). As a result, Palestinian pharmaceutical producers must navigate various restrictions and regulations that deny their access to Arab markets, drive up costs of shipping, impose burdensome licensing requirements, and other hindrances (Who Profits 2012, Executive Summary). In contrast, Israeli and multinational corporations such as TEVA enjoy easy access to the Palestinian market where they face little to no competition from the local industries due to these aforementioned hindrances (Who Profits 2012, Executive Summary). This ultimately leads to higher prices for Palestinians (Who Profits 2012, Executive Summary). TEVA is also a leading company under Big Pharma through its contribution to the public health crisis from opioid abuse that killed thousands of residents in Oklahoma (Feeley & Melin, TIME 2019). Teva had to settle to pay 85 million in damages and penalties and its direct complicity in creating a public health crisis for Oklahoma residents. The lawsuit stated that Teva created a, “devastating cycle of over-prescription … built on addiction, dependence, and market saturated with misinformation regarding the benefits and safety of those drugs” (Feeley & Melin, TIME 2019).

INVESTMENT IN ARMS / INVESTMENT IN GENOCIDE

BAE Systems is a multinational arms, security, and aerospace company – in 2021, it was named the largest defense contractor in Europe and seventh largest in the world. BAE Systems is directly complicit in the genocide of Palestinians as it is responsible for creating the parts for F-35 fighter jets that are used to drop bomb on civilian populations in Gaza (Horgan 2023). “The Campaign Against Arms Trade values the contracts for the British-made F-35 components at £336 million since 2016” (Haynes 2023). The University of Guelph’s shares in BAE Systems are directly contributing to the multinational arms company as it arms and aids the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza as one of the largest military contractors in the world. In 2023, BAE Systems received $491M USD in contracts from Lockheed Martin “to produce state-of-the-art Block 4 electronic warfare (EW) systems for future Lot 17 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets (BAE Systems).” These fighter jets are being used to murder innocent civilians in Gaza right now – since October, Israel has dropped 65000 tonnes of bombs in the 141 square miles of land that is the Gaza Strip (Middle East Monitor). This is horrifying and deeply concerns the study body of the University of Guelph – that the academic institution we attend has investments in a military contractor directly responsible in the genocide.

Honeywell is a US arms and military contractor that contributed parts for the aerial bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip used by Israel in 2014. This is a stark reminder that Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, including its ongoing aggression on Gaza, did not begin in October 2023 – it has been carried out for decades. Furthermore, Campaign Against Arms Trade reports that between 2008 – 2021, Honeywell supplied to the British government “30 export licenses to supply weapons and military technology to Israel” (CAAT 2021). In July 2023, Honeywell International also reported that it agreed to buy “Scadafence, an Israel-based provider of operational-technology … for monitoring large-scale networks, in a deal that bolsters the conglomerate cybersecurity portfolio” (Rundle and Stupp, WSJ Pro) which facilitates the surveillance of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. Honeywell, a US-based military surveillance and aerospace company, is functionally responsible for the surveillance and aerial bombardments of Palestinians. This is another deeply troubling example of the University’s irresponsible and unethical investment in a company that has been involved in aggression against Palestinians for decades.

Below we detail how the University of Guelph’s investment in arms contributes to the ongoing climate crisis.

INVESTMENT IN ARMS CONTRIBUTING TO THE CLIMATE CRISIS

The University of Guelph recognizes environmental sustainability as integral and central to its ethos.

"To us, sustainability is about stewarding our valued resources – our people, our campus and our planet – in order to meet the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own … Our sustainability story began over 150 years ago with our founding colleges as they advanced knowledge, promoted education and fostered connections with communities. Now, as one of the country’s top comprehensive and research-intensive universities, we continue to prioritize sustainability in our teaching, our research, on our campus and in our community … Sustainability is truly a part of the University of Guelph, and it is a story that is shared by our students, our faculty and our staff."
(Sustainability – Office of the President, University of Guelph)
https://www.uoguelph.ca/president/sustainability/

However, the university’s investment in military contractors and arms companies that provide technology for the F-35 fighter jets used in the aerial bombardment of Gaza proves otherwise. The university’s investments in BAE Systems and Honeywell contradict its commitment to environmental sustainability as the technology used to carry out aerial bombardments of the Gaza Strip is contributing to the climate crisis. Explosive weapons are some of the largest polluters of the Earth causing the release of hazardous materials, industrial chemicals, and fuels – in the recent bombing campaign of Gaza, Israel generated 281,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide during only the first 60 days of bombardment post-October 7th (Lakhani 2024). The fallout of debris resulting from the destruction of bombing heavily civilian populated areas also contributes to the existing land and air pollution (Kallab & Mouawad 2023). Furthermore, the use of white phosphorus munition, a poisonous toxin that is flammable when exposed to air, also contributes to the pollution of air and CO2 emissions (Kallab and Mouawad 2023). The relentless bombing of Gaza including its sources of water and intentional contamination of its irrigation system is not only causing further pollution but restricting the population from access to water. This is carried out through Israel using military technology to flood tunnels, intentionally destroying aquifers, polluting groundwater, and making land uninhabitable for future generations (Al Jazeera 2024). The state of Israel is also responsible for environmental destruction in Gaza, through the uprooting of native plants and agricultural crops, including 1 million olive trees that were planted and maintained by Palestinian farmers for generations (Sasa 2023). The environmental destruction has also consisted of an agricultural ban placed on Palestinian farmers, accumulating in further habitat fragmentation, desertification, land degradation, and soil erosion (Sasa 2023).

By November 2023, Israel had dropped more than 25,000 tonnes of bombs on the Gaza Strip which is the equivalent of two nuclear bombs with the technology of arms manufacturers such as BAE Systems and Honeywell (Al Jazeera). The Guardian also reported that “over 99 percent of the 281,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide estimated to have been generated in the first 60 days” of Israel’s aerial bombardment of Gaza (2024). The UN Environmental Program reported how the lasting environmental impact of Hiroshima and Nagasaki resulted in the crisis of climate change, exponential loss of biodiversity, crisis of pollution and waste and that “even small-scale use of nuclear warheads could deplete the ozone layer, raise, global temperatures even further, and hasten the effects of global warming.” Furthermore, the lasting radiation from the bombings resulted in many forms of illness among survivors, including thyroid, breast, lung cancer and leukemia (ICAN). The environmental destruction resulting from the relentless bombardment of Gaza will result in detrimental environmental impacts for years to come – it is imperative for institutions around the world to divest and stop contributing to genocide and the ongoing climate crisis.

CONCLUSION

The University of Guelph’s involvement in the ongoing genocide and climate crisis cannot be ignored. Through its investments, this institution is ignoring its responsibility for ethical and responsible investments, its commitment to sustainability and environmental justice, and is letting down its students, staff, faculty, and alumni. As we have detailed above, the connections between Siemens, Teva, AXA and the ongoing apartheid policies of the Israeli government are apparent through their electrification of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land, subsidizing of the A1 railway project on occupied Palestinian land that prohibits Palestinians from traveling, as well as through their direct funding of the illegal settlements. Furthermore, for an academic institution to have investments in arms manufacturers is deeply unethical – even more so, when said arms manufacturers are directly complicit in the ongoing genocide that has killed over 30,000 Palestinians in five months. BAE Systems and Honeywell, as military contractors and aerospace companies that craft parts for the F-35 fighter jets used to drop bombs on Gaza are deeply troubling and horrifying multinational conglomerates for our university to hold shares in. The climate crisis emerging from the aerial bombardment of Gaza also cannot be denied.

As deeply concerned students, staff, faculty, and alumni of the University of Guelph, we demand that the Board of Governors take action to divest from arms and military contractors BAE Systems and Honeywell as well as Siemens, AXA, and Teva. We demand that the Board of Governors review its holdings for ethical and responsible investments per its Special Action Policy. As long as the University of Guelph maintains its investments in these companies, it will remain complicit in the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the climate crisis. We as the student, staff, faculty, and alumni body have been let down by our University’s irresponsible investments and complicity in genocide.

Footnotes

Amnesty International (2017). The Occupation of Water. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/11/the-occupation-of-water/

Al Jazeera (2023). Weaponizing Water in Palestine. https://www.aljazeera.com/program/people-power/2023/7/27/weaponising-water-in-palestine

Al Jazeera (2023). How Israel’s Flooding of Gaza’s Tunnels will Impact Freshwater Supply. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/2/3/israel-floods-tunnels-with-seawater-what-impacts-on-gazas-water-supply#:~:text=Mark%20Zeitoun%2C%20a%20professor%20at,for%20drinking%2C%20cooking%20and%20irrigation

Campaign Against Arms Trade (2022). UK export licences applied for by Honeywell for military goods between 2008 and 2021. https://caat.org.uk/data/exports-uk/overview?company=Honeywell

Who Profits (2019). Captive Economy: The Pharmaceutical Industry and the Israeli Occupation. https://www.whoprofits.org//writable/uploads/publications/1668626890_1aa4455a6a4cc3b32b5d.pdf

Who Profits (2022). Siemens. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3958?siemens
Profundo (2023). “Don’t Buy into Occupation.” https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2023_DBIO-III-Report_11-December-2023.pdf

Haynes (2023). “Shut Down the Companies that Are Arming Israel’s War.” https://jacobin.com/2023/11/direct-action-british-arms-industry-israel-gaza-war-elbit-bae

Honeywell (2023). Honeywell to Acquire SCADAfence, Strengthening Cybersecurity Software Portfolio. https://www.honeywell.com/us/en/press/2023/07/honeywell-to-acquire-scadafence-strengthening-its-cybersecurity-software-portfolio

Horgan (2023). “UK factories help build the jets used by the Israeli military.” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/11/uk-factories-weapons-idf-gaza-protest-movement

Rundle & Stupp (2023). “Honeywell to buy Israeli Israeli Cybersecurity Business Scadafence.” https://www.wsj.com/articles/honeywell-to-buy-israeli-cybersecurity-firm-scadafence-a207ae55

Lakhani (2024). “The Staggering Carbon Footprint of Israel’s War in Gaza.” Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/01/gaza-israel-war-hamas-carbon-emissions-climate-damage/#:~:text=The%20vast%20majority%20(over%2099,of%2Dits%2Dkind%20analysis%20by

Kallab and Mouawad (2024). The Socio-Environmental Impact of Israel’s Use of White Phosphorous in South Lebanon. https://www.aub.edu.lb/natureconservation/Documents/Brief%20WP%20English.pdf

Sasa, G. (2023). Oppressive pines: Uprooting Israeli green colonialism and implanting Palestinian A’wna. Politics, 43(2), 219-235. https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957221122366