Activists Call on Scotiabank to Shut Down Elbit Systems

Thirty activists rallied at the Scotiabank branch at the corner of Douglas and Yates in Victoria, to decry the bank’s massive investment in Elbit Systems, whose weapons are currently used to carpet bomb Gaza into a no man’s land.

This specific event was held in coordination with an international campaign calling for the boycott of business entities materially supporting the IDF’s acts of genocide against the Palestinian people since the escalation of the conflict in October.

Scotiabank is the largest foreign holder of the weapon manufacturer’s shares with about 500 million dollars in deposits invested into the company, thus making every customer unwittingly complicit in war crimes. The protesters called upon the public to boycott Scotiabank until the bank divests itself of its most unethical investment.

Public reception was mixed. Many were supportive, and indeed we didn’t have any trouble finding a taker for each of our hundred leaflets. Many more walked by indifferent. A rare few were hostile. Only one individual flat out heckled the crowd, although he looked rather confused about what was actually going on, and left after running out of breath. Otherwise the event unfolded without incident.

Unlike RBC, whose security detail would have reacted at the first sight of a sign, this Scotiabank branch seemed content to ignore the protest. This sharply contrasts with an earlier announcement from the company which called for an end to the boycott campaign on the grounds that protests somehow endanger its staff. Today’s rally went peacefully, however, and only endangered the company’s bottom line.