Divest from the dirty banks.
TAKE THE PLEDGE
Our Divest From Everyday Banking campaign aims to help you end your relationship with the major Canadian banks who fund the brutal genocide in Gaza and the military occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This campaign focuses on showing you how to move your everyday banking (ie. chequing and savings activities) out of these banks and into a credit union of your choice.
Our inaugural campaign, commenced in Fall 2024, has now completed. Please visit our website in a few months for details on the next campaign, slated to begin Spring/Summer 2025.
OUR MISSION
Community Action For Palestine is comprised of a group of individuals who have come together in pursuit of justice and humanity for the people of Palestine. Our mission is simple: we want to enable all people of conscience to reclaim their power and use it for good. Collectively, we have the might to take the wind out of the sails of the corrupt, oppressive systems that continue to subjugate and deprive the people of Palestine of their birthright―their freedom to live with dignity.
Join us as we pursue this ambition, one campaign at a time.
Why divest? Because every single major bank in Canada invests heavily in weapons, military surveillance, illegal Israeli settlements and fossil fuels—enabling genocide, apartheid, violations of Indigenous communities and climate catastrophe around the world.
The Canadian BDS Coalition and World Beyond War have identified all major Canadian banks (and their subsidiaries) as direct participants in the genocide and ongoing apartheid of Palestinians. Additionally, the major Canadian banks have failed to divest from the 97 companies listed in the UN database of companies complicit in illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian lands.
Accordingly, each bank noted here has been identified as a divestment target. Click on the “+” to learn more about each.
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Holds significant investments in Palantir, a company that provides AI predictive technology to Israeli security forces, which is used in the mass surveillance of people living in occupied Palestine. The technology circumvents warrant procedures, enabling Israeli law enforcement to access vast amounts of information about residents.
Holds significant investments in stock in General Dynamics, which manufactures F-16 fighter jets for the Israeli military and the MK84 and MK82 bombs that these jets drop on densely populated neighbourhoods in Gaza, including “safe zones”, hospitals, schools, aid facilities and critical civilian infrastructure.
Holds significant investments in companies that actively fund the Palestinian apartheid and/or genocide, including Elbit Systems, Booking.com, Boeing, Caterpillar, General Electric, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Raytheon Technologies, Amazon and Cisco Systems.
Sent $1.6 million in “humanitarian aid” to Israel following October 7.
Owns significant investments in Hapoalim and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, two Israeli banks that finance the construction and maintenance of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights (Israeli settlements on illegally annexed Palestinian land are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, a crucial pillar of international humanitarian law).
Sources (accessed August 2024): https://fintel.io/, https://www.holdingschannel.com/, https://whalewisdom.com/
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Continues to hold significant investments in Elbit Systems and General Dynamics, which manufactures F-16 fighter jets for the Israeli military and the MK84 and MK82 bombs that these jets drop on densely populated neighbourhoods in Gaza, including “safe zones”, hospitals, schools, aid facilities and critical civilian infrastructure.
Owns significant investments in Bank Leumi and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, two Israeli banks that finance the construction and maintenance of illegal Israeli settlements (Israeli settlements on illegally annexed Palestinian land are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, a crucial pillar of international humanitarian law).
Sources (accessed August 2024): https://investigate.afsc.org/, https://fintel.io/, https://www.holdingschannel.com/, https://whalewisdom.com/
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Holds significant investments in General Dynamics, which manufactures F-16 fighter jets for the Israeli military and the MK84 and MK82 bombs that these jets drop on densely populated neighbourhoods in Gaza, including “safe zones”, hospitals, schools, aid facilities and critical civilian infrastructure.
Owns significant investments in Bank Leumi and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, two Israeli banks that finance the construction and maintenance of illegal Israeli settlements (Israeli settlements on illegally annexed Palestinian land are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, a crucial pillar of international humanitarian law).
Invests in and provides financing to companies producing arms, military technology, and bombs used by the Israeli military, including: Elbit Systems, Boeing, Fluor, Leidos, Jacobs Engineering, and Raytheon Technologies.
Sources (accessed August 2024): https://fintel.io/, https://www.holdingschannel.com/, https://whalewisdom.com/
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Holds significant investments in General Dynamics, which manufactures F-16 fighter jets for the Israeli military and the MK84 and MK82 bombs that these jets drop on densely populated neighbourhoods in Gaza, including “safe zones”, hospitals, schools, aid facilities and critical civilian infrastructure.
Holds significant investments in Honeywell, the engineering firm that produces engines for Israeli military fighter jets.
Maintains a private-wealth investment group which fosters investment in Israel, as endorsed by the Jewish National Fund’s president (a major Zionist organization that funded the illegal acquisition of lands for the State of Israel, at its inception).
Sources (accessed August 2024): https://fintel.io/, https://www.holdingschannel.com/, https://whalewisdom.com/
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Holds significant investments in General Dynamics, which manufactures F-16 fighter jets for the Israeli military and the MK84 and MK82 bombs that these jets drop on densely populated neighbourhoods in Gaza, including “safe zones”, hospitals, schools, aid facilities and critical civilian infrastructure.
Invests in and provides financing to companies producing arms, military technology, and bombs used by the Israeli military, including: Bae Systems PLS, L3 Harris Tech, General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin.
Sources (accessed August 2024): https://fintel.io/, https://www.holdingschannel.com/, https://whalewisdom.com/
HOW TO DIVEST
Expand each step below for a general overview on how to divest your everyday banking from the complicit banks. Our inaugural campaign is on the final step, with people from across the country working through the process to end their participation in these banks. Please visit again for details on our next divestment campaign, slated to begin in Spring/Summer 2025.
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The first step is to decide where you’re going to take your Everyday Banking to. We recommend credit unions because they are community focused and put member benefits before shareholder profits. Take a look at the Find Your Credit Union map, to find credit unions near you, and review their website to learn about the chequing and savings accounts they offer.
We will provide you with the specific steps you need to follow for Step 1, when the campaign begins on October 1.
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The second step is to open a chequing and savings account at the credit union you’ve decided to join. Most credit unions have an online application process that allows you to do this in as little as 10 minutes! Special scenarios (accounts that have joint owners, foreign currency accounts, etc.) may require you to book an in-person appointment to fill out the paperwork.
We will provide you with the specific steps you need to follow for Step 2, as the campaign progresses.
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The third step is to identify where your deposits come from and where your payments go to, as these entities (companies, organizations, people) will need to be updated with your new credit union account details. You will also fund your credit union accounts at this point, so your (newly transferred) payments clear.
We will provide you with the specific steps you need to follow for Step 3, as the campaign progresses.
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The fourth and final step is when you completely divest your Everyday Banking activities and close your bank account! It is a momentous step forward, and one that we are sure you will be proud of. At the conclusion of this step, we will send you an anonymous survey which captures the details of your divestment and the impact it created.
We will provide you with the specific steps you need to follow for Step 4, as the campaign progresses.
IN THIS TOGETHER
Change is possible when we act collectively.
Here are some of the groups who believe in what we do (and whose work we believe in, too!). Please take a moment to visit them online to see what they’re working on.
