British Universities’ Links to Israel ‒ Part Two: University of Sussex

Overview

Corporate Watch carried out research, using the Freedom of Information act, into several universities’ investments, procurement of service providers and joint projects. The aim was to examine whether the BDS movement should target British universities’ links with Israeli universities, investment in companies complicit in Israeli apartheid, militarism and occupation or procurement of services from complicit firms.

The following is a list of:

• the university’s collaborations with Israeli companies and universities
• investment in or procurement from Israeli settler companies, Israeli companies, companies selling arms to Israel, companies selling Israeli goods, companies with assets or investments in Israel, companies with significant investments in any of the above.

This is not a ‘boycott list’, simply a guide for campaigners considering launching divestment campaigns against the university. Campaigners may wish to cherrypick companies for divestment who, for example, are directly involved in Israeli settlements or aiding Israeli militarism.

The list has been compiled with the boycott call from the Palestinian Academic Boycott Initiative (PACBI) in mind, here is an excerpt from the call:

“We, Palestinian academics and intellectuals, call upon our colleagues in the international community to comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli academic and cultural institutions as a contribution to the struggle to end Israel’s occupation, colonization and system of apartheid, by applying the following:

1. Refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration or joint projects with Israeli institutions;
2. Advocate a comprehensive boycott of Israeli institutions at the national and international levels, including suspension of all forms of funding and subsidies to these institutions;
3. Promote divestment and disinvestment from Israel by international academic institutions…”

University of Sussex Joint Projects

Sussex University, according to the information they disclosed via FOI, has no collaborations with Israeli Universities.

Service Providers

BT: Part of a partnership with Israeli telecommunications firm Bezeq.1

Coca Cola: The company’s Israeli franchise owns Tara whose subsidiary has a dairy farm in the occupied Jordan Valley.2 Coca Cola Israel is supplied by Adir Plastic Packaging, a company based in the settlement industrial zone of Mishor Adumim.3

Barclays: Hold shares in Raytheon,⁴ and provide market maker services to ITT,⁵ suppliers of arms to Israel. Barclays are also a major shareholder in Chevrolet and Rapiscan who supply baggage scanners for use at Israeli checkpoints.⁶⁷

Dell: A customer of Marvell Systems Solutions Israel.⁸

Fisher Scientific UK Ltd: Thermo Fisher is a partner of ICx Technlogies, supplier of security systems for the settlements, apartheid wall and checkpoints.9

Lloyds:  Principal banker for BAE,¹⁰ supplier of arms to Israel.11

Siemens: Traffic control systems of the company are installed by its Israeli representative, Orad Group, on apartheid roads (roads on which only Israelis are allowed to travel).12

Veolia: Veolia are part of the Citypass consortium, building a tramway through occupied East Jerusalem. The company also operate buses between Israel’s West Bank settlements and maintain a waste dump and settler waste collection services in the occupied Jordan Valley. The university has a contract with Veolia which began in 2009 and ends in 2015. 13

Prudential: Investor in several companies who supply arms to Israel including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon.14

Investments

General Electric: GE are a partner of ICx (see above).15

G4S: Delivers services to Israeli prisons and settlements.16

Prudential: See above

Aviva: Investor in several companies selling arms to Israel including Northrop Grumann.17

Barclays: See above

HSBC: Investor in BAE Systems, supplier of arms to Israel.18

Tesco: Sells Israeli and Israeli settlement products.19

Sainsburys: Sells Israeli and Israeli settlement produce.20

Unilever: Unilever fully owns Beigel and Beigel, a baked goods’ factory in the industrial zone of Barkan, which is a settlement in the occupied West Bank. In 2010, Unilever has announced it will move the factory of Beigel and Beigel from the settlement, however this has not happened yet.21

Lloyds: See above

For a full list of Sussex University’s investments click here
For a full List of Sussex University’s suppliers click here
For a full list of Sussex University’s collaborations with other universities click here

Notes
1 http://www.btplc.com/news/articles/showarticle.cfm?articleid={a21ff7f3-0965-4753-9174-6489ec5c1a83}
2 http://www.whoprofits.org/Company%20Info.php?id=783
3 http://www.whoprofits.org/Company%20Info.php?id=806
4 http://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/corporations-and-conflict/banking-a-the-arms-trade/inform/16327-banking-on-bloodshed