Bloomberg Philanthropies: boycott builds as Belgian municipalities refuse to greenwash apartheid

In March of this year, Artists for Palestine UK published a briefing titled ‘Bloomberg Philanthropies, Arts Sponsorship, War Crimes’, which documented Bloomberg Philanthropies’ ties to Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It called on British arts institutions to cut ties with the organisation and pressure it to end its complicity in grave crimes against the Palestinian people. 

The Bloomberg-Sagol Center for City Leadership at Tel Aviv University trains Israeli municipal officials who go on to uphold policies of occupation, annexation, apartheid and colonial violence against Palestinians. Among the individuals trained by the centre are several officials governing colonial settlements in the illegally occupied Palestinian territory.

Our briefing concluded:

Strengthening the infrastructure of illegal settlements is not philanthropy; it is an act that facilitates the commission of international crimes. Likewise, training officials who incite genocide and implement apartheid is not advancing ‘city leadership’; it is complicity in grave crimes against the Palestinian people.”

Now, four Belgian municipalities* have decided to end their partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies following a thorough review of the evidence contained in our briefing. They each determined that receiving funding would not be in line with their commitment to human rights and respect for international law.

The municipalities made the following joint statement in a press release: 

Climate action is more urgent than ever, but it cannot come at the expense of Palestinians. Climate action here while enabling Israel’s ecocide and genocide against Palestinians amounts to greenwashing. We are setting an important example: climate action must go hand in hand with human rights, environmental justice and respect for international law. That is why refusing funding from complicit Bloomberg Philanthropies is the only right decision.”

In its Advisory Opinion of July 2024, the International Court of Justice determined that the Israeli occupation is illegal and that the regime of racial discrimination Israel imposes on Palestinians amounts to apartheid. This month, the British government officially declared Israel’s occupation to be entirely unlawful, and announced various measures including asset freezes on corporate entities involved in settlement development.

Today, in light of the British government’s announcement and following the joint statement by Belgian municipalities, Artists for Palestine UK renews its call for British and international cultural institutions to

• pressure Bloomberg Philanthropies to end its complicity and abide by international law;
• refuse funding from / cut ties with Bloomberg Philanthropies until it does so; 
• adopt ethics policies for arts programming and sponsorship that prevent partnerships with entities that are complicit with international crimes.

End note:
The municipalities that took the decision to end their partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies are those of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Saint-Gilles and Forest in the Brussels region of Belgium and Mons in the Wallonia region.