A renowned Canadian literary award has removed from its title the name of Scotiabank – the award’s main sponsor – following months of protests and withdrawal of tens of authors over the bank’s investment in an Israeli weapons manufacturer.
The literary award has taken the name of the Giller prize instead of the Scotiabank Giller prize, nonetheless, it will maintain the bank as its chief sponsor.
Scotiabank’s asset management subsidiary has shares in Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer.
“Elbit Systems, which supplies military equipment including artillery, munitions and electronic warfare systems to Israel’s defense ministry. A drone developed by the company, Hermes 450, was reportedly used to carry out missile strikes that killed seven aid workers in central Gaza last April,” The Guardian reported.
The Executive Director of the Giller Foundation, Elana Rabinovitch, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the bank’s name was removed so as not to divert attention from the literary works.
“The decision to remove (Scotiabank’s) name was made so that the focus would be on these exceptional authors and their achievements, and to give the stage to Canada’s best storytellers of today and tomorrow,” Rabinovitch reportedly stated.
No Complicity in Genocide
In November of last year – one month following the start of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip – activists stormed the Giller Prize ceremony twice in protest of Scotiabank and Elbit Systems’ complicity in the genocide.
This was followed by an open letter signed by over 2,000 writers and publishers demanding that all charges against the activists be dropped.
The prize’s 2023 winner, Sarah Bernstein, withdrew from a Giller Book Club appearance after being warned by the organizers that the audience questions about Gaza might be edited.
Over 30 authors whose works would have been eligible for the 2024 award withdrew from consideration after signing a statement in July.
BREAKING: Protestors disrupt @scotiabank’s Giller Prize Ceremony this evening. Scotiabank is funding the genocide of the Palestinian people through its $500 million stake in Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer. pic.twitter.com/agWTD0kfOx
— Palestinian Youth Movement (@palyouthmvmt) November 14, 2023
“As authors, we cannot abide our work being used to provide cover for sponsors actively investing in arms funding and Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians,” the statement read, adding:
“We cannot abide the Giller Foundation’s attitude to Palestine solidarity since November 2023: the criminalization of protest, and the silencing and discrediting of their own authors who have stood in solidarity with community organizers and Palestinians”.
Although the bank denied any effect of the activists’ demonstrations over its decision, Scotiabank’s 1832 Asset Management recently decreased its stake in Elbit Systems.
“In mid-2023, the asset manager was Elbit Systems’ third largest shareholder with a 5.04% stake; as of mid-August, it is the seventh largest, owning 1.44%,” per the Guardian quoting Bloomberg numbers.
Elbit Systems’ Complicity
Likewise, in Britain, Elbit Systems has been the target of activists of Palestine Action.
The organization has justified targeting Elbit Systems across the UK as “direct action” against Israel’s arms trade in Britain, including factories in Oldham, Shenstone, and the company’s London headquarters.
Giller Prize drops name of its sponsor, Scotiabank, from title after protests over Israel arms link | @guardianbooks https://t.co/Hotsyxt6m3
— Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) September 12, 2024
With direct action against the arms manufacturer, it “aims to disrupt this: targeting the source of colonial violence and genocide against the Palestinian people, undermining Elbit’s profiteering from Israel’s daily massacres.”
Founded in 1966, Elbit Systems reportedly supplies around 85 percent of the Israeli military’s land and air munitions.
(PC, Al-Mayadeen)
