HSBC BANK that has offices in 77 countries, claims to be a ’socially responsible corporation’. However, this doesn’t seem to apply to the humanitarian plight of Palestinians living in the Gaza strip and the Israeli occupied West Bank territories.
According to the charity Oxfam, HSBC has charged the European Union (EU) £1.9 million in bank charges on transfers of EU aid to relieve 140,000 Palestinians living in poverty. Unbelievably, for each money transfer HSBC creams off eight euros.
Because of the economic stranglehold imposed by the Israeli authorities on the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the imposition of US, EU and Russian economic sanctions following the PA election victory of Hamas in January 2006, unemployment and levels of poverty amongst ordinary Palestinians have rocketed. Unemployment is officially 30%, while 57% of workers earn wages below the poverty line. Infant mortality in Gaza is now 24%.
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