The University of Cambridge is reportedly investing millions of dollars in companies that are arming, supporting and profiting from Israel’s brutal war on the besieged Gaza Strip.
In a report on Wednesday, the London-based Middle East Eye website said that the University of Cambridge’s wealthiest college – the Trinity College – has invested millions of dollars in American, British and Japanese firms that are directly involved in Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.
The report, citing information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, noted that Trinity, which is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, has £61,735 ($78,089.84) invested in Israel’s largest arms company, known as Elbit Systems, until the end of 2023.
The military technology company and contractor produces 85 percent of the drones and land-based equipment used by the Israeli army. After the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel may be committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, Japanese trading giant Itochu cut its ties with Elbit earlier this month.
Most of bulldozers used by the Israeli military to destroy Palestinian homes and buildings are made by the US-based heavy equipment company Caterpillar, which has long been the target of boycott campaigns. This is while Trinity also has investments worth almost £2.5 million (around $3.2 million) in Caterpillar, the report said, adding that the US firm also produces components for the illegal separation wall in the occupied West Bank.
Furthermore, Trinity has invested more than £3.6m (around $4.5m) in Japan’s Toyota Corp, which sells vehicles to the Israeli military and Israel’s ministry of military affairs.
Trinity has also put an investment of approximately £3 million (approximately $3.8 million) in American multinational conglomerate General Electric, which manufactures engines, mechanical systems and components frequently used by the Israeli military in its current war on Gaza.
According to the report, Trinity has also invested almost £458,000 ($579,000) in British aero-engine manufacturing company Rolls-Royce, which is involved in the production of the F-35 stealth combat aircraft currently used in Gaza war, more than £500,000 (around $650,000) in British multinational Barclays Bank, which holds more than £1 billion ($1.2 billion) in shares in firms arming the Israeli military.
The British college has also invested as much as £650,000 (over $800,000) in L3Harris Technologies, an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology services provider, which is responsible for components integrated into weapons systems used by the occupying regime.
Israel has killed more than 29,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 69,000 others in Gaza since early October. The regime ignited the brutal war machine on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warned on Wednesday that Israel’s bloody campaign has traumatized all the children in the Palestinian territory.
Furthermore, the UN agencies for children, food and health warned in a joint statement on Monday that at least 90 percent of the children under five in Gaza are affected by one or more infectious diseases.
