The analysis concluded that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries had not distanced itself from Israeli government policies but had continued to benefit from its existing relationships within the occupation system. [Getty]
A campaign launched by pro-Palestinian groups is gaining momentum in Italy, targeting Israeli drugmaker Teva in an effort to pressure local and regional authorities to end dealings with the company through public procurement and contracts.
The campaign is based on a study prepared by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, in cooperation with the group Healthcare Workers for Gaza.
The study concluded that extensive economic ties existed between regional institutions and Teva Italia over recent years, prompting campaign organisers to call for political and legal measures to end these relationships.
Mario, an Italian activist and BDS member in Bologna, who asked for his family name to be withheld, told The New Arab that “the initiative concerning the economic relations between the Emilia-Romagna region and Teva is part of the campaign to boycott the Israeli pharmaceutical company under the slogan ‘Teva? No Thanks!’, jointly organised by BDS Italy and Healthcare Workers for Gaza as part of the international campaign led by the global BDS movement.”
A study by Healthcare Workers for Gaza and the BDS movement, which tracked public procurement contracts awarded to Teva Italia by contracting authorities in the region between 2015 and 2025, found that contracting authorities allocated about 115 million euros in public funds to Teva Italia over the past 11 years.
Of that total, about 25 million euros were allocated during 2024 and 2025.
The analysis concluded that Teva Pharmaceutical Industries had not distanced itself from Israeli government policies but had continued to benefit from its existing relationships within the occupation system.
Mario said that “the BDS movement calls on municipalities, regions and all public bodies to exclude all companies implicated in violations of human rights and international law, whether in Palestine or elsewhere, by adopting an ethical public procurement policy.”
He explained that “the Emilia-Romagna Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution calling for the inclusion of ethical clauses in procurement procedures within the regional healthcare system”.
“Implementing this resolution could also allow Teva to be excluded from public tenders and contracts,” he added.
Mario stressed that “BDS groups and Healthcare Workers for Gaza in Emilia-Romagna have issued several statements calling on the regional government to implement the resolution adopted by the Legislative Assembly swiftly.”
“The demand to end economic and commercial relations between the Emilia-Romagna region and Israeli companies, as well as companies accused of complicity in genocide and the Israeli system of settler colonialism, occupation and apartheid, including Teva, was also included in a public petition supported by more than 70 associations and organisations across the region,” he said.
“The petition gathered about 11,000 signatures and was delivered to the Emilia-Romagna regional authorities on 26 May during a demonstration held outside the headquarters of the region’s Legislative Assembly,” he concluded.
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in Italy said that the ongoing genocide in Palestine continued in part because of the economic and financial support provided by Western governments.
The movement stressed the need to end this reality.
It also called for public funds not to be used to finance companies that maintain ties with the Israeli military establishment and army or that benefit from the system of apartheid and occupation imposed on the Palestinian people.
The movement said Teva Pharmaceuticals, Israel’s largest company by revenue, was a prominent example.
According to the movement, Teva and its subsidiaries, including Cephalon, Dorom and Ratiopharm, are implicated in supporting the Israeli occupation for the following reasons:
- providing direct and indirect support to the Israeli army;
- generating economic gains from the occupation system in the Palestinian territories; and
- having major shareholders accused of complicity in violations against Palestinians, in addition to investments in Israeli settlements established in the occupied West Bank.
Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here.
