Why Boycott Teva?
Teva is Complicit in Israel’s Occupation of Palestine
Teva, the largest manufacturer of generic drugs in the world, participates in Israel’s apartheid economy as one of Israel’s largest publicly traded companies by revenue.
Teva exploits a captive economy in Palestine due to Israeli blockades over Palestinian imports and exports. This makes it economically impossible for Palestinians to ship their own pharmaceuticals between the West Bank and Gaza, or to other Arab markets, forcing Palestinians to rely on Israeli goods including Teva products.
Teva is complicit in Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the medical apartheid system that allows illegal occupation of Palestine to continue.
Teva Illegally Manipulates the Market for Profit
Teva has a history of illegal market manipulation to maintain monopolies of high prices. In Jan 2024 the US Senate launched an investigation of Teva’s unethical practices to keep inhalers as high as $500 per month.
In 2024 Teva USA paid a criminal penalty of $440 million and admitted to conspiring with other drug companies to fix prices. In 2016, Teva paid a similar criminal penalty of over $283 million for bribery schemes with officials in Russia, Ukraine, and Mexico in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Teva is even paying a $4.3 billion settlement to US States and Native American tribes for its role in escalating the US opioid epidemic for profit, including downplaying addiction risks, encourage doctors to increase dosages, and failure to comply with monitoring requirements.
“Teva and its subsidiaries paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials in various countries, and intentionally failed to implement a system of internal controls that would prevent bribery.”
US Asst. Attorney General Leslie Caldwell, 2016
Teva is a “Priority Boycott Target” of the BDS Movement
The Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement (BDS) follows the same tradition of broad-ranging, multi-sectorial boycotts that were crucial for the liberation of South Africans from Apartheid.
The BDS Movement has called for prioritizing Teva Pharmaceuticals as a boycott target due to their complicity in the genocide of Palestinians. In addition to direct boycotts, they have called for lobbying, peaceful disruption, and social media pressure.
Boycott to End Occupation of Palestine
Boycotts have already successfully forced companies to end their complicity in Israel’s occupation and war crimes, such as Pillsbury, Puma, and Orange among others.
Because 60% of Teva’s sales come from the North American market, those in North America are in a unique position to disrupt Teva’s bottom line and demand an end to their complicity in genocide.
