"Alabama coal company accused of breaking Colombian ban on coal shipments to Israel", 25 August 2025

On Friday evening, a group of protesters gathered at a busy intersection in Liberty Park near the corporate campus of Drummond Company Inc., an Alabama-based coal producer. Their message was clear, painted and printed on signs bearing the green, red and black of the Palestinian flag: “Drummond Fuels Genocide.”...

...coal shipments to Israel from Drummond’s Colombian subsidiary, Drummond Ltd., that may violate Colombian law. An August 2024 decree by Colombia’s government ordered the halt of coal shipments to Israel in the wake of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Gaza.

Months before, in May 2024, Colombian President Gustavo Petro had formally announced the end of diplomatic ties with Israel, which he has said is committing genocide through its actions in Gaza.

Despite the presidential decree, some shipments of coal continued to leave Colombia bound for Israel, according to local reports and the Colombian government...

In a statement posted to its website, Drummond Ltd. said that its shipments comply with Colombian law.

“Coal exports to Israel have been done in conformity with the authorization that the National Government gave,” the July 17 statement said. “Drummond presented the required documentation to a committee comprised of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism; the National Mining Agency, and the National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN), as required in Article 3 of Decree 1047 of 2024 issued by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism.”

...even if Drummond’s Colombian subsidiary was complying with the letter of the law—through a loophole, for example—he would still hope the company would cease its exports for moral reasons...