112 firms linked to Israeli settlements identified by UN

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The UN has released a list of 112 companies with activities in Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law, including Airbnb, Expedia and TripAdvisor.

The UN has released a list of 112 companies with activities in Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law,

The move was cheered by the Palestinians but slammed as “shameful” by Israel, where officials fear the list could be used to boycott firms with ties to the settlements.

The UN report comes in response to a 2016 UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for a “database for all businesses engaged in specific activities related to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory”.

The UN rights office said that listing companies in the database was “not, and does not purport to be, a judicial or quasi-judicial process”.

Among the businesses on the list are a range of large international companies, including Airbnb, Alstom, Booking.com and Motorola Solutions.

“I am conscious this issue has been, and will continue to be, highly contentious,” UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said.

But she added that the findings had been subject to an “extensive and meticulous review process” and the report “reflects the serious consideration that has been given to this unprecedented and highly complex mandate”.

– ‘Shameful’ –

Israel, which routinely accuses the UN and especially the Human Rights Council of bias against it was quick to slam Wednesday’s publication. 

“It is a shameful surrender to pressure from countries and organisations who want to harm Israel,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.

His Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Malki meanwhile described the publication as “a victory for international law and diplomatic efforts.”

The database was scheduled to be released three years ago, but has repeatedly been delayed.

The rights office initially evaluated more than 300 companies.

But the final report published Wednesday cited 112 business entities that the office had “reasonable grounds to conclude have been involved in one or more of the specific activities referenced” in the 2016 resolution.

It said 94 of the listed companies had their headquarters in Israel, while 18 others were spread across six other countries.

The UN agency said compiling the database had been a “complex process” involving “widespread discussions” with states, think tanks, academics and the companies themselves.

Human Rights Watch’s deputy advocacy chief Bruno Stagno celebrated the publication of the database.

This “should put all companies on notice: to do business with illegal settlements is to aid in the commission of war crimes,” he said.

Wednesday’s report meanwhile stressed that companies were not doomed to remain on the database forever.

“Where there are reasonable grounds to believe that… the business enterprise is ceasing or no longer involved in the relevant activity, the business enterprise would be removed from the database,” it said.

The report recommended that the database be updated annually, and urged the Human Rights Council to appoint a group of independent experts to handle this task.

Israeli settlements established in occupied Palestinian territory are considered to violate international law, and have long been seen as a major obstacle to peace, since they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

More than 600,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem among three million Palestinians, with tensions often high.

FRANCE24/ AFP

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7 responses to “112 firms linked to Israeli settlements identified by UN”

  1. United Nazis

  2. Pure antisemitic UN mental masturbation on Israel

  3. The German government has filed an application with the International Criminal Court in The Hague to obtain the status of a “friend of the court” in the process to review the authority of the court regarding the Faliestinian-Israeli conflict.

    At the same time, a statement was circulated according to which “the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court does not extend to the Faliestinian territories”.

    “Germany supports the decision to create two states for two peoples, and believes that only direct negotiations between Israel and the Faliestinians are a way to resolve the issue of the borders of an independent Faliestinian state. The ICC is not a structure suitable for implementing this issue,” the statement emphasizes.

    A “friend of the court” is involved in assisting the court by providing him with information relevant to the case and, in fact, lobbying for the interests of the litigant.

    On the eve of the application for the status of “friend of the court”, the Czech Republic applied to the ICC, which did so at the request of Israel, which was not interested in its own participation in the process, which could be perceived as a recognition of the authority of the ICC.

    The status of a “friend of the court” at the trial was also requested by the Israeli bar association, which formed a working group that is busy preparing legal expert opinions.

    Recall that on December 20, 2019, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague Fatou Bensuda stated that there are reasons to start an investigation on suspicion of war crimes in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. According to the prosecutor, her decision was preceded by a thorough examination, which lasted more than one year.

    “I am pleased that reasonable grounds have been found for initiating an investigation into the situation in Faliestine,” said the ICC chief prosecutor.

    On the same day, legal adviser to the government Avihai Mandelblit issued a statement that Israel does not recognize the jurisdiction of the court.

    The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously stated that the PNA’s appeal to the International Criminal Court in The Hague has no legal effect: the conflict does not fall under the jurisdiction of the court, since the Jewish state is not a member of the court, and the PNA is not a state. In addition, Faliestinians continue terrorist activities, and Hamas uses people as a human shield. “Israel expects the International Criminal Court to not succumb to Faliestinian pressure and to repel attempts to politicize its activities, contrary to its mandate,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said, adding that Israel is a democratic state with an independent judiciary capable of conducting independent investigations

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