SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
UN Expert: Boycott Companies Profiting from Israeli Settlements
Richard Falk tells UN General Assembly that businesses that profit from the Israeli settlement enterprise violate human rights standards
Oct 26, 2012
Richard Falk, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, has called for a boycott of businesses profiting from the Israeli occupation Thursday.
Falk made the comments in his annual report to the U.N. General Assembly citing Caterpillar Incorporated of the United States, Veolia Environment of France, G4S of the United Kingdom, the Dexia Group of Belgium, Ahava of Israel, the Volvo Group of Sweden, the Riwal Holding Group of the Netherlands, Elbit Systems of Israel, Hewlett Packard of the USA, Mehadrin of Israel, Motorola of the USA, Assa Abloy of Sweden, and Cemex of Mexico as examples of companies acting in violation of the U.N. Global Compact by being complicit in human rights abuses through their involvement in Israeli settlements.
"My main recommendation is that the businesses highlighted in the report - as well as the many other businesses that are profiting from the Israeli settlement enterprise - should be boycotted, until they bring their operations into line with international human rights and humanitarian law and standards," Falk stated in a release.
"All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been established in clear violation of international law," he said.
"Yet today Israeli settlements control over 40 percent of the West Bank and between 500,000 and 600,000 Israeli citizens are living in Palestinian territory," he added. "In the last 12 months alone, the settler population has increased by over 15,000 persons."
"There is hardly any responsible deviation from the view that settlements are unlawful under international law," he told the Assembly.
Falk's comments come on the heels of remarks from former President Jimmy Carter, who, on a recent trip to Israel and the West Bank, slammed Israel's continued growth of West Bank settlement.
The U.S. criticized Falk and his statements, while Canada and Israel called for Falk's resignation from the Human Rights Council-appointed post.
U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice said in a statement that Falk's call for a boycott is "irresponsible and unacceptable" and called his continued role as a U.N. Special Rapporteur "deeply regrettable."
Karaen Peretz, spokeswoman for the Israeli U.N. Mission, said: "While he spends pages and pages attacking Israel, Falk fails to mention even once the horrific human rights violations and ongoing terrorist attacks by Hamas," Associated Press reports.
Falk said that "his mandate was limited to violations committed by Israel and that his request to broaden that mandate to include violations by Palestinians had been rejected by the Human Rights Council," the U.N. notes.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Richard Falk, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, has called for a boycott of businesses profiting from the Israeli occupation Thursday.
Falk made the comments in his annual report to the U.N. General Assembly citing Caterpillar Incorporated of the United States, Veolia Environment of France, G4S of the United Kingdom, the Dexia Group of Belgium, Ahava of Israel, the Volvo Group of Sweden, the Riwal Holding Group of the Netherlands, Elbit Systems of Israel, Hewlett Packard of the USA, Mehadrin of Israel, Motorola of the USA, Assa Abloy of Sweden, and Cemex of Mexico as examples of companies acting in violation of the U.N. Global Compact by being complicit in human rights abuses through their involvement in Israeli settlements.
"My main recommendation is that the businesses highlighted in the report - as well as the many other businesses that are profiting from the Israeli settlement enterprise - should be boycotted, until they bring their operations into line with international human rights and humanitarian law and standards," Falk stated in a release.
"All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been established in clear violation of international law," he said.
"Yet today Israeli settlements control over 40 percent of the West Bank and between 500,000 and 600,000 Israeli citizens are living in Palestinian territory," he added. "In the last 12 months alone, the settler population has increased by over 15,000 persons."
"There is hardly any responsible deviation from the view that settlements are unlawful under international law," he told the Assembly.
Falk's comments come on the heels of remarks from former President Jimmy Carter, who, on a recent trip to Israel and the West Bank, slammed Israel's continued growth of West Bank settlement.
The U.S. criticized Falk and his statements, while Canada and Israel called for Falk's resignation from the Human Rights Council-appointed post.
U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice said in a statement that Falk's call for a boycott is "irresponsible and unacceptable" and called his continued role as a U.N. Special Rapporteur "deeply regrettable."
Karaen Peretz, spokeswoman for the Israeli U.N. Mission, said: "While he spends pages and pages attacking Israel, Falk fails to mention even once the horrific human rights violations and ongoing terrorist attacks by Hamas," Associated Press reports.
Falk said that "his mandate was limited to violations committed by Israel and that his request to broaden that mandate to include violations by Palestinians had been rejected by the Human Rights Council," the U.N. notes.
Richard Falk, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, has called for a boycott of businesses profiting from the Israeli occupation Thursday.
Falk made the comments in his annual report to the U.N. General Assembly citing Caterpillar Incorporated of the United States, Veolia Environment of France, G4S of the United Kingdom, the Dexia Group of Belgium, Ahava of Israel, the Volvo Group of Sweden, the Riwal Holding Group of the Netherlands, Elbit Systems of Israel, Hewlett Packard of the USA, Mehadrin of Israel, Motorola of the USA, Assa Abloy of Sweden, and Cemex of Mexico as examples of companies acting in violation of the U.N. Global Compact by being complicit in human rights abuses through their involvement in Israeli settlements.
"My main recommendation is that the businesses highlighted in the report - as well as the many other businesses that are profiting from the Israeli settlement enterprise - should be boycotted, until they bring their operations into line with international human rights and humanitarian law and standards," Falk stated in a release.
"All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been established in clear violation of international law," he said.
"Yet today Israeli settlements control over 40 percent of the West Bank and between 500,000 and 600,000 Israeli citizens are living in Palestinian territory," he added. "In the last 12 months alone, the settler population has increased by over 15,000 persons."
"There is hardly any responsible deviation from the view that settlements are unlawful under international law," he told the Assembly.
Falk's comments come on the heels of remarks from former President Jimmy Carter, who, on a recent trip to Israel and the West Bank, slammed Israel's continued growth of West Bank settlement.
The U.S. criticized Falk and his statements, while Canada and Israel called for Falk's resignation from the Human Rights Council-appointed post.
U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice said in a statement that Falk's call for a boycott is "irresponsible and unacceptable" and called his continued role as a U.N. Special Rapporteur "deeply regrettable."
Karaen Peretz, spokeswoman for the Israeli U.N. Mission, said: "While he spends pages and pages attacking Israel, Falk fails to mention even once the horrific human rights violations and ongoing terrorist attacks by Hamas," Associated Press reports.
Falk said that "his mandate was limited to violations committed by Israel and that his request to broaden that mandate to include violations by Palestinians had been rejected by the Human Rights Council," the U.N. notes.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.