[WCUSP] [Wisewomen] Profiting from the Israeli Occupation

[Libby and Mort Frank]

Thanks for this, Yvonne.

Although it features U.K. corporations, it is devastating.

What I want to do is prepare an educational piece as an addendum to our
Study Guide focusing on U.S. corporations who are making a killing on the
killing in the Middle East.  It will take a while and I invite others to
work with me.  Of course, some work has been done on it already.

Libby
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "yvonne simmons" <roweenayvonne at yahoo.com>
To: <wisewomen at wilpf.org>
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 7:47 AM
Subject: [Wisewomen] Profiting from the Israeli Occupation


>
> > >
> > > The Corporate Interests Fueling Conflict in
> > Palestine
> > > Profiting from the Occupation
> > > By NICK DEARDEN
> > >
> > > We hear little from the Palestinian Occupied
> > Territories other than
> > > endless death, destruction, poverty and despair.
> > While living standards
> > > plummet and the death toll rockets, it's difficult
> > to imagine a less
> > > likely place to make a profit. But despite the
> > humanitarian catastrophe
> > > unfolding, and the international attention it
> > receives, names familiar on
> > > high streets across Europe and the US are actively
> > supporting Israel's
> > > Occupation of Palestine through their business
> > practices--threatening to
> > > prolong the misery of the Palestinian people for
> > many years to come.
> > >
> > > US multinational construction company Caterpillar
> > has already been singled
> > > out, supplying as it does militarised bulldozers
> > to the Israeli Army
> > > through the US's Foreign Military Sales programme.
> > A recent War on Want
> > > fact-finding mission confirmed the opinion of an
> > Israeli military
> > > Commander, who calls these monster machines the
> > "key weapon" in the ever
> > > deepening colonisation of the West Bank. The
> > litany of war crimes which
> > > these machines are used for is
> > shocking--demolition of many thousands of
> > > Palestinian homes, sometimes on top of their
> > residents; destruction of
> > > agricultural land, water supplies, olive and fruit
> > trees; and the
> > > construction of the illegal Separation Wall
> > currently encircling
> > > Palestinian towns, separating communities and
> > turning the West Bank into a
> > > giant prison. All the more incredible then that
> > Caterpillar's Chief
> > > Executive Jim Owens can still claim that
> > "Caterpillar does well by doing
> > > good around the world."
> > >
> > > The disinvestment campaign against Caterpillar has
> > sparked debate about
> > > corporate complicity throughout many Christian
> > Churches; not least in the
> > > Church of England where the General Synod has
> > voted to begin a divestment
> > > process, while the Church Commissioners who hold
> > the purse strings, have
> > > taken a different decision. In recent weeks the
> > Methodist Church and the
> > > United Church of Toronto have voted to use the
> > threat of divestment as a
> > > means of pressuring companies to stop aiding the
> > Israeli Occupation.
> > >
> > > But Caterpillar is not alone. Many people in the
> > south-east of England
> > > will have fond memories (or otherwise) of French
> > train operator Connex,
> > > which ran trains out of London for seven years
> > before its franchise was
> > > terminated for poor financial management in 2003.
> > Less well known is that
> > > one year earlier Connex, as the main partner in a
> > consortium called
> > > CityPass, was awarded a $500 million contract to
> > construct a light railway
> > > system connecting Jerusalem to illegal Israeli
> > settlements in East
> > > Jerusalem. Road works around Jerusalem's Old City
> > mark the beginning of
> > > the project which is planned for completion in
> > 2020. Connex will run the
> > > operation of the line for the next 30 years, while
> > another French partner,
> > > Alstrom, will provide the trains.
> > >
> > > The problem is that East Jerusalem is not part of
> > Israel. Indeed the
> > > Palestinians hope one day to have their capital
> > here. But Israel's illegal
> > > annexation of East Jerusalem threatens this dream.
> > Israel has encouraged
> > > 200,000 settlers to move into East Jerusalem over
> > the last 40 years, and
> > > is currently using these settlements, along with
> > the Separation Wall, to
> > > cut off East Jerusalem, on which tens of thousands
> > of Palestinians depend,
> > > from the rest of the West Bank. Israeli peace
> > campaigner and Nobel peace
> > > prize nominee Jeff Halper told us that Israel's
> > current expansion
> > > programme around East Jerusalem will render any
> > future Palestinian state
> > > "nothing more than a set of non-viable Indian
> > reservations."
> > >
> > > The Israeli government has openly stated that the
> > Connex train system is
> > > part of this same programme, to complete the
> > annexation of East Jerusalem.
> > > During the contract signing ceremony in July 2005
> > then Prime Minister
> > > Ariel Sharon pointed out that this project would
> > help "strengthen
> > > Jerusalem, construct it, expand it and sustain it
> > for eternity as the
> > > capital of the Jewish people and the united
> > capital of the State of
> > > Israel". The implications of this project are not
> > limited to the suffering
> > > being endured now, but effect the possibility of
> > peace in the Middle East
> > > for many years to come.
> > >
> > > Unless we live on a bus route in Wales, few of us
> > are likely to run into
> > > Connex. Central to our lives, however, is the
> > behaviour of high street
> > > supermarkets. Lack of control over what we eat is
> > becoming an everyday
> > > concern for many. Here again, one look at the
> > reality of Israel's
> > > Occupation is enough to suggest that supermarkets
> > aren't telling the whole
> > > truth about their Israeli produce.
> > >
> > > Israel's settlements across the West Bank
> > represent the physical reality
> > > of the Occupation for most Palestinians on a daily
> > basis. These
> > > settlements violate the Geneva Conventions and
> > their creation is a war
> > > crime according to the Rome Statute of the
> > International Criminal Court.
> > > Yet settlements increased at breakneck speed
> > during the Oslo 'Peace'
> > > Process, stealing Palestinian land and resources,
> > and fuelling Palestinian
> > > resentment and the ultimate breakdown of Oslo.
> > Today there are 450,000
> > > settlers who use, together with Israel proper, 83%
> > of the West Bank's
> > > water resources, travelling on racially segregated
> > roads which link them
> > > to Israel. Across the West Bank cranes and
> > bulldozers symbolise on-going
> > > settlement expansion today.
> > >
> > > The Jordan Valley, along the eastern edge of the
> > West Bank, is a
> > > particularly large-scale settlement production
> > centre. While Palestinians
> > > are cramped into small villages surrounded by
> > closed military zones, vast
> > > plantations of fruit and vegetables line the
> > landscape. One million palm
> > > trees have been planted here, and the Israeli
> > government plans another
> > > million in the next five years. The partially
> > state-owned export company,
> > > Agrexco, is responsible for 60-70% of all produce
> > exported from
> > > settlements, and business is booming, with a 72%
> > increase in revenue in
> > > the last 3 years. 60% of all Israeli vegetables
> > exported end up in the UK.
> > > We met one Palestinian farmer growing aubergines
> > in his field, but they
> > > were dry and shrivelled compared to the well
> > watered grapes that grow on
> > > the plantations which have been stolen from him.
> > "The water these plants
> > > constantly get comes through my land", he tells
> > us, "yet I have no access
> > > to it."
> > >
> > > Despite the centrality of the settlements as an
> > obstacle to peace,
> > > supermarkets like Tesco and Waitrose still stock
> > products grown or
> > > manufactured in West Bank settlements, labelling
> > them as 'Made in Israel'.
> > > Although EU law requires settlement produce to be
> > labelled for customs
> > > purposes, so as not to apply preferential tariffs
> > to them, this
> > > information is not passed onto the customer, so
> > settlement produce ends up
> > > mixed in with other Israeli fruit, vegetables and
> > herbs.
> > >
> > > Some products are easier to spot. Wine produced by
> > Barkan is on sale in
> > > Tesco, Selfridges and Sainsbury's, while snacks by
> > Beigel & Beigel are
> > > sold in Tesco and Waitrose, skin care products by
> > Ahava in Selfridges and
> > > soda stream products from Mishor Adumin in Argos.
> > All of these products
> > > are manufactured wholly or largely in West Bank
> > settlements. Wine from the
> > > Golan Heights, Syrian territory also occupied in
> > 1967, is even more openly
> > > marketed in Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury's.
> > >
> > > Finally Caterpillar isn't the only construction
> > company involved in house
> > > demolitions. Though their operations are
> > particularly egregious--given
> > > that they supply the Israeli Army with military
> > equipment--we saw Volvo,
> > > Daewoo and JCB bulldozers or cranes being used, on
> > a contractual basis, in
> > > the construction of the Separation Wall.
> > >
> > > It is not sufficient for companies to live in a
> > world of glowing corporate
> > > social responsibility reports, while shutting
> > their eyes and ears to the
> > > actual impact of their operations. It is
> > inconceivable that Connex and
> > > Caterpillar are unaware of the fact that their
> > products and services are
> > > being used to implement war crimes. If Tesco and
> > Waitrose are unaware of
> > > the origins of the products they sell as 'Made in
> > Israel', it is because
> > > they haven't asked the requisite questions of
> > their suppliers. And if
> > > Volvo, Daewoo and JCB's management don't know that
> > their bulldozers are
> > > being used in violation of international law, they
> > cannot have spent even
> > > half a day in the Occupied Territories. In any
> > case, they all know now.
> > >
> > > It is up to all of us to use our power to pressure
> > these companies to
> > > change the ways in which they operate. But
> > ultimately the problem is not
> > > purely a corporate one. After the First World War
> > the idea of war
> > > profiteers disgusted a generation scarred by the
> > horror of conflict. Today
> > > wars happen a little further a field, but the
> > consequences are no less
> > > devastating. Corporations continue to profit from
> > this suffering in overt
> > > and subtle ways. To stop this we need to turn
> > against the economic
> > > orthodoxy of our age--that the profit motive is
> > the sole element on which
> > > social organisation should be based. Corporations
> > do not need more
> > > freedom, but less.
> > >
> > > Nick Dearden works for the London-based War on
> > Want. He can be reached at:
> > > ndearden at waronwant.org
> > >
> > > War on Want's Report Profiting from the
> > Occupation: Corporate Complicity
> > > in Israel's Occupation of Palestine is available
> > on-line at
> > > www.waronwant.org or from the office on ++ 44 207
> > 549 0555. The report
> > > will be launched at a conference on Sunday 9 July
> > in London.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
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