Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Palestinian campaigners criticize Iran for doing business with settlement-linked companies


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9 comments:

  1. MarionApril 21, 2009 at 8:49 AM

    Since I believe in giving benefit of doubt,  I decided to forward this Maan report to Press TV. I figure they can get this information out to those in Iran who need to be made aware of these claims  so that hopefully Iran will not continue to hire these conpanies in the future...
     
    How many times have Palestinian supporters here in the U.S. or elsewhere, shopped unknowingly in stores or dealt with companies that have been doing business with or supporting Israeli settlements?
     
    We are in need of comprehensive lists that provide the connections for us, so that there is no longer any doubt in what companies we should not be giving any of our business to...
     
    Are there Palestinian activist groups that have been compiling comprehensive lists of companies to ban which can be distributed around to activists?

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  2. SaifApril 21, 2009 at 9:03 AM

    Thanks Marion, I believe in the benefit of the doubt to.  I will look for a list later today.

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  3. GuestApril 21, 2009 at 9:51 AM

    I'm sure Press tv will deny or ignore.  But we shall see.

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  4. vApril 21, 2009 at 5:40 PM

    Want some real meat on the subject of who profits from the occupation?
     
    http://www.whoprofits.org/

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  5. thankgodimatheistApril 21, 2009 at 6:39 PM

    "According to the Tehran Times, the Tehran Municipality is involved in negotiations with Veolia Environment for the development of the city’s urban transport system.

    Alstom has a headquarters in Tehran and received a number of large contracts, including a 192 million euro contract with Iran's state railways in 1999 and a larger 375 million euro contract to supply 50 turbo compressors to Iran in 2002.

    The two firms are the investors behind the Citypass consortium that won a 2002 tender issued by Israeli authorities for a light rail line that connects Jerusalem to settlements in the occupied West Bank. The consortium is responsible for construction, operation and maintenance of the system for a 30-year period.

    The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) called on Tehran to “take the necessary steps to ban Veolia and Alstom and their subsidiaries from any contracts and operations in the country.”

    Veolia and Alstom have already been targeted for boycott in countries across Europe. In 2006 the Dutch ASN Bank decided to exclude Veolia from its portfolio on account of the firm’s actions in occupied Jerusalem. In 2008, the company lost its bid to for a contract with Stockholm for eight years, worth 3.5 billion euro, partially due to a strong public sentiment against the company due to its involvement the Jerusalem rail project."

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  6. thankgodimatheistApril 21, 2009 at 7:31 PM

     anand
    This is for you(from v's link)
    "Since the occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, Israel has used its military rule to the advantage of Israeli corporations and economic interests, many times to the detriment of the Palestinian economy under its control. All Palestinian imports and exports have been controlled, restricting the competition with Israeli producers, and making the Palestinian consumer market into a captive market for Israeli goods. Regulatory and effective restrictions were imposed on the development of businesses that could compete with Israeli industries, and all basic and utility services were routed through Israeli firms. The Paris accords' customs union continued the same decades-long policy imposed on the Palestinians." 
     

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  7. thankgodimatheistApril 21, 2009 at 7:32 PM

    "Severe restrictions on movement of Palestinian labor and products inside the occupied territories and to neighboring areas have further increased the dependency of the Palestinian economy on Israeli companies as employers and retailers. The growing network of checkpoints and walls has all but destroyed Palestinian local production and the Palestinian labor bargaining power.

    Israeli companies have a relative high concentration of capital, freedom of movement and favorable legal conditions. When operating in the occupied territories they also enjoy special governmental support, access to cheap resources, tax incentives, and a very lax enforcement of labor laws and environmental protection laws. These advantages often result in the exploitation of Palestinian labor, Palestinian natural resources and the Palestinian consumer market."

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  8. thankgodimatheistApril 21, 2009 at 7:34 PM

    Yeah, "the Palestinians need to become rich"(!)..Ha ha!

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  9. thankgodimatheistApril 21, 2009 at 7:38 PM

    <span>Economic Exploitation</span>
    <div class="green_strip"><span>Relevant Links</span> World Bank Reports about the West Bank and GazaPalestine Economic Policy Institute (MAS) The Paris Protocol 1994Paltrade Explanation of The Paris Protocol<div class="ie6_dupbug"> </div>
    </div>

    Since the occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, Israel has used its military rule to the advantage of Israeli corporations and economic interests, many times to the detriment of the Palestinian economy under its control. All Palestinian imports and exports have been controlled, restricting the competition with Israeli producers, and making the Palestinian consumer market into a captive market for Israeli goods. Regulatory and effective restrictions were imposed on the development of businesses that could compete with Israeli industries, and all basic and utility services were routed through Israeli firms. The Paris accords' customs union continued the same decades-long policy imposed on the Palestinians. 

    Severe restrictions on movement of Palestinian labor and products inside the occupied territories and to neighboring areas have further increased the dependency of the Palestinian economy on Israeli companies as employers and retailers. The growing network of checkpoints and walls has all but destroyed Palestinian local production and the Palestinian labor bargaining power.

    Israeli companies have a relative high concentration of capital, freedom of movement and favorable legal conditions. When operating in the occupied territories they also enjoy special governmental support, access to cheap resources, tax incentives, and a very lax enforcement of labor laws and environmental protection laws. These advantages often result in the exploitation of Palestinian labor, Palestinian natural resources and the Palestinian consumer market.

    The Economic Exploitation section of the database is, in a way, the most important part of our mapping of occupation-related profits. However, this is also the section which is hardest to map. Almost all Israeli companies involved with the Palestinian economy gain direct or indirect advantages from the actions of the Israeli authorities or from the special conditions of the occupation, and thus exploit the Palestinian economy. Therefore, the companies that we list below serve only as examples of the different types of structural advantages of Israeli companies in the framework of the Israeli occupation.
    <div class="gray_box"><span>Involvement Categories</span> Exploitation of Palestinian LaborPalestinian Captive MarketExploitation of Occupied Production and Resources</div>

    Exploitation of Palestinian Labor<p>Israeli employers of Palestinian workers in the West Bank directly benefit from employing people under conditions of occupation. Restrictions on Palestinian movement limit the workers' employment choices, and the workers' dependency on security permits makes organizing almost impossible. Palestinian workers have no effective legal redress, and labor laws are not enforced.

    Kav Laoved has documented reports of companies in the Israeli industrial zones that have paid sub-standard wages, forced Palestinians to work overtime for no pay, employed workers in hazardous conditions or denied them of adequate social benefits.

    Of course, not all the Israeli employers of Palestinians workers would abuse the situation as severely, but all of them benefit from it nonetheless. Since Palestinian workers are effectively prevented from changing employers, organizing or suing for their rights, we would consider all such cases as cases of exploitative employment.

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