London- Several international companies are competing to win a tender for a large project in an Israeli settlement established in breach of international law in the occupied Palestinian territories, reports ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies.
The London-based think tank is calling on the companies competing to build a waste incinerator in Maale Adumim to abide by international decisions condemning the settlements as illegal by exiting the bidding process.
“All activities in the settlements are part of an illegal and abusive system that perpetuates discrimination against Palestinian workers,” says Maha Hussaini, the executive director of ImpACT.
All activities in the settlements are part of an illegal and abusive system that perpetuates discrimination against Palestinian workers
- Maha Hussaini, the executive director of ImpACT
In addition, settlements contribute to Israel's unlawful confiscation of Palestinian land and other resources, while benefitting from exclusionary privileges such as access to water, government assistance and permits for land reclamation.
The bidding companies include Standardkessel Baumgarte (Germany), Hitachi Zosen Inova (Switzerland), Termomeccanica Ecologia (Italy) and Mitsubishi (Japan), along with several Chinese firms.
Maale Adumim is one of the largest Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, extending over an area of about 48,000 dunums and encompassing the industrial zone Mishor Adumim. Even under any future Israeli-Palestinian political settlement, Israel has said it plans to keep Maale Adumim under its control, despite its illegal nature.
According to information obtained by ImpACT, the planned waste-incineration plant was conceived without consulting Palestinians, which constitutes a violation of the international principle that occupied lands must not be used to benefit the occupier.
This plant is another initiative designed to entrench the Israeli occupation and the de facto annexation of lands in the West Bank. Businesses who participate become complicit in the violation of international human rights law.
Last February, the United Nations Human Rights Office released a report exposing 112 companies with commercial relations within Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The status of Palestinian workers in Israel and Israeli settlements is ambiguous, which renders them vulnerable to abuse and violation of their rights.
About 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the more than 230 settlements established in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel since 1967. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlements illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its civilian population into the territories it occupies. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court also states that such transfer, whether direct or indirect, is a war crime.
Companies operating in settlements deepen the impact of discriminatory Israeli policies that favor settlers over Palestinians, while also leaving many Palestinians no option except to work for their occupiers, ImpACT points out.
The status of Palestinian workers in Israel and Israeli settlements is ambiguous, which renders them vulnerable to abuse and violation of their rights.