The Palestine thread

[give her dixie]

Don't take my word on who to boycott, see who Professor Richard Falk wants boycotted.


UN independent expert calls for boycott of businesses profiting from Israeli settlements

25 October 2012 – A United Nations independent expert today called on the world body's General Assembly, as well as civil society, to take action against Israeli and international businesses that are profiting from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.

"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," the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, said in a news release issued as he presented a report on his work to the Assembly.

Highlighting the activities of companies such as 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, the Special Rapporteur noted that a wide range of Israeli and international businesses are involved in the establishment and maintenance of the Israeli settlements.

"All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been established in clear violation of international law," said Mr. Falk.

"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."

He drew the Assembly's attention to developing international law and standards concerning businesses and human rights, including the UN Global Compact and the UN Guiding Principles on Businesses and Human Rights.

"The principles outlined in the Global Compact are clear," Mr. Falk said. "Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights and ensure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses."

The Global Compact is a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. The Guiding Principles, endorsed by the Human Rights Council, provide a global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activity.

Mr. Falk also noted guidance developed by the International Committee of the Red Cross that points to the prospect of corporate and individual criminal responsibility for violations committed during a situation of armed conflict.

"In short, businesses should not breach international humanitarian law provisions. Nor should they be complicit in any breaches. If they do, they may be subject to criminal or civil liability. And this liability can be extended to individual employees of such businesses," the Special Rapporteur said in presenting his report.

Mr. Falk noted that he had written to all the businesses mentioned in his report, and that positive responses were received from some of them.

"It is encouraging to be informed that Assa Abloy has moved its Mul-T-Locks factory from the West Bank to Israel, and that the Dexia Group, G4S, and Cemex are looking for ways to bring their operations into line with their commitments under the UN Global Compact," he added.

Independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not United Nations staff, nor are they paid for their work.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43376#.U9PgHkBQz6N

[muppet]

Why is he not using the term 'ethnic cleansing?

[Sidney]

Why is he not using the term 'ethnic cleansing?

You can only use that term about baddies, and Israel is a cuddly wuddly teddy bear, diddums.

[muppet]

Why is he not using the term 'ethnic cleansing?

You can only use that term about baddies, and Israel is a cuddly wuddly teddy bear, diddums.

Yes but he said this:

"All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been established in clear violation of international law," said Mr. Falk.

"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."

That seems remarkably similar to this:

The official United Nations definition of ethnic cleansing is "rendering an area ethnically homogeneous by using force or intimidation to remove from a given area persons of another ethnic or religious group."

As a category, ethnic cleansing encompasses a continuum or spectrum of policies. In the words of Andrew Bell-Fialkoff:

[E]thnic cleansing [...] defies easy definition. At one end it is virtually indistinguishable from forced emigration and population exchange while at the other it merges with deportation and genocide. At the most general level, however, ethnic cleansing can be understood as the expulsion of a population from a given territory.[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_cleansing

[seafoid]

GHD

Fantastic. Latuff really understands the conflict.

[rossiewanderer]

Hamas as a military force is on its knees with its former allies in the Muslim world lost.
The reality is that  it does not even have the full support of the people of Gaza.It is clear that their engagement with Israel was  designed to garner worldwide support for their cause with the ultimate goal of international intervention.This is being done knowingly on the back of dead children,woman and civilians.
         Israel have reacted predictably as Hamas hoped.Israel have clearly been guilty of grotesque
acts of war which has resulted in a barbarity and devastation in Gaza.Hamas too are guilty in a despicable way also as it is the mounting death toll of the people of Gaza which it believes will ultimately strengthen its hand.

[seafoid]

Muppet,

I remember you saying how irresponsible it was for Hamas to fire rockets into Israel and bring such wrath upon their people. I think a lot of people would have agreed. There was an analysis in the FT today about what is likely to beb done with Gaza. It seems there will be an end to the siege and development of the infrastructure. Kerry has to sell this to Israel. A desperately poor gaza is too dangerous for Israel. They can lob missiles at israel's only international airport if they are not happy. The tunnels scared the shit out of them too. Better  to allow Gaza some dignity. Ariel Sharon was wrong.
The dynamics are very interesting and not always intuitive.

[muppet]

Muppet,

I remember you saying how irresponsible it was for Hamas to fire rockets into Israel and bring such wrath upon their people. I think a lot of people would have agreed. There was an analysis in the FT today about what is likely to beb done with Gaza. It seems there will be an end to the siege and development of the infrastructure. Kerry has to sell this to Israel. A desperately poor gaza is too dangerous for Israel. They can lob missiles at israel's only international airport if they are not happy. The tunnels scared the shit out of them too. Better  to allow Gaza some dignity. Ariel Sharon was wrong.
The dynamics are very interesting and not always intuitive.

Kerry can easily sell it to Israel. He simply says 'we will vote for the next War Crimes motion at the UN'.

The dynamics don't interest me. The numbers do.

[Itchy]

Fair enough Dixie, you have decent backup for your boycot. I just think where do you draw the line. If u were to rake that stance and include every conflict I expect you'd have to boycot everyone. Would you not be better off get all your gang together and sit at every entrance to the Israeli embassy and let no one in or out.

[seafoid]

Hamas as a military force is on its knees with its former allies in the Muslim world lost.
The reality is that  it does not even have the full support of the people of Gaza.It is clear that their engagement with Israel was  designed to garner worldwide support for their cause with the ultimate goal of international intervention.This is being done knowingly on the back of dead children,woman and civilians.
         Israel have reacted predictably as Hamas hoped.Israel have clearly been guilty of grotesque
acts of war which has resulted in a barbarity and devastation in Gaza.Hamas too are guilty in a despicable way also as it is the mounting death toll of the people of Gaza which it believes will ultimately strengthen its hand.

When you have to explain dead kids you are losing. Ask Mark Regev.
And 32 dead soldiers really freaks Israel out. Very bad poll numbers for Israel in the US too. I hope you get paid.

[muppet]

Israel now admits that Hamas didn't order the killings of the 3 young Israeli lads.

Netanyahu told the world the opposite and triggered the violence which precipitated this war.

I would love to see the idiot who orders the firing of rockets at civilians in Israel and Netanyau both arrested for war crimes.

[THE MIGHTY QUINN]

Death toll on Gaza side how higher than the combined UK and Argentine losses in the Falklands war

[PadraicHenryPearse]

Some great speeches outside the Israeli embassy today. Claire Daly in particular spoke very well. There was also a live link up to Gaza.

I think it was also announced that members of the Mandate union that worked in supermarkets would not stack shelves with Israeli goods.

In our hundreds, in our millions, we are all Palestinians

[seafoid]

Israel now admits that Hamas didn't order the killings of the 3 young Israeli lads.

Netanyahu told the world the opposite and triggered the violence which precipitated this war.

I would love to see the idiot who orders the firing of rockets at civilians in Israel and Netanyau both arrested for war crimes.

Netanyahu will never be arrested but he may die in exile.

[Jeepers Creepers]

BBC news ...Hamas reject truce and fire rockets into Israel. Any other updates?