OCCUPIED JERUSALEM— More than 670 European financial institutions have ties with companies that are involved in
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, a civil society report said Wednesday.
اضافة اعلان
The report from a group of 25
Palestinian, regional, and European organizations called on the companies “to end all investments and financial flows” into the settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
The findings detail financial dealings worth $255 billion between 2018 and May 2021 directly or indirectly linked to the settlements — including loans or share and bond purchases — involving major European firms like
BNP Paribas and
Deutsche Bank.
More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Palestinian territories that Israel has occupied since 1967.
Many large Israeli companies are active in those communities, including leading banks like Leumi and Hapoalim, telecom and internet providers, and supermarket chains, among others.
The report is not an account of financial dealings directly occurring in Israeli settlements.
For example, many of the European companies named have been implicated because they hold shares in non-Israeli firms, like machinery giant Caterpillar, whose products have been used in illegal settlements.
The Don’t Buy Into Occupation coalition that authored the report said these European companies “have a responsibility to ensure that they are not involved in violations of international law and are not complicit in international crimes”.
Last year, the UN released a list of 112 companies with activities in Israeli settlements, including Airbnb, Expedia and TripAdvisor.
The list was produced by the UN human rights office in response to a Human Rights Council resolution demanding a “database” of firms that profited from business in occupied Palestinian territory.
The UN move, fiercely condemned by Israelis and cheered by Palestinians, was seen as a victory for the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), which seeks “to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law,” according to the BDS website.
A decision by US ice cream-maker Ben & Jerry’s in July to stop selling their products in the occupied Palestinian territories also drew harsh criticism from Israel and applause from BDS activists.
More than 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.
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