Tribune. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, released on February 12 a database of companies operating in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. As concerned citizens of Israel, we view the dissemination of this list as a measure of transparency and a step towards peace.
The database lists 112 companies, mainly located in Israel, but also in the United States, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Thailand. They include providers of services and equipment to support the expansion and maintenance of the settlements and their infrastructure, and the demolition of Palestinians' homes and property. By reminding businesses as a whole not to contribute to the violations of human rights and international law caused by this long occupation, this list sends a strong signal.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem deprive Palestinians of their land, restrict their fundamental freedoms and impede their economic development. Their expansion jeopardizes a future peace agreement based on a two-state solution, providing for the existence of a viable Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel. It also threatens the future of Israeli democracy, leaving it in control of millions of Palestinians without political rights. Consciously or not, companies engaged in commercial activities with the colonies participate in this situation.
Since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, which were supposed to be part of an end to the occupation, the number of settlers has grown from 250,000 to 630,000 today
Since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, which were supposed to mark the end of the occupation, the number of settlers has grown from 250,000 to 630,000 today. This dynamic has been encouraged by the inaction of the international community. For fifty years, it has avoided almost all measures that would have effectively countered Israeli colonial expansion, in sharp contrast to the actions undertaken in many other conflict situations around the world.
President Trump has released an aberrant plan that reflects the wishes of the Israeli nationalist right and can only worsen the conflict. Instead of limiting the settlements, the American plan lays the foundations for an annexation of all of these territories by Israel, confining the Palestinians in pockets of land placed entirely under Israeli military control. Such a regime can only be maintained by an increased use of force, leading to new violations of human rights. We are convinced that this is morally and strategically unsustainable, also for Israel.
