The UN published on Wednesday (February 12th) a list of 112 companies operating in Israeli settlements, which are considered to be complicit in the establishment and maintenance of these settlements, which are illegal under international law.
"I am aware that this subject has been, and will continue to be, controversial", said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, while noting that the report "Based on facts".
This blacklisting initiative has no immediate legal consequence, but aims to symbolically punish companies doing business with the Israeli settlements. This list "Does not constitute, and does not intend to constitute, a judicial or quasi-judicial process", specifies a press release of the United Nations, in implicit reference to the Israeli fears of seeing it serve as the basis for boycotts.
Of the 112 UN appointees, 94 are domiciled in Israel and 18 in six other countries – the United States, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Thailand. They operate in various sectors, from construction to the banking sector via equipment manufacturers indirectly allowing the destruction of Palestinian properties or vacation rentals.
Airbnb, Expedia, TripAdvisor and even Booking.com and Opodo are cited, as well as the American food group General Mills, the telecoms giants Motorola and Altice Europe and, in terms of infrastructure, the French Egis Rail and Alstom. Ms. Bachelet's services said they had reviewed more than 300 companies.
A "victory" for the Palestinians
The list stems from a resolution – adopted in December 2016 by the UN Security Council thanks to the abstention of the United States – which condemns Israeli colonization in the occupied territories and in Jerusalem.
In the wake of his publication, the head of the Palestinian diplomacy welcomed a "Victory" for international law and the Palestinians. "Publishing this list of companies and entities operating in the settlements is a victory for international law and our diplomatic efforts to drain the wells of the colonial system embodied by the illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories"said Riyad al-Maliki.
The Israeli government has denounced, for its part, "Shameful surrender to pressure from countries and organizations that want to harm Israel". The Israeli foreign ministry welcomed, however, that "The majority of countries refused to join this campaign of political pressure".
The companies on the list are not intended to remain there indefinitely, the report requesting an annual review and their release if it is shown that the activities in question have ceased.
