Tag: Settlement

Dubai, jewel in Israel’s sales crown

Alain Gresh | Le Monde

27 May 2009

With the exception of Egypt, all Arab states officially boycott Israel, blacklist Israeli companies and ban imports of Israeli products. The same countries frequently lead the voices calling for sanctions against Israel. But sometimes life gets in the way.

Just a few weeks after the world financial crisis broke, a super-luxury hotel, the Atlantis, opened its doors in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The French chatter website LePost.fr of 21 November 2008 trumpeted the headline: “2000 stars at the inauguration of Dubai’s Atlantis Hotel”. It wrote:

“Dubai, Dubai, Dubai! Arab princes, flying carpets, oil, dollars… and the Atlantis Hotel! An extraordinary palace, which cost more than $1.9bn to create, celebrated its opening yesterday in high style.

“This little junket cost a trifling $38m! That’s what it took to tell the entire world about the arrival of a luxury hotel which sees itself as the planet’s most incredible palace, with its giant in-house aquarium…

“The Atlantis is at the heart of Dubai’s Palm Island, an artificial island built in the shape of a palm tree. The world’s greatest architects and designers worked on the Pharaonic project.”

Like the hotel itself, the event bore all the hallmarks of mad money climaxing a spendthrift era. You need only to walk down its vast corridors, as I did earlier this month, to realise just how foolish an exercise this is, what bad taste it represents, and of course that it’s very empty. The expected tourists vanished with the crisis.

The corridors bulge with luxury boutiques, the sort of shops which sell priceless clothes and diamond jewels. One of them is called Levant. Its display cases promote Leviev diamonds, as shown in this photograph.

But just who is Leviev? Abe Hayeem, who is from Bombay, of Iraqi Jewish origin, knows. He wrote an article headlined “Boycott this Israeli settlement builder” in The Guardian of 28 April 2009. Hayeem points out that the British Foreign Office decided to cancel its rental contract for the British Embassy in Tel Aviv because the building was owned by Leviev.

Far from only selling diamonds, Leviev is busy inside the occupied territories, principally constructing a road which links the illegal settler colony of Zufim, which he owns, to Israel – part of the ongoing process of confiscating Palestinian land. His company is also active in Bil’in where, on 17 April, the Israeli army killed a peaceful protestor, Bassem Abu Rahmeh, 29. This same company now has two boutique outlets in Dubai.

Their presence in the UAE has raised eyebrows. On 30 April 2008 an article by Abbas al-Lawati in Gulf News, the English-language daily, headed “Israeli jeweller has no trade licence to open shop in Dubai”, quoted a top official denying that the UAE had ever granted Leviev a licence and saying that if an application came it would be rejected.

Gulf News followed up the story on several occasions, including one report of demos against Leviev, “Call to boycott Israeli jeweller” on 14 December 2008, also by al-Lawati.

During the Dubai Arab Media Forum meeting I attended in May I raised the issue with journalists from various Arabic-language dailies. They told me they were not allowed to reply to such questions.

At a time when Israel violates with impunity all the UN Security Council resolutions, a growing movement calls for sanctions, boycotts and disinvestment (withdrawing overseas investment from Israel and the occupied territories). It’s similar to the French campaign against Alstom and Veolia for their role in a tram project in occupied Jerusalem “Tramway à Jérusalem, mensonge à Paris”, 24 October 2007. It’s astounding, in the circumstances, that Arab countries collaborate with the very same companies which operate in the occupied territories.

France’s trade minister Christine Lagarde visited Saudi Arabia in mid-May principally to promote the bid by Alstom and the SNCF for a TGV-type fast rail link between Mecca and Media. One must hope that the Saudi authorities make it a condition of any agreement that Alstom backs out of the Jerusalem tram project.

Palestine urges withdrawal of rail contract

Abbas Al Lawati | Gulf News

31 May 2009

Dubai: Palestinian officials have intensified diplomatic efforts to persuade Saudi Arabia to withdraw a multibillion dollar rail contract awarded to a firm alleged to be complicit in Israel’s expansion in Occupied East Jerusalem, Gulf News has learnt.

Palestinian National Authority officials have said that they are in talks with the Saudis to find ways to block the Occupied Jerusalem light rail project.

The light rail project will link Occupied West Jerusalem to Occupied East Jerusalem and Jewish colonies in the Occupied West Bank when completed.

It has been described by Israeli leaders as the fulfillment of the Zionist dream and will be partly built by the French firm Alstom.

Alstom is part of a consortium awarded a $1.8 billion (Dh6.6 billion) civil works contract in March for the Makkah-Madinah railway, the Haramain Express.

“Back-channel talks with the Saudis are ongoing.” said a high ranking official at the Palestinian foreign ministry, speaking to Gulf News on condition of anonymity. He refused to divulge further details.

However, while Palestinian officials fear that Alstom’s Makkah contract will undermine their efforts to block the Occupied Jerusalem tramway, they also see it as an opportunity to put pressure on the company through Saudi Arabia.

They say that although the Occupied Jerusalem project is expected to be completed next year, Saudi Arabia could use its influence to derail its further expansion as well as its 30-year maintenance plan.

Palestinian efforts to fight the project started following a 2006 Arab League ministerial decision in Khartoum calling on states and international organisations to “stop the Occupied Jerusalem tram project and refrain from assisting in its execution”.

Since 2007 the Palestinian foreign ministry has been pressing Arab states to use their political and economic weight to pressure France into taking action against the companies that are involved in the Occupied Jerusalem project, but apparently has not had much success.

The foreign ministry requested Saudi Arabia to intervene in the matter in a letter dated December 2007.

“We received a reply from the ministry in early 2008 stating that Saudi officials intend to speak to the French on the matter,” said the Palestinian official.

Since the letter the Saudi government has awarded two contracts to Alstom. The company won a $2.6 billion contract to build a power plant in the kingdom last year.

This was followed by the Haramain Express contract earlier this year by the Saudi Railway Organisation (SRO).

The consortium is now bidding for two more contracts to supply the trains and maintain the stations. The SRO did not respond to Gulf News’ questions.

Alstom, Alstom Transport and Veolia are also facing a lawsuit in France for their involvement in the Occupied Jerusalem project, brought by French advocacy group Association France-Palestine Solidarité, which is working closely with the Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) representative office in Paris.

Ambassador Hind Khoury, PLO representative and former minister of Occupied Jerusalem affairs, called the case a ‘breakthrough’. She said she often reminded Arab counterparts of their obligations as per the Arab League decision.

“I have a new mandate from the [Palestinian National Authority] president [Mahmoud Abbas] to pursue this case,” she said.

In an effort to avoid embarrassment, the French government reportedly distanced itself from the project when pressed by the Palestinian National Authority to intervene in 2005. It said it had nothing to do with projects private companies were involved in.

However, Alain Gresh, editor of Le Monde Diplomatique, said that the Occupied Jerusalem contract was signed in the office of the then French ambassador to Israel, Gerard Araud. “They can’t ignore that,” he said.

Such contracts are often politicised, with high level delegations often including heads of governments, being sent to the region to lobby on behalf of the bidding companies.

Palestinian officials have said that their discussions with Saudi Arabia will be based on the 2006 Arab League decision.

Eric Lenoir, communications manager at Alstom Transport said Gulf officials had not cited the Occupied Jerusalem project as a concern.

“Our job is to be compliant with specifications defined by local railway authorities. We don’t make politics,” he added.

Lenoir said that the Gulf region was an attractive market for Alstom due to congestion problems in its cities and a realisation by its governments that rail transport was a viable solution as the countries develop.

The company is currently eyeing projects in Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and the planned GCC railway.

The credible case against Alstom

Dubai: Critics of French-based Alstom have accused it of violating international law for what they see as the company’s complicity in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.

The company faces a lawsuit in France brought by French advocacy group Association France-Palestine Solidarité and the Palestine Liberation Organisation for its involvement in the Occupied Jerusalem light rail project which connects Occupied West Jerusalem to Occupied East Jerusalem and Jewish colonies in the West Bank.

Alstom and Veolia have repeatedly come under fire by advocacy groups in Europe for the project.

The Dutch ASN Bank decided in 2006 to exclude Veolia from its investment portfolios, and the Swedish national pension fund AP7 has blacklisted Alstom from its $15 billion (Dh55 billion) portfolio, according to media reports.

While the lawyers for the parties taking Alstom to court have avoided speaking to the media, Dubai based international humanitarian law expert Urs Stirnimann assumed that the Geneva Conventions are the principle basis in taking the company to court in France.

He said Israel’s practice of settling its population on occupied territory is widely considered to be a violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which, in accordance with article 147 is a grave violation of international humanitarian law.

“In other words, [it is] a war crime. Article 146 clearly stipulates that it is the responsibility of each country to act against grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions,” he said.

Alain Gresh, editor of Le Monde Diplomatique, said that while it is unlikely that the French court would force the two companies to withdraw from the project, it sets a precedent which will prevent firms from operating in occupied territories for fear of a backlash. Alstom and Veolia have won contracts worth billions in all six Gulf Cooperation Council states.

Adri Nieuwhof, a human rights advocate who has written extensively about the Occupied Jerusalem tramway, says that the project is part of an Israeli “master plan” for Occupied Jerusalem, which includes the confiscation of privately owned Palestinian land.

She said the tramway would consolidate Israel’s hold on occupied Palestinian territory.

“For colonists living in the Occupied West Bank, travel to Occupied Jerusalem can become faster and more efficient with the light rail, so the colonies can become more attractive for colonists to live in, besides being cheap.”

Settlers attack Palestinian farmers as they work their land in Saffa

Ha’aretz

30 May 2009

Clashes erupted on Saturday between settlers and left-wing activists who were trying to help Palestinians with agricultural work near the village of Safa in the West Bank.

Activists from the Jewish-Arab rights group Ta’ayush arrived at the village, which is located near the settlement of Bat Ayin, and were attacked by 15 to 20 masked settlers, according to one of the activists.

Activist Mairav Zonszein told Haaretz that the settlers assaulted the activists and pelted them with stones, breaking one of their cameras, and flipping over one of their cars, breaking the windshield.

Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Border Police armed with batons arrived and forcefully removed the demonstrators from the scene, according to Zonszein. Border Police then declared the area a closed military zone. No injuries were reported.

Zonszein added that five activists were arrested under the closed military zone order, which she stressed had been enforced only on Israeli and Palestinian activists and not on settlers. Two Palestinians were also arrested, according to Army Radio.

The area around Bat Ayin and Safa has been the site of previous clashes between settlers, left-wing activists and Palestinians. In April, at least 17 people were wounded during altercations between dozens of settlers Palestinians after a 13-year-old boy from Bat Ayin was murdered by an axe-wielding Palestinian.

Settlements contaminate Palestinian water supply in Hebron

26 May 2009

In between the illegal settlments of Kyriat Arba, Givat Harsina and 2 military bases, live Palestinian families that face many hardships. Sewer water from the settlements contaminates their supply of clean water, often overflowing from the sewers. The Palestinian families are in need of repairing or building new homes, but are not allowed by Israel.

A woman living in one of the houses near the settlements explained that Palestinians are not allowed to build new houses on their land, while the surrounding settlements continue to expand. An elderly couple’s house was demolished with a military bulldozer by Israeli occupation forces, and now they are forced to live in an old caravan.

In the Palestinian land near the settlements and Israeli infrastructure, dirty water overspills with the waste from a military base. The sewer water has come up under the steps to the entrance of an elderly couple’s home. The Palestinian woman living in the home explained that the children living in the houses are getting sick from insects attracted by the waste. Furthermore the smell makes living in their homes almost intolerable.

The families have limited resources of water that they have to carry from a shared pipe into their homes and clean water is only available ever couple of days. The families constantly worry about whether there will be enough clean drinking water.

Harassment occurs on a regular basis. The past winter, soldiers came during the night to search the houses without reason, forcing the families outside in the rain as they destroyed the inside of their homes.

Hebron, a Palestinian city with a small but extreme settlment community, is the center of many abuses towards Palestinians. Israeli occupation forces and settlers make life for Palestinians in Hebron difficult, hoping to push them out.
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Beit Ommar farmers continue to challenge closed military zones in order to reach their lands

Palestine Solidarity Project

Saturday, 16th May 2009

On the morning of the 16th, Palestinian farmers from Beit Ommar village with lands in Saffa close to the illegal Israeli settlement of Bet Ayn, defied a closed military zone order issued by the army in order to work their lands. At around 7am, about a dozen farmers and their families accompanied by a large group of Israeli and international solidarity activists, went to their fields in a valley just below Bet Ayn settlement. Farming in this valley is often dangerous, as the villagers face harassment from settlers and the Israeli military.

The farmers picked grape leaves and used tractors to work the fields for about three hours before settlers started to gather at the top of the hill screaming, “death to all arabs.” Within minutes, a jeep of Israeli soldiers and border police arrived and showed a paper declaring the lands a closed military zone. An Israeli solidarity activist countered the order by showing the commander a copy of a ruling from the Israeli high court that states that it is illegal for the army to repeatedly declare closed military zones and deny farmers access to their lands. The commander ignored the court paper and told the farmers and solidarity activists to leave the lands before returning to his jeep. However, the farmers continued to work their lands in the area for about another hour before finishing with their work without interference from the army.

Sunday, 17th May 2009

On the morning of the 17th, two elderly Palestinian farmers returned to the valley accompanied by four international solidarity activists. In an unusual occurrence, the farmers were able to pick grape leaves for several hours without any threats from settlers or the army even appearing to prevent them from working.

Monday, 18th May 2009

On the morning of the 18th, farmers from Saffa attempted to work their lands at the top of the hill overlooking the valley, closer to the illegal Israeli settlement of Gush Etzion. Shortly after the farmers arrived, three settlers appeared and began to walk towards the Palestinian villagers shouting threats and telling them to leave the area. Fearing for their safety, the farmers returned to the village. However, they returned to the same area in the evening at around 4pm. This time, the farmers went out in a large group with women and children and they were also accompanied by four international solidarity activists. After about an hour of working the lands, two Israeli soldiers came down the hill from the settlement and declared a closed military zone. Yet the soldiers lacked the military order that makes the closed area official. After farmers and internationals told the soldiers that the closed military zone was not legal, the soldiers retreated to the top of the hill and watched the farmers until they finished their work about an hour later.