Decrying “an inherently unlawful and abusive system that violates the rights of Palestinians,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday called for all businesses to stop operating in and dealing directly with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem.
The report, , also calls on third-party states such as the U.S. to “ensure that any import of settlement goods into their territory is consistent with their duty under international humanitarian law not to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories.” This includes requiring exporters to accurately label goods produced in settlements as such.
What’s more, it urges countries to “[offset] the costs of Israeli government expenditures on settlements by withholding funding given to the Israeli government in an amount equivalent to its expenditures on settlements and related infrastructure in the West Bank.”
In other words, Omar Barghouti declares at Mondoweiss, the report “actually calls for sanctions!”
Backed up by specific case studies, HRW argues that settlement-related business activity contributes to and benefits from labor abuse, unlawful confiscation of and restrictions on Palestinian land, and systematic discrimination—and thus violates a slew of international conventions and humanitarian laws.
“Businesses should account for the reality that using Palestinian land, water, minerals, and resources in their settlement operations is unlawful and comes at a great cost to Palestinians,” said Arvind Ganesan, director of HRW’s business and human rights division. “But the tide is turning as more and more businesses are waking up to the reality that it is wrong for them to profit from inherently illegal settlements.”
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