HRW: Businesses in ’Israeli’ Settlements Contribute to Rights Abuses against Palestinians

Local Editor

Companies operating in "Israeli" settlements in the occupied West Bank contribute to "an inherently unlawful and abusive system" violating Palestinian rights and should halt activity there, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.

The new report describes "Israeli" policies in the West Bank that lead to government support of settlements, the "unlawful confiscation" of Palestinian land and denial of permits to Palestinians.

According to the report, which cites examples of foreign firms linked to settlements, including cement and real estate companies, ""Israel's" privileged treatment of settlers extends to virtually every aspect of life in the West Bank."

"Settlement businesses unavoidably contribute to "Israeli" policies that dispossess and harshly discriminate against Palestinians, while profiting from "Israel's" theft of Palestinian land and other resources," HRW's Arvind Ganesan said in a statement.

"The only way for businesses to comply with their own human rights responsibilities is to stop working with and in "Israeli" settlements."

HRW points to foreign firms operating in Area C of the West Bank to the benefit of settlements while "Israel" all but bars Palestinians from building or extracting natural resources" in the zone.

Two examples it points out include Germany's Heidelberg Cement and US-based Remax real estate.

Hedeilberg told HRW that it believed its Nahal Raba quarry "does not infringe the human rights and livelihoods of the Palestinian people" and provided Palestinians with well-paid jobs.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team