UN report to cite Israeli annexation, urge ending trade with territories
Ynet discovers that a draft of a report due to be published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights describes Israeli activity in Judea and Samaria as a unilateal move that annexes land and necessitates humanitarian aid for Palestinians; the report also calls for companies to sever ties with West Bank settlements.
A new United Nations report on the settlements is due to be made public. Ynet found that the report is said to blame Israel for acting to annex the disputed territories in the West Bank, as well urge companies to end trade and business agreements with Judea and Samaria, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The report was written by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Jordanian Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein. It is also said bereft of any mention of Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank or in general.
The report notes that 2017 marks 50 years since the Six Day War (the text describes this period as 50 years of Israeli occupation of Palestinian Land). It additionally states that Israel's activities in the West Bank have brought on a consistent growth of the settler population and a unilateral takeover of widespread areas of land, in opposition to international law.
"With the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory now in its 50th year, the illegal settlement enterprise continues to advance apace. Through unabated expansion of illegal settlements and parallel efforts to consolidate Israel’s control over the West Bank, successive Israeli governments since 1967 have overseen the steady growth of the settler population and the unilateral takeover of large swaths of the west bank’s land reserves, in clear violation of international law.
The report goes on to state that Israel's actions have dire effects on Palestinian human rights in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
"Israel’s policies and practices (…) raise serious concerns of a de facto annexation of large swaths of West Bank areas under its full control. Furthermore, the impact of Israel’s settlement policy on the human rights situation of Palestinian in the west bank, including east Jerusalem, is devastating.
It also makes a case for companies to end their ties with businesses in the West Bank.
"The production and trade of settlement goods continues a key source of profit for settlement business," added the report's draft. "The role of Israeli and foreign businesses in supporting and maintaining the existence of the settlements has been highlighted previously.
"It (the settlement project—ed) is a key driver of humanitarian need in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and lies at the core of a range of human rights violations. The settlements enterprise further constitutes one of the main obstacles to a viable Palestinian state.
"Third-party states should provide guidance on implementing the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to business enterprises domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction which operate in conflict-affected areas, including in the context of military occupation, such as in the Occupied Palestinian Territories."
The report's draft additionally mentions concern over Israel's plans to erect a national park at the "occupied Hermon," over towns in the Golan Heights and over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement that Israel will never relinquish to Golan Heights.
One year ago, the UN tasked al-Hussein to compile a list of all the Israeli and international companies working with settlements in the West Bank, as well as east Jerusalem and towns in the Golan Heights. And while the list has since been shelved due to US pressure, the aforementioned report was written in keeping with the same UN decision that called for the list's compiling.
