Monthly Archives: January 2013

G4S providing services to settlements in East Jerusalem

Posted on January 31, 2013 by | 1 Comment

On 26th January 2013 Corporate Watch took photos of G4S signs in the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Eshkol and Ramot Allon. On 31st January Corporate Watch observed Rapiscan machines at both entrances to the Western Wall compound in East Jerusalem (Rapiscan’s Israeli representative is Hashmira, which is owned by G4S – for more info see here). On 23rd January 2013 researchers photographed a G4S sign on equipment in use at at the Ohel Yitzhak synagogue in the Old City, East Jerusalem.

G4S signage on a fence in the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Eshkol

G4S signage on a fence in the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Eshkol

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Sainsburys stocking products supplied by exporter from Israeli settlements

Posted on January 29, 2013 by | 17 Comments
Mangoes supplied by EDOM in Sainsburys, UK

Mangoes supplied by EDOM in Sainsburys, UK

On February 9th 2013 a coalition of civil society groups has called for an international day of action against Israeli agricultural companies in line with the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israeli militarism, apartheid and colonisation. Corporate Watch researchers are in Palestine collecting new information and over the coming weeks Corporate Watch will be writing a series of articles and blogs examining Israeli agricultural exports.

We have received this photo from BDS campaigners showing that EDOM products are stocked in Sainsburys stores in the UK

On Wednesday 16th January 2013 researchers acquired EDOM branded packaging which had been taken from Tomer settlement. The packaging had been mislabelled as coming from a kibbutz in 1948 Israel. The company director has previously pledged not to stock goods from the settlements.

For more information on EDOM click here

 

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Jaffa harvesting the fruit of the occupation: Mehadrin sourcing produce from Massua settlement

Posted on January 29, 2013 by | 2 Comments
A Mehadrin sign with a Jaffa logo on it in fields used by Massua settlement

A Mehadrin sign with a Jaffa logo on it in fields used by Massua settlement

On February 9th a coalition of civil society groups have called for an international day of action against Israeli agricultural companies in line with the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israeli militarism, apartheid and colonisation. Corporate Watch researchers are in Palestine collecting new information and over the coming weeks Corporate Watch will be writing a series of articles and blogs examining Israeli agricultural exports.

PIC_0693On 28th January 2o13 Corporate Watch photographed a Mehadrin sign bearing the logo of the Jaffa brand on land which had been fenced off by the Massua settlement close to the Palestinian community of Abu Al Ajaj.

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More on Bezeq infrastructure in Israel’s illegal settlements

Posted on January 26, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Corporate Watch has been asked by campaigners for information on Bezeq‘s telecommunications infrastructure in Israel’s illegal settlements. We have collected some more information.

Bezeq, previously a state-owned company, has historically had a monopoloy on the telecommunications market. Since the 1990s, the state has been selling off its stake in Bezeq. The company is now owned by private consortia. For more information on Bezeq click here.

Bezeq sign in the illegal Israeli settlement of Almog

Bezeq sign in the illegal Israeli settlement of Almog

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EDOM: Still sourcing products from Tomer settlement

Posted on January 25, 2013 by | 3 Comments

On February 9th 2013 a coalition of civil society groups has called for an international day of action against Israeli agricultural companies in line with the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israeli militarism, apartheid and colonisation. Corporate Watch researchers are in Palestine collecting new information and over the coming weeks Corporate Watch will be writing a series of articles and blogs examining Israeli agricultural exports.

Corporate Watch has obtained evidence that EDOM, a partly British owned agricultural export company, is still exporting fresh produce from the illegal settlement of Tomer. On Wednesday 16th January 2013 researchers acquired EDOM branded packaging which had been taken from Tomer settlement. The packaging had been mislabelled as coming from a kibbutz in 1948 Israel. The company director has previously pledged not to stock goods from the settlements.

EDOM supply to several major British supermarkets, including Waitrose and Sainsburys, through the British company Valley Grown Salads, based in Essex.

Edom packaging found in the illegal settlement of Tomer

Edom packaging found in the illegal settlement of Tomer

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A new BDS target in the Jordan Valley: Hishtil

Posted on January 24, 2013 by | 3 Comments

On February 9th a coalition of civil society groups has called for an international day of action against Israeli agricultural companies in line with the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli militarism, apartheid and colonisation. Corporate Watch researchers are in Palestine collecting new information and over the coming weeks Corporate Watch will be writing a series of articles and blogs examining Israeli agricultural exports. Continue reading →

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Mehadrin: New evidence of mislabelled settlement produce

Posted on January 22, 2013 by | Leave a comment
On February 9th a coalition of civil society groups have called for an international day of action against Israeli agricultural companies in line with the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli militarism, apartheid and colonisation. Corporate Watch researchers are in Palestine collecting new information and over the coming weeks Corporate Watch will be writing a series of articles and blogs examining Israeli agricultural exports.
Grape fields in the illegal Israeli settlement Beqa'ot in the occupied Jordan Valley
Grape fields in the illegal Israeli settlement Beqa’ot in the occupied Jordan Valley
Two and a half years ago Corporate Watch visited the illegal Israeli settlement Beqa’ot in the Jordan Valley, where we found packing houses belonging to the agricultural exporter Mehadrin Tnuport Export Company (MTEX). The produce being prepared for export was mislabeled as ‘produce of Israel’ despite being from the occupied West Bank. As we exposed at the time, Mehadrin produce is sold through Tesco stores in the UK. Last week we made another visit to the settlement to find out whether recent developments in UK and Israel has had an effect on the conduct of the company.
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G4S expands business in Israel: Prisons, high street stores and migrant detention

Posted on January 20, 2013 by | Leave a comment

The logo and uniform of British/Danish company G4s is becoming ubiquitous on the Israeli high street.

G4S is the largest security company in the world and the largest employer on the London Stock Exchange, operating in 125 countries worldwide.[1] It provides a variety of services in 1948 Israel and the Occupied Territories including providing security for businesses in illegal Israeli settlements, providing equipment and maintenance services to military checkpoints in the West Bank and the Erez checkpoint in Gaza, providing equipment and maintenance services to all Israeli prisons in the West Bank and Israel.[2]

In 2002 G4S purchased Hashmira, one of Israel’s largest security companies.[3]  In addition, in 2010 Hashmira purchased Aminut Moked Artzi, one of the oldest private security companies in Israel.[4] As a result the company is now omnipresent within Israel and has a substantial foothold in the occupied territories. Continue reading →

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JCB and Volvo machines used in demolitions in Al Maleh and Al Mayta – 17/1/13

Posted on January 18, 2013 by | 14 Comments
IOF demolish houses in Al Malih, Jordan Valley - 16/01/11

IOF demolish houses in Al Maleh, Jordan Valley – 17/01/11

On 17th January 20134 Israeli occupation forces (IOF) carried out demolitions of 55 buildings in the communities of Al Maleh and Al Mayta in the Jordan Valley. The demolitions were part of the ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Israeli military against communities living in Area C of the West Bank. Communities in Area C are prohibited from building any structures and are subjected to constant harrassment and home demolitions.

IOF soldiers arrived in the area in a bus hired from Shachar Tzach Transportation Services Ltd, an Israeli bus company which boasts that its fleet of over 160 buses is rented to clients that include “The ministry of Defence, The Iarseli(sic) army” and “the Jewish Ajenc(sic)”. The bus bore a Volvo logo. The demolitions were carried out using JCB machines. (see below for an eyewitness report from Jordan Valley Solidarity and pictures)

Volvo and JCB are both major construction equipment manufacturers, Volvo is a Swedish Company while JCB is British.

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Who profits from the E1 settlement expansion? A profile of Kfar Adumim

Posted on January 18, 2013 by | 1 Comment

This article is part of a series of Corporate Watch articles exposing corporate complicity in settlement expansion in the  wider E1 area. They will be followed by an in-depth factsheet in the coming months.

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UN OCHA map showing the threat to the Bedouin communities living in the E1 and greater E1 area.

Kfar Adumim is an illegal Israeli settlement established in 1979 and has a population of over 2,500 settlers. It is located just outside the boundaries of the E1 project but is just as strategically important for Israel’s plans for the area. The planned route of the apartheid wall encircles Kfar Adumim to include it in what Israel refer to as the Greater Jerusalem area. As the E1 plan will facilitate this further land grab, with much the same results, we have decided to refer to this area between Ma’ale Adumim and Kfar Adumim as the ‘wider E1 area‘. Continue reading →

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