March 2010

Dr Fischer Pharmaceuticals – Exploiting the Dead Sea

At Ma’ale Adumim’s Adumim mall Corporate Watch were able to buy mud from the dead sea, produced under the supervision of Dr Fischer Pharmaceuticals, a company with a sales office in Brussels. Dr Fischer’s line of Dead Sea products and cosmetics, which also included minerals from the Dead Sea, were on sale in the Ma’ale Adumim’s branch of the Israeli Body Shop.  Body Shop Israel (apparently separate from the larger international chain although using their slogans) also has a branch on the illegal East Jerusalem settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev. Body Shop Israel advertises that their pharmaceutical products are manufactured in the laboratories of Dr Fischer. Dr Fischer’s foreign sales office is:
Dr. Fischer SA / NV
149 Ave. Louise
Brussels, 1050
Belgium
Tel: 32-2-5357625
Fax: 32-2-5357575
email: info@dr-fischer.com
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By shoalcollective, ago

Businesses in Katzerin Industrial Zone – Part Two

Signpost for Olea Essence / Capernaum Vista

Products at Capernaum Vista / Olea Essence


Capernaum Vista Olive farm – www.oleaessence.net: Producers of olive oil and olive oil based skin products. Seem to market themselves primarily over the internet and to wholefood stores. Their contact address is in California.
Nistec – www.nistec.com: Nistec is a high-tech/arms company who opened a new plant in Katzerin in 2009. Nistec also has offices in Petach Tikhvah annd Maalot.
Sealy – www.sealy.com: Sealy advertise themselves as ‘America’s best selling mattress company’. They are a multinational company and the factory in Katzerin is run by an Israeli licensee They have a UK base in Cumbria (http://www.sealy.co.uk/contactus.php)
Ionics Systems Ltd – www.ionicsystems.com: Manufacturer of cleaning products (more…)

By shoalcollective, ago

Corporations in Katzerin Settlement Industrial Zone Part 1

Golan Winery visitors centre


Golan Winery

Katzerin is a settlement of 6444 people situated in the occupied Golan Height. It was established on the land of the Syrian area of Fakhura.
Mey Eden/Eden Springs – www.meyeden.co.il/www.edensprings.co.uk: Mei Eden extract water from the occupied Golan and sell it throughout Israel.  Eden Springs supply water coolers to businesses, local authorities and universities across the UK. A successful campaign in Scotland has seen boycotts of Eden Springs at universities and pressure on Edinburgh City council to pull out of its contract with the company (http://www.scottishpsc.org.uk/index.php?option=com_sectionex&view=category&id=23&Itemid=200208).  Eden Springs’ Scottish depot has recently closed.
Click more for more companies (more…)

By shoalcollective, ago

Evidence of British company Lee Cooper trading in illegal Israeli settlement

Lee Cooper in Ma’ale Adumim

The other day we took a trip to to the settlement Ma’ale Adumim in search of signs of dodgy business dealings -and, for the first time, we found a British company trading directly in a settlement. Lee Cooper, a British denim company established in 1908, were joined by the international businesses Western Union, Dr Fischer and a Tower Records franchise in their willingness to make a profit out of the occupation.
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By shoalcollective, ago

Businesses in Bnei Yehuda Settlement

Bnei Yehuda settlement was established in 1972 after Israel’s occupation of the Golan heights, it was reportedly set up by workers from Israeli Aircraft Industries (www.iai.co.il). It is on the site of the Syrian area of Scopia which was depopulated when the Israeli military forced most of the Syrian residents of the Golan Heights out of their homes. It now has 1036 residents.

Bnei Yehuda boasts a Carmel Agrexco packing house. Agrexco are the largest exporter of fresh produce from the settlements to Europe and elsewhere.
On the road leading to Bnei Yehuda a factory bearing the Elbit logo can be seen. The factory appears to be manufacturing aircraft. Elbit operate in the UK and are involved in testing unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) at ParcAberporth in Wales (see http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3470).
Near the entrance to Bnei Yehuda industrial area is a sign offering free land to people who want to settle, on the expropriated Syrian land, in Bnei Yehuda.

Sign offering free land for settlers in Bnei Yehuda


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By shoalcollective, ago

Walking the route of Veolia's Tramline in East Jerusalem

  Veolia, a French multinational, are involved in several projects in occupied Palestine, providing services to Israel’s illegal settlements (see http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3433, http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3474 and http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3514). Veolia has come under intense pressure to pull out of the Citypass Consortium, the group of companies responsible for building the Jerusalem Light Railway. After years of Read more…

By shoalcollective, ago

Wave of repression shows that Israel is beginning to take our movement seriously…

“Whether we are confined in the open-air prison that Gaza has been transformed into, in military prisons in the West Bank, or in our own villages surrounded by the Apartheid Wall, arrests and persecution do not weaken us. They only strengthen our commitment to turning 2010 into a year of liberation.”
Abdullah Abu Rahmah, In a letter written from his prison cell, January 1st 2010
The last year has seen an increase in repression of Palestinian grassroots activists involved in struggles against Israel’s wall and Israeli settlements and who advocate the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. In September 2009 Mohamed Othman, an activist with the Stop the Wall (www.stopthewall.org) campaign was arrested on suspicion of ‘dealing with foreign enemies’ and incitement. Mohamed spent four months in jail, two months awaiting trial and two months in administrative detention (without charge). On 24th December Jamal Jumaa, Coordinator of Stop the Wall was arrested. Mohamed and Jamal were released on 12th January 2010 after international pressure. Jamal was never charged while Mohamed’s charges were dropped after two months. In February 2010 the Stop the Wall office in Ramallah was raided by the Israeli army and computer hard drives and documents were taken. (more…)

By shoalcollective, ago