Palestinians to Arab states: You can stop Jerusalem light rail
PA committee urges countries to cut ties French companies involved in construction of rail through West Bank.
By Amira Hass Tags: Amira Hass Palestinian Authority Israel newsThe chairman of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' office, Dr. Rafiq Husseini, on Monday urges all Arab countries to cancel their business ties with two French companies - Veolia and Alstom - involved in the construction of a Jerusalem-based light railway which passes through the West Bank.
Husseini spoke in a press conference organized by the BNC - The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee - made up of several non governmental organizations.
So far, the Palestinian civil society organization are those which have initiated local and international activities calling for various types of boycotts (mainly on companies which are active in the occupied territories, and on Israeli academics and artists.)
It seems that the international attention their activities have garnered has encouraged the Palestinian Authority to join in the boycotts: The new Palestinian minister of economy, Hassan abu Libdeh, recently declared that the PA considers itself obliged to enforce the ban (so far declarative only) on selling settlements products in the Palestinian market.
Also present at the press conference were Jerusalem Mufti Mohammad Hussein and Orthodox Archbishop Attallah Hanna, both of whom supported the requested boycott.
This is the first time that the BNC has publicly addressed Arab nations, specifically Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and requested that they join the boycott and cancel their existing contracts with the French companies.
Until recently the committee has focused - with the assistance and support of organizations abroad - on arranging activities in the West which have brough to the termination of business deals with the two companies in Sweden, Britain, France and Australia.
The committee has petitioned the Saudi government to end their business deals, specifically with Alstom, but have yet to receive a response.
Saudi Arabia has contracts worth billions of dollars with Alstrom to build a railway to Mecca, as well other deals to constryct power plants.
Husseini lambasted those Arab countries continuing to work with the two companies, accusing them of "not fulfilling their duties" despite the repeated requests by the Palestinian from them and from the Arab League.
The committee worded softer criticism and said in a press release that "the BNC strongly urges Arab governments to practically translate their consistent verbal support for Palestinian rights in Jerusalem into action, at least by refusing to deal on a business-as-usual basis with companies implicated in violation of international law and Palestinian rights."
According to the committee, building the light rail on occupied territory is a violation of international law.
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This light rail is not going to link the west bank to jerusalem...when I saw it the plan I heard was it was going to end in pisgat ze'ev..the palestinians will not benefit from this at all. On top of all this it is being built on land that we own. It is designed for the jews and there comfort..not ours.
Hi Zeidan, Boycotts are actually not Legitimate and there is extensive discussion of the subject with regards to Saudi Arabia's accession to the WTO.
Just a thought? I mean if you boycott it they will probably still build it, and then what? you've created bad blood that they may not want to share it, and then what have you gained? Why not, get to the table, finish this mess and if you do it tactfully, I am sure you can probably get something in the agreement that shares the infrastructure. Imagine, light rail service that allowed Palestinians in the West Bank to go to Jerusalem, Israel and pray at Al Aqsa. Take the stress out of driving (which in Israel is really stressful as people drive like lunatics on crack) At University of Toronto MBA, they teach that everything isn't black or white, decisions are not to do this or do that, rather there is comprimise and that by finding the comprimise you will find the point of OPTIMAL UTILITY, this logic needs to be impolored to the stubborn Israelis and Palestinians, you'd think the two were descedants of Donkey's with how stubborn they can be.
Boycotts are a legitimate non violent measure of resistance that have been used in past conflicts to great effect. Those who question Palestinian infrastructure development are laughably blind to the wanton destruction of that very same infrastructure by Israel over the decades. End the occupation, evict the settlers, or take responsibility for the entirety of the population.
They continue in the same direction. Never build or develop. Keep the desert , poverty and ignorance
With all due respect to Amira Hass, a writer I greatly admire, I am afraid she has been misinformed. Companies like Veolia who make money from the Occupation deserve to be shunned by the rest of the world. But the State of Victoria in Australia did not renew the Connex (Veolia's trade name in Melbourne) rail network contract because of the boycott. The main reason for the non-renewal was Connex's poor service record. Yarra Trams which ran Melbourne's famous trams also lost its contract and there was no BDS campaign against it, However, it also had an appalling service record and it was politically opportune to get rid of both.
...if they had started their efforts five years ago, and if they could actually do something right. Instead, Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem have been forced to endure miserable traffic jams, horrible road conditions, and an overdue project with skyrocketing costs. The Saudis have much, much deeper pocketbooks, so maybe they can afford the cost overruns. Always amazes me that Palestinians are willing to keep themselves riding on donkeys while the rest of the Arab world moves ahead of them. The fools should have demanded from the EU, UN and America that Israel build an equivalent system for them in East Jerusalem - they would have been much more successful with that idea. Boycotts don't work. Neither does violence. The Pals still haven't learned.
Anyone living in Jerusalem, as opposed to the writer who is a settler in Ramallah, would know that the light railway will serve the same purpose as the current buses which are used by all citizens of Jerusalem.
...by their boycott measures. they seem to be indeed a suicide-nation.