PSC update: guidelines on settlements

Guidelines on Israeli settlements published

Government guidelines on business involvement with Israeli settlements are a step forward, but much more needs to be done

New advisory business risk guidance warns of the “clear risks related to economic and financial activities in the settlements, and we do not encourage or offer support to such activity”. The advice also raises the “potential reputational implications” for businesses, and goes on to say that those “contemplating any economic or financial involvement in settlements should seek appropriate legal advice”. It also reminds businesses that the UK Government view settlements as “illegal under international law and “an obstacle to peace” This new advice is published following lobbying of Government on this issue by PSC alongside other organisations and Parliamentarians.

The Government’s warning of reputational damage should be taken to heart by companies such as John Lewis, which has come under fire for stocking Sodastream; a company whose main factory is in an Israeli settlement. G4S and Veolia have already felt the impact of their corporate complicity in Israel’s illegal activity.

PSC urges the Government to improve their advice by firmly “discouraging” business with settlements, to proactively discourage individual companies from signing contracts, to clarify the rules on public sector procurement so that councillors can feel confident of taking human rights issues are taking into account without any risk of being sued, and to exclude all financial relationships with companies operating in illegal settlements.

Remember Gaza – break the siege

Help our campaigning to break the siege on Gaza – donate today.

Join the protest on Saturday 18th January from 12-2pm outside the Israeli Embassy,

outside Israeli Embassy

29 Kensington High Street

Help us to show solidarity with the people of Palestine by marking the end of the Israeli attack on Gaza 2008/09 and protesting against the ongoing siege on Gaza. We will never forget. Find out more>

Prawer Plan – end the silence!

Israel’s plan to ethnically cleanse up to 70,000 Palestinians may now be reconsidered following international and internal pressure for the plans to be scrapped. Pressure needs to be sustained, however, as the Israeli Bill to enact Prawer Plan – which would result in the demolition of at least 40 villages – could become law before the end of the year.

However, the Prawer Plan remains a silent crime for most people in the UK, as the BBC fails to report the events. Read this excellent Jonathan Cook article about what the Prawer Plan could mean.

On 28^th November we encouraged you to write to the BBC to complain about its silence. To that point the BBC had only carried one article about the issue (accompanied by a Newsnight report) which focused on the Israeli perspective of ‘fulfilling its desert dream’, and not on the potential ethnic cleansing of tens of thousands of Palestinian Bedouin.

Two days after we asked you to complain, the BBC published a very short online article about the Day of Rage (on 30^th November), which failed to give any idea of the scale of the Prawer Plan, and didn’t mention that actions on the Day of Rage took place worldwide. There was also Kevin Connolly’s midnight World Service report the same day.

However, this huge news story continues to be ignored by the main BBC news programmes, such as the Ten O’Clock News on television, and the flagship Today programme on Radio 4. A World Service item at midnight about the Day of Rage, and a short online article also about the Day of Rage, are not sufficient, and neither give any real explanation of what the Prawer Plan will entail.

Furthermore, when a Palestinian Bedouin woman whose community faces destruction under the Prawer Plan was interviewed on Woman’s Hour (Radio 4) on 27^th November, and then on Outlook (World Service), she was not questioned about it all, and the BBC failed to take the chance to expose Israel’s planned ethnic cleansing (read ‘BBC ignores ethnic cleansing in Bedoin interviews‘).

This is a pressing and urgent news story. Please write to the BBC and tell them to stop ignoring the Prawer Plan, which, if implemented, will constitute the largest single act of ethnic cleansing by the Israeli state since 1948, you can do so via the website at www.bbc.co.uk/complaints. Please ask for a reply.

Christmas is coming!

Have you got all your Christmas presents and Christmas cards? If not, why not order our new calendar for your family and friends (for only £12)? The best daily reminder of Palestine. And it’s not too late to order your Christmas cards either!

Take a look at the order form on our website and call us on 0207 700 6192 with your orders.

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Until Sunday 15 Dec Bristol Palestine Film Festival 2013 Read More

Fri 13 Dec On Palestine, G4S and the Prison Industrial Complex, SOAS, London Read More

Fri 13 Dec Two Schmucks, Three Opinions, Somerset Read More

Sat 14 Dec Durham Palestine Christmas Market Stall, Read More

Sat 14 Dec Protest Against Sodastream, Brighton Read More

Wed 18 Dec Merton PSC Public Meeting, Wimbledon, London Read More

Sat 21 Dec Sodastream Protest Outside John Lewis, Oxford Street, London Read More

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