Adri Nieuwhof

Despite international media attention and considerable diplomatic pressure from the Netherlands, Israel did not allow the general director of the Palestinian organization Al-Haq, Shawan Jabarin, to travel to the Netherlands to receive the prestigious Dutch Geuzenpenning award for human rights defenders on 13 March 2009. Israel’s travel ban on Jabarin and other human rights defenders on the basis of secret evidence violates principles for a fair trial and the basic human right of free movement, resembling the behavior of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Adri Nieuwhof and Jeff Handmaker comment for The Electronic Intifada.

Visual artist Van Thanh Rudd recently created a stir in Melbourne, Australia with his installation “Economy of Movement - A Piece of Palestine.” Rudd was invited to exhibit at an art space called the Platform in the group show Resisting Subversion of Subversive Resistance. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada.

The international Derail Veolia and Alstom campaign is gaining momentum by coordinating efforts to pressure French transportation giants Veolia and Alstom to withdraw from the Israeli tramway project in Jerusalem that runs illegally on Palestinian land. With its involvement in this project, Veolia is directly implicated in maintaining illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The Palestinian rights organization Al-Haq, together with the Israeli rights organization B’Tselem, will receive the prestigious Dutch Geuzenpenning award for human rights defenders on 13 March 2009. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof interviewed Al-Haq General Director Shawan Jabarin about the award.

The activities of French transportation giants Veolia and Alstom in building on occupied Palestinian land clearly constitute misconduct sufficiently grave to warrant the exclusion of all its divisions from public contracts in Europe. It is difficult to imagine what misconduct could be more grave than the aiding, abetting, facilitation or exacerbation of war crimes and human rights violations. Adri Nieuwhof and Daniel Machover comment for The Electronic Intifada.

Two years ago the Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace set up its project entitled, Who Profits from the Israeli occupation? In January, the Coalition officially launched its on-line database, www.whoprofits.org, listing companies directly involved in the occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Syrian Golan Heights. Dalit Baum, coordinator of the project, explains to The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof how the project came about.

Two weeks into the Israeli offensive, many international lawyers are raising their voices to condemn Israeli actions from every perspective, challenging Israeli claims to be acting in lawful self-defense. That is, even before examining the unlawful way Israel has deployed its military might, lawyers assessing the self-defense arguments of Israel have found as many holes as in the Gazan ground: Israeli actions were not taken as a last resort, as a necessary response to attacks. Adri Nieuwhof and Daniel Machover comment for The Electronic Intifada.

In early December the European Parliament postponed a vote on the proposal by the EU Commission and Council for a draft recommendation to conclude a Protocol to the EU-Israel Association Agreement, including general principles governing the State of Israel’s participation in Community programs. This vote would have been an important step in the process of upgrading EU-Israel relations, requested by Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, during her hearing in the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs. Adri Nieuwhof and Daniel Machover comment.

At the entrance of the Tovlan landfill, located beside the Jordan River in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), three flags fly proudly: those of Israel, France and the European company, Veolia. Through its Onyx subsidiary, Veolia, which is also constructing the Jerusalem light rail project on occupied Palestinian land, is managing the Tovlan landfill. In a 2004 year report on sustainable development, Veolia announced that its subsidiary Onyx brought “the new Tovlan landfill into service in Israel.”

The movement in Europe to put pressure on companies that benefit from the occupation is growing. Over the last few months, European, Palestinian and Israeli activists have won significant victories toward the 2005 call by Palestinian civil society for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. In early October, Barkan Wineries, a subsidiary of Tempo Beer Industry Ltd., decided to divest from an illegal settlement in the Barkan Industrial Park. Adri Nieuwhof reports.