Companies were not given any notice that the list was coming out today.
The United Nations human rights office on Wednesday issued a report on companies it said have business ties to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a long-delayed move likely to draw the ire of Israel and its main ally the United States.
In a statement, it said it had identified 112 business entities which it has reasonable grounds to conclude have ties with Israeli settlements – 94 domiciled in Israel and 18 in six other states.
“While the settlements as such are regarded as illegal under international law, this report does not provide a legal characterization of the activities in question, or of business enterprises’ involvement in them,” the office of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said.
“Working at the behest of the notorious UN Human Rights Council, the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights has officially decided to endorse antisemitic BDS by issuing a defamatory list of companies it claims are supposedly involved in ‘settlement activity,'” said Anne Herzberg, legal adviser and UN liaison at NGO Monitor.
“These companies have done nothing wrong and many are involved in providing goods and services to Palestinians pursuant to the Oslo Accords.
“This list was made in conjunction with pro-BDS and PFLP-linked NGOs. All countries targeted by OHCHR, particularly Israel and the United States, should reassess their relationships with Commissioner Bachelet’s office, including cancelling all cooperation and the millions of dollars and euros provided to her each year in funding. The maligned companies should begin assessing plans to take legal action against the UN officials who prepared the list and those who will propagate its false claims.”
In addition, the companies were not given any notice that the list was coming out today.
As reported by The Jerusalem Post