Why Veolia?

Why choose to target the company, Veolia, in this campaign?

Because the Palestinian people have called for a global campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and universal human rights.

Veolia Environnement is a French multinational company that profits directly from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

Veolia is involved in business activities which support and extend the illegal Israeli occupation of  the Palestinian territories, and which make Veolia complicit in Israel’s violations of United Nations Resolutions and international law.

What laws and resolutions are being violated?

The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories (West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem) violates United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (22 November 1967), which refers to the “inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war” and calls for the “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict” (“the recent conflict” being the June 1967 War).

Since the 1967 War, numerous UN Security Council and UN General Assembly Resolutions have been passed declaring the unlawfulness of Israel’s occupation. For example, UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/67/121 (14 January 2013):

1. Reiterates that all measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in violation of the relevant provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, and contrary to the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, are illegal and have no validity;

Furthermore, the State of Israel’s settlement of Israeli civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949):

The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

Consequently, the active involvement of Veolia Environnement in facilitating Israeli construction on Occupied Palestinian lands, previous exploitation of resources located within these lands and previous interests in business services to the illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories including transport, sewage treatment, landfill, and waste collection services, means that Veolia has both facilitated and been complicit in Israel’s “grave breaches” of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Furthermore, Veolia Environnement is in grave violation of its own obligations as a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest “good corporate citizenship” initiative. The UN Global Compact asks signatory companies to embrace, support and enact a set of ten core principles. The first two core principles state that businesses should:

Principle 1: Support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
Principle 2: Make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Furthermore, Veolia Environnement is in grave violation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises with regard to responsible business conduct.

What activities is Veolia involved in?

Examples of Veolia’s operations that have supported the illegal Israeli occupation are listed below:

Jerusalem Light Rail Project

Veolia has been involved in the construction and operation of a tramway linking illegal Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem with Israel for many years. The tramway is a major infrastructure project serving illegal settlements; it therefore functions to normalise the Occupation and make the illegal Israeli settlements an increasingly permanent part of the landscape, undermining chances of a just peace for the Palestinian and Israeli people.

In April 2010 the UN Human Rights Council declared the Jerusalem Light Rail and its operation to be illegal (A/HRC/RES/13/7 of 14 April 2010). In late 2010 and early 2011 Veolia announced that it would sell its shares in the Jerusalem Light Rail. Nevertheless, the company will continue to profit from the scheme for years to come and the pressure  must continue until such time as Veolia admits responsibility for its actions, provides reparations to Palestinian victims and is held accountable for its gross complicity with Israeli violations of international law. – See more at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Light_Rail
http://www.bdsmovement.net/activecamps/veoliaalstom#sthash.9ozwLqiu.dpuf

Tovlan Landfill*

The Tovlan landfill was owned and operated by Veolia subsidiary, TMM Integrated Recycling Services until April 2015. The landfill receives waste from recycling factories within Israel and in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Under international law, Israel is prohibited from using land in occupied territory for the sole benefit of its own civilian population. UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/63/201 (28 January 2009) “also calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to cease the dumping of all kinds of waste materials in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem…”  Thus, Veolia is possibly complicit in Israel’s violations of international law.

* Ownership of the Tovlan site and wastewater treatment contracts for illegal Israeli settlements is now expected to transfer to Oaktree. – See more at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2015/veolia-sells-israel-businesses-targeted-by-bds-13081#sthash.MngvozBW.dpuf

Ayalon Plant*

Veolia Water-Israel operated the Ayalon wastewater treatment plant until April 2015.  It is located in the illegal Israeli settlement, Modi’in Ilit, between the “Green Line” (also known as the 1949 Armistice Line, the internationally recognised border) and the Israeli-built illegal Separation Wall (a Wall built not on the border but many kilometres east inside the Palestinian West Bank).
>> See also this Electronic Intifada article Veolia treats wastewater from Modi’in Illit settlement (2 February 2012)
*Ownership of the Tovlan site and wastewater treatment contracts for illegal Israeli settlements is now expected to transfer to Oaktree Capital.
See more at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2015/veolia-sells-israel-businesses-targeted-by-bds-13081#sthash.MngvozBW.dpuf

Bus Services*

Veolia previously operated regular bus services to the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The company ran four routes along road 443, often referred to as an “apartheid road” because Palestinians are prohibited from driving on almost all segments of it. Bus Lines 7/19/109/110 service the illegal Israeli settlements of Hashmona’im, Kfar Haoranim, Mevo Horon, Givat Ze’ev, and pass through the occupied Palestinian territories at the Macabim checkpoint, Mahane Ofer Junction (Road 404) and the occupied East Jerusalem. Bus Lines 422/425/427 pass through the occupied Palestinian territories at Mahane Ofer junction, the Givat Ze’ev settlement and the occupied East Jerusalem. Transdev, previously Veolia Transportation,  separated itself from Veolia and has also sold off all bus transportation in Palestine due to mounting pressure from BDS campaigns.

* Veolia sells off all bus lines in Israel/Palestine –  http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=3688

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