The United Nations has added close to 70 additional firms to a blacklist of businesses from 11 nations that it claims are complicit in abusing Palestinian human rights through their commercial relationships with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The new list shines a light on companies that conduct business that is considered to support the settlements, deemed illegal by many under international law. It comprises a range of companies such as sellers of building materials and earth-movers, as well as security, travel, and finance providers.
Companies operating in situations of conflict have a responsibility under due diligence to prevent their operations from contributing to human rights violations,” U.N. human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said. “We urge businesses to take adequate measures to mitigate the negative human rights effects of their operations.
The list now includes 158 firms — nearly all of them Israeli. The remaining ones are from the United States, Canada, China, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Israel described the publication as “categorically rejecting” it. “This database is intended to be used as a blacklist against companies that have done no wrong,” the Israeli delegation in Geneva stated. “We urge friends not to give in to this vile effort to blacklist Israeli companies.”
The U.N. office stated that it had informed the companies of their listing and provided them with a right of reply.
The blacklist was created after a vote by the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, which can neither legally enforce action nor compel firms to do anything. The list’s primary aim is to shame and name firms that are associated with the settlements. It is unknown what effect being included on the blacklist has had on the bottom lines of the companies.
Joining the list for the first time are German building materials firm Heidelberg Materials, Portuguese rail systems supplier Steconfer, and Spanish transport engineering company Ineco. Among others remaining on the list are travel industry companies U.S.-based Expedia Group, Booking Holdings Inc., and Airbnb, Inc.
Heidelberg Materials wrote to The Associated Press in an email that it and subsidiary Hanson Israel, which was also included, did not have operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, and that for that reason it deemed their inclusion as “not justified.”
Steconfer decried that it has a “neutral, apolitical role” as a company and requested the U.N. rights office to reconsider. Its activity on a Jerusalem rail transportation project is “technical, indirect, and strictly limited to enhancing public transportation for all citizens, without discrimination,” it stated in a release.
Ineco explained that it has offered technical assistance to transport engineering works catering to civilians “strictly within internationally recognized territories” in Israel since 2005.
After Israel’s “escalation of violence” in Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Ineco reported that it initiated a review of its approach in the country and initiated a process of disengagement. That led to “a clear decision” not to seek new contracts with Israeli authorities or entities while respecting existing contractual commitments, it said in a statement.
While seven new firms were removed on Friday, 68 were added. In all, 215 business enterprises were evaluated in the round, but hundreds more may receive a glance in the future.
Among the seven firms removed from the list were French transport firm Alstom and travel service providers eDreams, of Spain, and Opodo, of Britain.
