UNHRC worked with terror-tied NGOs to compile settlement blacklist

Erdan argued that the blacklist will end up hurting the livelihood of thousands of Palestinians with Israelis in the West Bank.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Palestinian members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) take part in a military show in Gaza (photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) take part in a military show in Gaza
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The UN Human Rights Council’s blacklist of businesses working in settlements was compiled with the help of organizations affiliated with terrorist groups, the Strategic Affairs Ministry said on Thursday, a day after the list was made public.
Meanwhile, the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel sought to help businesses that may be hurt by boycotts due to the list’s publication.
Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan called the list “disgraceful,” saying it “proves once again the UN’s consistent antisemitism and Israel-hatred."
“The UNHRC, which consists of tyrannical states and despotic regimes, proves once again that it is a rotten institution that makes delusional decisions, which have no connection to actual human rights,” he stated.
Erdan argued that the blacklist will end up hurting the livelihood of thousands of Palestinians working with Israelis in the West Bank.
One of the groups the Strategic Affairs Ministry cited was Addameer, Conscience in Arabic, a Palestinian NGO.
Addameer’s accountant Samer Arbeed is a member of the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who led the cell that murdered 17-year-old Rina Schnerb near Dolev in the West Bank last year, detonating the bomb himself.
Another Palestinian NGO, Al Haq. the Truth in Arabic, is focused on legal action against Israel for alleged human rights violations and was heavily involved in the blacklist’s compilation, the ministry said.
Al Haq is led by a a former senior member of the PFLP, Shawan Jabareen, who has served time in Israeli prison for his involvement in terrorist activities. An Israeli court described him as “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - on the one hand he presents himself as the director of a human rights organization, and on the other, he is active in a terrorist organization that commits murder...He actively denies the most fundamental right of all, without which there are no other rights - the right to live.”
The research institution NGO Monitor posited that the organization Who Profits, which calls to boycott Israel, took part in putting the list, because 85 of the 112 companies listed are in Who Profits’ database. Human Rights Watch, which advocates boycotting settlements, was also involved.
Analyzing the list, NGO Monitor also pointed out that there is no legal prohibition on conducting business activities in disputed territories, occupied territories or settlements. Some of the companies included in the list help Israel carry out the duties specified under the law of occupation, meaning that it would be a human rights violation if they were not doing that business in Israel.
In addition, many of the business activities the companies carry out are consistent with Israeli-Palestinian agreements supported by the UN and international community, such as providing utility services like water, gas and electricity to Palestinians.
As for business that operate in east Jerusalem, if a boycott were enacted based on the UN list, “Palestinians would be excluded from receiving basic goods and services in their neighborhoods, while an ethnic/religious test would be created to determine who can engage in business activities,” NGO Monitor’s report argued.
The Manufacturers’ Association of Israel has been in contact with the businesses on the UNHRC blacklist and called on the government to provide a “safety net” in case they are harmed.
“Boycotts do not create a dialogue and closeness; rather [they create] distance and separation,” Manufacturers’ Association President Ron Tomer said. “In the coming days, Israel’s economic leadership must embrace the business owners on the list and give them answers to the questions that arose...They need a warm embrace to preserve the flourishing businesses and continued coexistence created in these areas.”