You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December 2010.
Vichy advertising in the illegal settlement of Ariel
I am writing to you from Corporate Watch, a London based research group. We have recently returned from a research trip in the occupied West Bank.
In the West Bank we noted with concern that Vichy promotional material and sales/display areas were set up in several pharmacies in illegal Israeli settlements. We noticed Vichy window displays and products for sale in the settlements of Ariel and Ma’ale Adumim (photos attached).
Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security Council calls upon “all States not to provide Israel with any assistance to be used specifically in connection with settlements in the occupied territories” (1979). This was strengthened by the International Court of Justice’s 2005 ruling that states should ensure that no assistance is given to the settlements. The construction of settlements like Ariel and Ma’ale Adumim has resulted in home demolitions, expulsions and the fragmentation of the West Bank into isolated cantons.
Will Vichy make moves to ensure that your products are not sold in Israeli settlements?
Vichy advertising in Ma'ale Adumim
Vichy advertising in Ma'ale Adumim
Demolitions using Volvo machinery in the Jordan Valley village of Abu al Ajaj- Photos from Jordan Valley Solidairty
Volvo machinery was used to demolish houses of bedouin in the Palestinian village of Abu al Ajaj on Wednesday 24th November 2010. The same week a wave of demolitions occurred across the West Bank and Israel, including the demolition of the village of Al Araqib in the Naqab (Negev).
Abu al Ajaj is situated in the Al Jiftlik area of the Jordan Valley, in the Israeli occupied West Bank, next to the Israeli colony of Massua. At 5am two Volvo bulldozers and 200 soldiers raided and demolished one house and three animal shelters in the Abu al Ajaj. Three tin buildings and one tent were also destroyed, two men were arrested and several injured. Several baby goats were killed and many were injured in the destruction. The estimated cost of the damage stands at around 120,000 NIS.[2]
Goats killed during demolitions in Abu al Ajaj
Impertec Supergum in Maale Efraim
Impertec/Supergum Industries – One of the companies in Ma’ale Efraim is Impertec ‘Supergum’.
Impertec is part of the ‘Supergum Group’. Impertec and Supergum are sister companies with the same owners. Impertec manufactures gas masks, riot gear and rubber extrusions. Supergum manufacture rubber, plastic and sealing products. Both product ranges have military applications Read the rest of this entry »
Corporate Watch visited the Ma’ale Efraim industrial zone during May 2010. Ma’ale Efraim is the only industrial zone in the Jordan Valley, situated on the road to Nablus. The industrial area is attached to the settlement of Ma’ale Efraim, an illegal settlement home to 1641 colonisers.
Ma’ale Efraim was established as a military settlement in 1978 on land seized by military order. The settlement was civilianized in 1979 and further land was seized as ‘state’ land. To the West of the settlement is an IDF military base.
Ma’ale Efraim industrial zone is largely dormant, a holding exercise to monopolise the land. Many of the factory buildings are empty. However a few Palestinian workers were working in the warehouses.
Sign at the entrance to Maale Efraim Industrial Zone
The above sign shows some of the businesses and type of business working in Maale Efraim:
“Maale Efrayim Industrial Zone,
1 – Administration, Fior, Karabian Woodshop, Ami Koren – Food Marketing, Raphi Cohen, Fuller Strapping Products, Avia Printing, Radio Mars, Peer Israel
2 Brom, GBIG, Aqua Print
3 Jordan Valley Productions, Steel Mills, B. erushalmi, SuperGum, Center Gas, Metuman 2000, Tel Bar
4 Faber Bros, Cactus Plantation
also – Meir Moving, General and Crane Haulage, Apartment Removals, Moran Professional Cleaning Equipment”
The logos displayed in the middle section read – “Maale Efrayim and Jordan Valley Industrial Area Administration, State of Israel, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Jewish Agency Settlement Department, Maale Efrayim Local Council, Jordan Valley Regional Council”
Impertec Supergum in Maale Efraim
Moran Professional Cleaning Equipment van in Maale Efraim settlement industrial zone
Corporate Watch - Tracking Corporate Complicity in the Occupation of Palestine 