Accueil > Sociétés Civiles à Parlement Européen > Israel boycott bites deeper as Dutch company cuts ties

Redress Information & Analysis

Israel boycott bites deeper as Dutch company cuts ties

Vendredi, 13 décembre 2013 - 6h58 AM

vendredi 13 décembre 2013

============================================

<

It seems that hardly a day passes by without someone – a country, a firm, an individual – ends their relationship with Israel, which is increasingly becoming a serious reputational risk.

The latest to see the light is the Dutch water supplier Vitens, which has ended a partnership with the Israeli water company Mekorot, Vitens announced on 11 December, the Israeli news website Ynet reports.

In a statement, the Dutch company said it was “extremely hard” to work with Mekorot on future projects “because they cannot be taken out of the political context”.

The Dutch decision comes days after the Netherland’s trade minister, Lilianne Ploumen, abruptly cancelled a visit to the Mekorot offices in Israel.

The planned visit was part of a larger tour of Israel by the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, which was marred by a dispute over a Dutch-made security scanner on the Gaza border.

Mekorot, which provides water to Israelis and to the illegal Jewish colonies in the West Bank, has been accused by the Dutch media of denying water access to Palestinians, Ynet notes

According to the World Bank, a third of Palestinian territories are cut off from the Israeli water system and Israelis draw out a far bigger share of the water supply than agreed in the 1995 Oslo accords .

Vitens said the decision to end the relationship with Mekorot was made after conferring with the Dutch Foreign Ministry and other “concerned parties”.

Israel’s relationship with the civilized world appears to be deteriorating to the point of no return, as more and more countries, particularly in Europe, summon the courage to say “enough” to Israeli crimes.

Readers with long memories will remember the comparable stage in the 1970s and 1980s when, one by one, Western states and companies began to abandon apartheid South Africa, eventually leading to the collapse of the supremacist regime there.

The path ahead with respect to the boycott Israel campaign may be long, but the pattern that is beginning to form is clear for all to see.