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href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/australian-canadian-firms-pull-out-israeli-settler-railway">https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/australian-canadian-firms-pull-out-israeli-settler-railway</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Australian, Canadian firms pull out of
Israeli settler railway</h1>
<p class="node__submitted">
<span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/ali-abunimah">Ali
Abunimah</a></span> <span class="field field-blog">-</span>
<span class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single"
content="2019-05-08T21:26:47+00:00">8 May 2019</span></span>
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<figure id="file-78541"><source media="(min-width:
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<p>The Electronic Intifada can exclusively reveal that
Canadian engineering giant <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/bombardier">Bombardier</a>
has pulled out of a bid to expand and operate an
Israeli tramway linking settlements in the occupied
West Bank.</p>
<p>Bombardier is one of several global firms – two
others being Australia’s Macquarie and Germany’s
Siemens – to drop out of the tender to build the next
phase of the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/jerusalem-light-rail">Jerusalem
light rail</a>.</p>
<p>The light rail system links settlements to each other
and to Jerusalem, helping to entrench and facilitate
Israel’s colonial expansion in the occupied territory
– a <a
href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/02/15/trump-should-press-netanyahu-settlements">war
crime</a>.</p>
<p>The tramway is a <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/adri-nieuwhof/jerusalem-light-rail-symbol-israeli-oppression">symbol
of oppression</a> for Palestinians.</p>
<p>Last month Israeli business publication <em>Globes</em>
<a
href="https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-three-consortia-to-bid-for-jerusalem-light-rail-operating-tender-1001283623">reported</a>
that investment fund Macquarie was withdrawing its
support from the bidding consortium that includes
Bombardier and Austrian company Wiener Linien.</p>
<p>According to <em>Globes</em>, the consortium was
“looking for an investment fund to replace Australian
fund Macquarie.”</p>
<p>However, a spokesperson for Macquarie confirmed to
The Electronic Intifada on Wednesday that not only had
the Australian financier withdrawn, but the entire
consortium spearheaded by Bombardier had pulled out
altogether.</p>
<p>A request for comment has been sent to Bombardier.</p>
<p>Last year, FIDH, a prominent international human
rights organization, <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/french-firm-said-pull-out-israeli-settlement-railway">said</a>
it had received a commitment from the French public
firm Systra that it was pulling out of the light rail
tender.</p>
<p>FIDH noted at the time that the railway is “a tool of
Israel’s settlement policy and of its annexation of
Jerusalem, in complete violation of international
law.”</p>
<p>After sustained pressure from human rights
campaigners, the French infrastructure multinational
Veolia in 2015 <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/boycott-hit-veolia-dumps-jerusalem-rail-completes-israel-withdrawal">sold
its stake</a> in CityPass, the consortium that
operates the existing light rail line.</p>
<h2>German firm withdraws</h2>
<p>Now CityPass itself is following Veolia to the exit.</p>
<p>The CityPass consortium, which <a
href="https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-three-consortia-to-bid-for-jerusalem-light-rail-operating-tender-1001283623">includes</a>
Germany’s Siemens, <a
href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/citipass-withdraws-from-tender-to-run-expanded-jerusalem-light-rail/">notified</a>
the Israeli government that it is pulling out of the
tender to expand and run the Jerusalem light rail’s
existing Red Line and to build and operate the new
Green Line.</p>
<p>The Red line will be extended to penetrate deeper
into the occupied West Bank, connecting the
settlements of <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/pisgat-zeev">Pisgat
Zeev</a> and Neve Yaakov, which are part of the ring
of colonies Israel is building to isolate Palestinians
in Jerusalem from those in the rest of the occupied
West Bank.</p>
<p>The Green Line will run from Mount Scopus in occupied
East Jerusalem to the settlement of <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/gilo">Gilo</a>,
southwest of Jerusalem.</p>
<p><em>The Times of Israel</em> <a
href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/citipass-withdraws-from-tender-to-run-expanded-jerusalem-light-rail/">made
clear</a> that the consortium’s exit was related to
risks stemming from Israel’s prolonged military
occupation.</p>
<p>According to the Israeli publication, CityPass
“pointed to a long string of security incidents,
including Palestinian terror attacks and
rock-throwing, as well as riots and protests in
ultra-Orthodox areas, that damaged and delayed
trains.”</p>
<p>The company said that its contract “did not
adequately protect it from losses incurred during such
events,” according to <em>The Times of Israel</em>.</p>
<h2>“BDS pressure works”</h2>
<p>Palestinian campaigners see the latest withdrawals as
victories for their efforts to hold companies
complicit in Israel’s occupation and colonization
accountable.</p>
<p>Mahmoud Nawajaa, general coordinator of the
Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National
Committee (BNC), told The Electronic Intifada, “The
withdrawals from Israel’s illegal Jerusalem light rail
project of a consortium including the Canadian company
Bombardier, and of the CityPass consortium including
Siemens, show again that BDS as a form of popular
pressure works.”</p>
<p>But companies that pull out are also merely complying
with their basic human rights obligations.</p>
<p>There is a growing <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/trading-israeli-settlements-against-law/20141">legal</a>
and <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/un-holds-back-names-israel-settlement-profiteers">human
rights</a> consensus that doing business with
Israel’s settlements involves <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/end-all-business-israeli-settlements-says-human-rights-watch">unavoidable
complicity</a> in major human rights abuses, <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/adri-nieuwhof/axa-brushes-aside-concern-over-role-israels-war-crimes">including
war crimes</a>, and that such trade <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/ban-all-israeli-settlement-goods-amnesty-demands">should
be banned</a>.</p>
<div id="file-78546">
<div>
<blockquote data-width="550">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">We are calling on states to
ban settlement goods and prevent companies from
operating in <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Israel?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Israel</a>'s
settlements. <a href="https://t.co/UlgyvHzP61">https://t.co/UlgyvHzP61</a>
<a href="https://t.co/Zdszc2zOQy">pic.twitter.com/Zdszc2zOQy</a></p>
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) <a
href="https://twitter.com/amnesty/status/872493135871578113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June
7, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<div id="file-78551">
<div>
<blockquote data-width="550">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Businesses facilitate
growth of Israeli settlements & their
abuses. Time to stop. <a
href="https://t.co/9pCBfVimQy">https://t.co/9pCBfVimQy</a>
<a href="https://t.co/sYfryrm4Wq">pic.twitter.com/sYfryrm4Wq</a></p>
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) <a
href="https://twitter.com/hrw/status/689314216315097089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January
19, 2016</a></blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<h2>Corporate complicity</h2>
<p>While the exits of Macquarie, Bombardier and Siemens
will be welcome news to those campaigning for
Palestinian rights, <a
href="https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-three-consortia-to-bid-for-jerusalem-light-rail-operating-tender-1001283623">three
consortiums are still bidding</a> on the project and
they include several global firms apparently still
willing to profit from Israel’s crimes.</p>
<p>One consortium, <a
href="https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-three-consortia-to-bid-for-jerusalem-light-rail-operating-tender-1001283623">according</a>
to <em>Globes</em> joins together the Israeli
infrastructure company <a
href="http://www.electra-infrastructures.co.il/en/activities">Electra</a>
with <a
href="https://www.alstom.com/company/corporate-governance">France-based</a>
train manufacturer Alstom, and <a
href="https://www.moventia.es/en/history">Moventia</a>,
the firm that runs public transport in Barcelona.</p>
<p>The second consortium includes Spanish train maker
CAF, whose official workers council has <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/adri-nieuwhof/workers-reject-spanish-firms-bid-israeli-settlement-project">voted
against</a> participation in the project. But
according to Globes, that consortium is still bidding.</p>
<p>And the third consortium still seeking to build the
railway includes settlement-builder <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/shikun-binui-ltd">Shikun
& Binui</a>, Chinese train company CRRC and the
<a href="http://www.meridiam.com/en/about/company">French
investment fund Meridiam</a>.</p>
<p>Meridiam was created with the financial backing of
French bank Crédit Agricole.</p>
<p>A fourth consortium <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/adri-nieuwhof/greece-bids-role-israeli-settler-railway">includes</a>
two Greek firms, infrastructure company GEK Terna, and
state-owned Athens metro operator STASY.</p>
<p>But in a potentially worrying development from
Israel’s perspective, <em>Globes</em> notes that the
“intentions” of the Greek-led consortium are
“unclear.”</p>
<p>The Greek government has given its backing to the
bid, but lawmakers from Greece’s nominally left-wing
ruling party Syriza, and trade unions, have expressed
<a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/adri-nieuwhof/greece-bids-role-israeli-settler-railway">strong
opposition</a> to any Greek involvement in the
settler railway.</p>
<p>Despite the ongoing complicity, campaigners hope that
the latest rush for the exit won’t be the last.</p>
<p>“Like Veolia earlier, more and more corporations
realize that investing in and enabling Israel’s
violations of international law and human rights is
not only illegal and immoral, but is bad for
business,” the BNC’s Nawajaa said.</p>
<p>“A year after the US embassy move to Jerusalem, these
companies’ withdrawals show that human rights can
still trump US support for Israeli apartheid. Pressure
must continue on all companies involved in or
considering bids for tenders until they all have
withdrawn from this illegal light rail project.”</p>
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