Unilever withdraws from an Israeli settlement

PRESS RELEASE
November 27th 2008

Unilever withdraws from an Israeli settlement

United Civilians for Peace (UCP) welcomes Unilever’s decision to divest from a factory based in an illegal Israeli settlement on the West Bank. This decision comes in a period in which UCP and Unilever Netherlands are engaged in a constructive dialogue about Unilever’s presence in Barkan. UCP and Unilever discussed the ethical considerations with regards to investment in settlements and Unilever’s responsibilities within the framework of Corporate Social Responsibility.

In 2006, a report by United Civilians for Peace concluded that the Anglo-Dutch multinational owns a 51% share in Beigel & Beigel, a pretzel and snacks factory. This factory is located in Barkan, an industrial zone in Ariel, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Last Wednesday, Unilever announced their decision to divest from Beigel & Beigel.

Since the publication of the report “Dutch economic links in support of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian and/or Syrian territories” in 2006, UCP has advocated the departure of Unilever from the settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This resulted in a constructive dialogue with Unilever Netherlands and UCP research into the legal and ethical implications of Unilever’s investment in Beigel & Beigel.

The research document titled: “Improper Advantage: A Study of Unilever’s investment in an illegal Israeli settlement” concludes that:
- The land of the Barkan industrial zone was confiscated from surrounding Palestinian villages by a military order issued by the Israeli Defence Force issued in 1981, and declared “state land”. International Law prohibits the confiscation of occupied land not for military purposes.
- Because the factory is located in an illegal settlement, Unilever complies with violation of Palestinian human rights and the structural discrimination of Palestinian workers.
- Beigel & Beigel benefits from subsidies that are allocated by the Israeli government to the industrial zones in the settlements. Also, the factory has been guaranteed a state grant for a plan of expansion.

The report is available as of Friday November 28th.

UCP congratulates Unilever with their decision to divest. This important and constructive step shows that Unilever takes serious both the provisions of international law as well as its Corporate Social Responsibility. Israeli settlements form a major obstacle to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians and the industrial zones play an important economic role in maintaining these settlements.

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India uncovers Hindu terror group that carried out bombings blamed on Islamists

At least 10 people, including monk and army officer, held By Andrew Buncombe in Delhi Sunday, 23 November 2008 India is in something of a state of shock after learning from official sources that its first Hindu terror cell may have carried out a series of deadly bombings that were initially blamed on militant Muslims. The revelation is forcing the country to consider some difficult questions. At least 10 people have been arrested in connection with several bomb blasts in the Muslim-dominated town of Malegaon in the western state of Maharashtra in September, which left six people dead. But reports suggest that police believe the cell may also have carried out a number of previous attacks, including last year's notorious bombing of a cross-border train en route to Pakistan, which killed 68 people. Among the alleged members of the cell are a serving army officer and a Hindu monk. Bomb attacks are not uncommon in India – there has been a flurry in recent months – but police usually blame them on Muslim extremists, often said to have links to militant groups based in either Pakistan or Bangladesh. As a result, the recent cracking of the alleged Hindu cell has forced India to face some difficult issues. A country that prides itself on purported religious and cultural toleration – an ambition that in reality often falls short – has been made to ask itself how this cell could operate for so long. India's military, which prides itself on its professionalism, has been forced to order an embarrassing inquiry. The near-daily drip of revelations from police has also caused red faces for India's main political opposition, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ahead of state polls and a general election scheduled for early next year. The BJP and its prime ministerial candidate, Lal Krishna Advani, have long accused the Congress Party-led government of being soft on terrorism that involved Muslims. However, the BJP has refused to call for a clampdown on Hindu groups, and last week Mr Advani even criticised the police over the way they questioned one of the alleged cell members, a woman called Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, phoned his rival to ask him not to politicise the issue or the investigation. "There is a strong case so let the police do their job," he told Mr Advani. While some commentators have expressed surprise about the discovery of the alleged cell, others have pointed out that there has been growing concern about the possible threat from Hindu extremists. In the summer, two members of a right-wing Hindu group were killed while putting together a bomb, and two other suspected members of the same group died in similar circumstances in 2006. Meanwhile, senior right-wing leaders have made no secret of their wish that Hindus should form suicide squads to protect themselves against Muslim extremists. Bal Thackeray, leader of a group called the Shiv Sena, which has been responsible for communal and regional violence in Mumbai, wrote recently in the party's magazine: "The threat of Islamic terror in India is rising. It is time to counter the same with Hindu terror. Hindu suicide squads should be readied to ensure the existence of Hindu society and to protect the nation." Observers say the fact that the police have arrested the alleged cell members amid considerable political pressure suggests the growing professionalism of its security forces. "It's the first Hindu cell and it's the first time Hindus have been shackled and taken to jail," said Professor Dipankar Gupta, a sociologist at Delhi's Jawarlahal Nehru University. "I'm quite pleased with the way the police have done their jobs."

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Christian Aid about Gaza - Food and medicine must never be used as weapons

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Food and medicine must never be used as weapons Israel is collectively punishing innocent civilians by withholding and controlling food and medicine to Gaza, says Christian Aid. ‘With the recent upsurge in violence it is Palestinian and Israeli civilians who will pay the price of failure and silence, and lose hope itself’, says William Bell, middle-eastern advocacy officer at Christian Aid. Despite repeated calls from the international community, Gaza remains closed to food and medicine. For almost one and a half years, 1.5 million Palestinians have endured collective punishment as a result of Israel’s tight closure of Gaza. In recent weeks the situation has once again deteriorated further with a resurgence of violence. Last week, UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for assisting Palestinian refugees, announced that it had run out of food to distribute. With 80 per cent of the population dependent upon food aid, the situation is critical but the crossings into Gaza – the only points of entry for people and goods - remain tightly closed. Increasingly goods are smuggled through tunnels from Egypt into Gaza, but the high cost of items brought in this way, are out of reach for many ordinary Gazans. ‘There is a huge concern for November food supplies. UNRWA only works with registered refugees, but what about non-refugees? Tunnels are the only way of getting food and other goods, but this is only for people with money’, says a Christian Aid partner in Khan Younis. The international community has failed to develop a new strategy for ending the closure of Gaza. Similarly reconciliation between Palestinian factions has remained elusive leaving Palestinians without a genuinely representative body to press for a solution to the crisis. ‘Simply letting food into Gaza is not enough’, says Costa Dabbagh, from Near East Council of Churches, a Christian Aid partner. ‘We are fed and kept alive without dignity and the international community should be blamed for it. We are not given hope. …it is not acceptable for us to be waiting for food to come. We want to live freely with Israel and other countries in peace, we are not against any individual or government, but we are against imprisonment.’ Despite an agreement on cessation of violence since June 2008, Gazans remain isolated from the world and continue to live in abject poverty. Although getting food supplies into Gaza is a vital first step, Christian Aid believes steps must be taken to resolve the political crisis before people will see a real change in their lives.
- ends - For more information or interviews with Christian Aid partner organisations in Gaza contact Nadene Ghouri on 07590 710942 or nghouri@christian-aid.org or William Bell on 07973 827535 Notes to Editors: 1. Christian Aid works in some of the world's poorest communities in more than 50 countries. We act where the need is greatest, regardless of religion, helping people build the life they deserve.

Oxfam is greatly concerned about Foreign Secretary David Miliband

"Oxfam is greatly concerned that Foreign Secretary David Miliband neglected to address the Gaza blockade during his visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. Only the bare minimum of goods have entered Gaza in the past couple of days and Oxfam fears a serious worsening once again of the humanitarian situation if urgent action is not taken. David Miliband and the UK government must not continue to remain silent in the face of such human desperation." said Barbara Stocking, Oxfam Great Britain's Chief Executive. "Gazans have been stripped bare of ways of coping after 18 months of blockade and are extremely vulnerable to the latest clamp down. Not only is the flow of food, fuel and medicines at a trickle, but sewage and water systems could soon grind to a halt. The cycle of violence is causing harm to civilians on both sides of the Gazan border. It is vital that both unnaceptable attacks on Israeli towns like Sderot stop, and that ordinary Gazans are not punished by this crippling blockade. For this reason we urge David Miliband and the UK government to put more emphasis on resolving the crisis as a matter of urgency.” Michael Bailey

Statement by leading British NGO - Oxfam International on the Gaza Blockade

This is a statement by Oxfam International on the Gaza Blockade: "World leaders must step up and exercise all their political might to break the blockade of Gaza. As a matter of humanitarian imperative, Israeli leaders must resume supplies into Gaza without further delay. If Israelis and Palestinians alike don’t exert every effort now to maintain the truce which has held since last June, the result could be catastrophic for civilians both in Gaza and in nearby Israeli towns,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs.
"For nearly a year and a half unimpeded access to fuel, food, medicines and essential goods has been routinely denied. Failure of the international community to act decisively will only exacerbate human suffering and could further endanger chances for peace." Hobbs said.
Please contact Mike Bailey on: (00 972 572 233 014) for further information or interviews with Oxfam staff in Gaza and the region

OXFAM
Oxfam works with others to overcome poverty and suffering.

Obama Told Not to Fear Jewish Lobby

Obama Told Not to Fear Jewish Lobby
By IOL Staff

"Last week's election proved again that domestic issues are of greater interest to American Jews than relations with Israel," wrote Eldar. (Google photo)CAIRO — Akiva Eldar, the chief political columnist and editorial writer for Israel's Ha'aretz daily, has a clear message for US President-elect Barak Obama before he assumes office as America's 44th president.
"Obama has nothing to fear from the right-wing Jewish lobby," the prominent Israeli journalist and author wrote on Monday, November 10.
The Israeli lobby, led by the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), is usually seen as a major factor in sharing America's Middle East foreign policy, especially regarding the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
Obama had promised to be actively engaged as an Israeli-Arab conciliator early on in his term.
He once dismissed Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as "not helpful."
"My interest is in solving this problem not only for Israel but for the United States."
But fears of excessive pro-Israel bias were stoked by Barak appointment of Rahm Emanuel, an American Jew who had volunteered at an Israeli army base during the Gulf war, as his chief of staff.
Dr. Benjamin Emanuel, Rahm's father, said he was convinced that his son's appointment would be good for Israel.
"Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel," he was quoted as saying by the Jerusalem Post.
"Why wouldn't he be? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House."
Emanuel personally escorted Obama last June when he gave a strongly pro-Israel speech to AIPAC and held a private meeting with AIPAC's Executive Board.
Better Chance

"Let him remember that human and civil rights also apply to the Palestinians, not only to black Americans," said Levy. (Google Photo)
But Eldar, who served as Ha'aretz US Bureau Chief in the 1990's, believes Obama has all what it takes to break free from the strains of the Jewish lobby in the US.
"Obama won the Jewish electorate's sweeping support (78 percent)."
He stressed that Republican John McCain's pledge to move the American Embassy to occupied Jerusalem did not sway the Jewish voters.
"Last week's election proved again that domestic issues are of greater interest to American Jews than relations with Israel. The group that believes that territories are more important than peace is negligible."
The Israeli journalist notes that Obama will be serving in a far favorable atmosphere, giving him bigger room to draft his Mideast foreign policy.
"In contrast to the first president Bush, most of Washington's power centers will stand beside the first black president: The two houses of Congress have Democratic majorities, the press is in love."
He said a new generation of politicians who advocate an active American involvement in the Middle East peace process is being aided by J Street, a new Jewish lobby challenging AIPAC.
Eldar added that at least 31 Congressional candidates adopted by the organized Jewish peace camp defeated their opponents.
This, believes the Israeli journalist and author wrote, gives a new meaning for the "friend of Israel" concept which had become a synonym for supporters of the Israeli occupation.
The same argument was made earlier this week by Gideon Levy, another journalist for Haaretz and former spokesman for Shimon Peres.
"When we say that someone is a 'friend of Israel' we mean a friend of the occupation, a believer in Israel's self-armament, a fan of its language of strength and a supporter of all its regional delusions," he wrote.
"When we say someone is a 'friend of Israel' we mean someone who will give Israel a carte blanche for any violent adventure it desires, for rejecting peace and for building in the territories," added Levy.
"Let us now hope that Obama will not be like them.
"That he will put his whole weight behind a deep American involvement in the Middle East…That he will help end the siege on Gaza and the boycott of Hamas, that he will push Israel and Syria to make peace, that he will spur Israel and the Palestinians to reach a settlement," added the Israeli journalist.
"Let him use his clout to end the occupation and dismantle the settlement project. Let him remember that human and civil rights also apply to the Palestinians, not only to black Americans."

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SOMALIA: Hostility rises in Hargeisa after suicide bombings

SOMALIA: Hostility rises in Hargeisa after suicide bombings
HARGEISA, 10 November 2008 (IRIN) - Somalis displaced to the self-styled independent republic of Somaliland from other parts of the Horn of Africa country have faced increasing hostility after three suicide bombing incidents in late October.
Reports of criminal incidents targeting non-Somaliland Somalis in Hargeisa, Somaliland's capital, have prompted Interior Minister Abdillahi Ismail Irro to call for restraint.
"I am calling on Somaliland citizens not to harm or take aggressive actions against the refugees from Somalia [by] linking them to the criminals, because these people were not part of the attacks; on the contrary, only a small number of people were involved in the crimes which we are now investigating. I urge you to report any suspects to the nearest police station instead of taking the law into your own hands," Irro said.
Somaliland considers Somalis displaced from outside Somaliland as refugees and only recognises those displaced within Somaliland as internally displaced.
Several people from southern Somalia in Hargeisa said they were now living in fear while others had been thrown out of their residences since the bombings, which targeted the presidential palace, a UN compound and the Ethiopian embassy.
The bombers have been linked to the Al-Shabab militia group based in Mogadishu.
Mohamed Abdirahman 19, who has been in Hargeisa for about a month, said: "The people of Hargeisa welcomed me when I first came to Somaliland after leaving Mogadishu; everybody was so nice to me and used to give me meals but this changed within 24 hours of the bombings.
"I was quickly thrown out by my hosts. Whenever I walk along the street, I try not to talk to anyone because I fear that if I am identified as a Somali citizen, I will face difficulties because the suspects were believed to have come from Mogadishu," Abdirahman told IRIN.
However, Abdirahman was taken in by another family on 3 November.
"I am now living with another family neighbouring my former hosts; I hope the situation will improve soon," he said.
Fadumo Hassan, another Somali resident, was robbed by people who posed as policemen investigating the bombings.
She said: "A day after the bombings, four men came to my home in Kodbur district here in Hargeisa; they claimed they were police officers and wanted to inspect my house in relation to the attacks; I allowed them into the house where they conducted a search. After they left, it was established that they were thieves and had stolen money and jewellery from me. I don't know how I will recover my property."
Meanwhile, Somaliland police have arrested freelance journalist Hadis Mohamed Hadis, another Somali citizen, who has been in Somaliland for the past six years.
The police declined to give a reason for his arrest.

Secret Pakistan-US Deal

Secret Pakistan-US Deal
By Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent

Some 15 attacks have been conducted by US drones in the tribal area in the last two weeks, killing over 200 people, mostly civilians. (Reuters)ISLAMABAD — A clandestine agreement between the new Pakistani leadership and the US allows American drones to strike targets inside the restive tribal belt where suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban militants are reportedly taking shelter.
"Under this secret deal, Pakistan will keep complaining about US air strikes. It will also summon the US ambassador to the Foreign Office to register its protest, but no action on the ground would be taken," a senior official of President Asif Ali Zardari-led government told IslamOnline.net on the condition of anonymity.
The deal reportedly clinched after Zardari's first official visit to Washington in September.
"The secret accord provides new mechanics for coordinating predator attacks and a jointly-approved list of high-value targets," said the official.
Thirteen people were killed and many injured in a US missile attack on a residential compound in North Waziristan on Friday, November 7.
Local sources told IOL that most of the deceased were women and children.
Some 15 attacks have been conducted by US drones in South and North Waziristan during the last two weeks, killing over 200 tribesmen, mostly children and women.
However, US and Pakistani intelligence officials insist that some top Al Qaeda leaders, including its deputy chief of operations Khalid Habib, were among the dead.
According to Pakistani officials, Habib was killed on October 16 in a predatorstrike on targets in South Waziristan.
"Now, officially, Pakistan will oppose any violation of its airspace and issue statements protesting the drone attacks, but will not go beyond that," said the government official.
Pakistan is the key supply route for US troops in Afghanistan.
Security analysts believe that if Islamabad had been serious about its protest, it would have at least threatened to halt supplies to Americans forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
Economic Price
Sources link the secret deal to Pakistan's crashing economy and dire need of financial assistance.
"The US administration has made it clear that the drone attacks are essential to get rid of Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders, who have been hiding in South and North Waziristan," said the senior government official.
"And if Pakistan doesn't allow that then it (US) will not help arrange an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan."
Pakistan is desperately seeking a sum of 5 billion dollars to avoid a default.
Government officials say negotiations with the IMF have almost been completed, and a loan will soon be issued.
Well-paced government sources say Pakistan agreed to the secret deal with Washington after the World Bank cancelled last month its 300-million-dollar loan, which had already been approved.
"It was certainly not the IMF that pressurized the World Bank. It was America that forced the World Bank to do that," said the senior government official.
But the government categorically denied any such secret deal with Washington.
"This is totally baseless," Ashfaq Gondal, the federal secretary information, told IOL.
"There is no secret accord with US. Only Pakistani forces are responsible for any action within its territory."
He insists that had there been any such deal, the president and his premier could not have protested American strikes in the tribal area.
"The president and the prime minister have continuously been condemning such attacks. They are against our sovereignty," said Gondal.
Asked why Islamabad stops at mere publicized protest, Gondal said: "I can't tell you right away what action Pakistan can take against the strikes. But I totally deny any such secret deal."
By IOL

Call for greater protection of DRC civilians

Call for greater protection of DRC civilians
As thousands of refugees in eastern Congo go without food and shelter for yet another day, international development agency ActionAid urges the UN Security Council to strengthen its mandate to enforce peace in the region.
"The humanitarian situation here is completely out of control," said Alpha Sankoh, ActionAid's country director in DRC.
"Refugees are being deliberately targeted before our very eyes - we cannot allow this to continue," he added.
"The protection of women and children is paramount, particulalry as so many are on the move seeking safety. And to ensure this happens, the role of the UN peace keeping forces needs to be reviewed."
Intense diplomatic pressure has resulted in the leaders of Congo and Rwanda agreeing to an emergency summit with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner joining a trail of envoys descending on the region.
The breakthrough came as a result of intense diplomatic pressure amid warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe as tens of thousands fled fighting, looting and rape by armed groups.
Alpha Sankoh said it was essential that Miliband and Kouchner use their influence to press all parties to enter into negotiations to work towards an internationally enforced ceasefire.
"They must do everything in their power to ensure UN peacekeeping forces protect civilians and guarantee safe passage for humanitarian workers," he added.
ActionAid hopes to resume relief efforts to refugees in camps in the conflict area as soon as the security situation allows.
ENDS