RAMALLAH, January 11 (JMCC) - The Palestinian planned building of a new city in the occupied
West Bank has sparked a political row in
Israel. Right wing politicians and Jewish settler groups are battling against Israeli companies who have chosen to be involved in the project.
The companies, most of which remain unnamed, are under attack because they agreed to sign contracts banning the use of goods and services from Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Bayti, the Palestinian-Qatari group that is building the $850m Rawabi project north of Jerusalem, has signed deals with 12 Israeli suppliers, and is in talks with “close to 100” more Israeli companies.
“We asked the Israeli companies not to supply us with settlement goods and services, which is something we have the right to do,” said Bashar Masri, Bayti’s managing director. He added that settlements were “evil for the Palestinian people”.
The settlement boycott reflects the official position of the Palestinian Authority but is a policy that is also gaining ground in Europe and other parts of the world, and has become an increasing concern for the Israeli government.
Read more at the
FT.COM…