Over 160 Ngos And Trade Unions Call On EU To Ban Trade With Israeli Colonies

Over 160 NGOs and trade unions Tuesday called on the European Union (EU) to ban trade and business with Israeli colonies in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In a letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the groups urged action to comply with international law and to halt Europe's support for the illegal colonial settlement enterprise and its underlying abuses.

Among the NGOs, trade unions and civil society organizations (CSOs) are ActionAid, Human Rights Watch, Action, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Al-Haq, Amnesty International, Caritas Europe, Child Rights International Network (CRIN), Defense for Children International, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Olof Palmes Internationella Center, Oxfam and Pax Christi.

“We, the undersigned human rights organizations, trade unions and civil society groups, urge the European Commission to take action to ban all trade and business between the EU and Israel's illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem,” the letter read.

The signatories stressed that“Such action is essential for the EU and its member states to comply with their obligations under international law.”

They explained that“The EU's current policy of distinguishing between goods produced in Israel and those produced in settlements falls short of these obligations. While this differentiation denies preferential trade terms for settlement goods, it still allows such goods to enter the EU market.”

“This contravenes the obligations under international humanitarian law and as laid out by the ICJ, which require a complete ban on trade and business with Israel's illegal settlements,” they added.

The signatories highlighted that“By trading with Israel's illegal settlements, the EU, its member states and EU companies are not only breaching their own legal obligations but also contributing to the serious and systemic human rights and other international law abuses underpinning the settlement enterprise.”

They said that“despite EU consensus about the settlements' illegality and their link to serious abuses, the EU continues to trade and allow business with them, helping to sustain the serious human rights and international law violations inexorably intertwined with settlements' maintenance and expansion.”

They called on the European Commission (EC) to“introduce Legislation to Ban Trade with and Investments in Settlements”, a step which involves“Propos]ing[ legal acts banning all imports and exports of goods and services from and to Israel's illegal settlements in the OPT as well as investments therein.”

They also called on the EC to“issue a Strengthened Business Advisory: Pending the adoption of such legislation, publish a reinforced advisory document discouraging European businesses from activities benefitting the Israeli settlements.

“This should go significantly further than the existing EU advisory document in order to discourage all trade with settlements and engagement with Israeli banks and enterprises operating in illegal settlements due to the significant risk of contributing to serious human rights violations and breaches of international law and ensure that the entire value chain falls under the scope of the legislation.”

MENAFN05022025000205011050ID1109170649