Dutch BDS-supporting NGO urges the world to stop selling all fuel to Israel. It receives funds from the US State Department. ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Dutch BDS-supporting NGO urges the world to stop selling all fuel to Israel. It receives funds from the US State Department.

SOMO is a Dutch NGO that says it strives "for a fair and sustainable world where the well-being of people and the planet outweighs corporate profits and interests.”

It is also fanatically anti-Israel.

One of its researchers, Lydia de Leeuw, has written a number of anti-Israel reports from various angles. She supports BDS and uses her position to attack Israel in any way she can think of.

Her latest report urges the world to refuse to sell any fuel to Israel at all:

In the report, we conclude that foreign governments have an obligation to end the supply of fuel to Israel unless they can guarantee it will only be used for non-military purposes. This includes both a ban on the export of crude oil, military jet fuel, and other fuels, as well as a prohibition on the transport of these commodities through their territory.

We also argue that states should end the supply of coal to Israel where there is no means of ensuring it does not end up supplying electricity to settlements, on the basis that this constitutes trade dealings with Israel which may entrench its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

In respect of foreign investment in gas exploitation and renewable energy projects in Israel, the home states of foreign multinationals which are invested in these enterprises should take steps to prevent such investment relations insofar as they assist in the maintenance of the illegal settlements. This may include advisory, regulatory and legal action to support companies to implement effective due diligence measures and, where necessary, divest from Israel.

The corporate responsibility to respect human rights requires companies to act, even if states do not. Companies investing in Israel’s energy sector or involved in the trade supply chain of fuels, including jet fuel, crude oil, refined oils and coal, should urgently review their engagement and conduct enhanced due diligence assessments which examine the risk that they are contributing to violations of international law. Where companies cannot identify measures to prevent their involvement, or risk of involvement, they should divest.

Predictably, SOMO's post October 7 press release made noises of support for Israeli civilian victims, but then went on to say that they deserved it:

SOMO condemns utterly the collective punishment, indiscriminate attacks and other grave breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law that we daily witness being inflicted on the civilian population of Gaza. We condemn the indefensible targeting of Israeli civilians by Hamas.

Our shared humanity weeps in agony with the people of Gaza and with the families of the victims in Israel. But never, ever, can we use our pain to justify inflicting merciless pain on others.

The grave abuses we are watching unfold did not start after 7 October. For decades, the Palestinian people have been subjected to systemic abuse, apartheid and war crimes under cover of a blanket of impunity granted by third states. The failures of the international community have paved the road to this moment, where Israeli officials can openly declare their intent to commit serious crimes under international law.

Not exactly as even handed as they pretend to be, is it?

They receive millions of dollars a year, primarily from the Dutch Foreign Ministry, But one of its donors is the US Department of State.

It is possible that these donations from the State Department violate US anti-boycott regulations and also regulations that prohibit supporting those whose conduct run counter to US interests.