A group of Palestinian and international NGOs have urged the Jan De Nul Group to pull out of a project to build port facilities in Israel, citing concerns about Israel’s continued human rights violations.
Last week, the Palestinian BDS National Committee published an open letter on its website urging the Jan De Nul Group to reconsider involvement in a project to build new port facilities in Haifa and Ashdod.
According to the group, two other unnamed European firms are already believed to have pulled out of the bidding due to boycott pressure fears.
The open letter stated that “ by constructing and operating ports that facilitate the movement of produce from illegal Israeli settlements and weaponry used in Israeli massacres, the Jan De Nul Group would be be making a political decision to become deeply complicit with Israel’s violations of international law and Israel’s oppression of Palestinian rights. As such, the Jan De Nul Group would become a legitimate target for popular boycotts, protests and campaigns aimed at persuading governments and private sector bodies not to award your business lucrative contracts.”
The letter urged the Jan De Nul Group to abandon its plans to operate port facilities in Israel, saying that the project would “enable Israel to continue to violate international law with impunity.”
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Source: Ma’an News Agency, May 19, 2014