Conflict of intersts?

Israeli companies taking part in the construction of the new Palestinian city of Rawabi, North of Ramallah, were required to sign a contract forbidding them from using goods, services or resources from the “Israeli settlements” in the West Bank, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem.

According to a report on Israeli Army Radio yesterday, 20 Israeli companies had already signed the agreements but their identity hasn’t been revealed.

The report caused an outcry among right wing and settler leaders. 

Settlers Council Chairman Danny Dayan called on the Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to intervene in the matter: “This is despicable behavior, that Israeli companies are willing to call parts of their country and even their capital ‘occupied’ and to boycott other Israeli companies in order to derive financial benefit.”

“The Land of Israel” lobby in the Knesset has also launched a protest against the initiative. The lobby announced it would submit a bill prohibiting Israeli companies from boycotting Israeli products. They say Israeli companies that signed the contract should be forced to give up their work with the government.

Palestinian businessman Bashar Masri, CEO of Bayti Real Estate Investment, which is developing the city of Rawabi, doesn’t understand what the big fuss is all about. “We have a right not to buy products and services from those who make our lives miserable, and who confiscate our land and take it illegally and build on it illegally,” he argued in an interview to the Jerusalem Post.

It’s important to note that similar conflict of interests exist on the Palestinian side. Nearly 35,000 Palestinians are working at Jewish settlements, in construction, agriculture and industry.

In May, Palestinian Minister of National Economy Hassan Abu Libda announced the goal of zero Palestinians working in Israeli settlements by the end of 2011, saying that the interim years would see increased investment into local businesses, and efforts to create local jobs for the laborers.

“The Palestinian Authority is progressing gradually with its plan to enforce a boycott on work in Israeli settlements by encouraging laborers to abstain from taking jobs there,” PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib said Tuesday.