#BDS Victory: #Veolia loses Massachusetts commuter rail contract

Over the last two and a half years, supporters of Palestinian rights in Boston have mounted a BDS campaign aimed at denying a new contract to run the Massachusetts commuter rail to Veolia, one of three companies that formed the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad (MBCR).  With a 60 percent stake in the MBCR, Veolia has been in charge of operating and maintaining the trains since 2003.

On January 8, they tasted victory, when a contract that could be worth as much as $4.26 billion was awarded to the MBCR’s sole competitor, Keolis America, by a vote of the joint Board for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).

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#BDS: Pro-Palestine campaigners celebrate #Veolia’s loss of £40million contract in Canterbury #UK #fuckIsrael

"Veolia Environment has failed in its bid to secure an 8-year, £40 million contract with Canterbury City Council in Britain. The council announced today that the current holder, Serco, was the successful bidder. This was despite Veolia’s website headline on November 10, 2010, that it had won a joint contract worth a total of £70 million awarded by Dover District Council, working in partnership with Shepway District Council and Kent County Council.

Veolia has been a target for human rights campaigners due to its involvement in Israeli projects in East Jerusalem and the West Bank which negatively impact on Palestinian human rights, including a transport infrastructure to illegal settlements and Israeli army bases in the West Bank."

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#BDS: U.N. Human Rights Council Calls for Boycott of U.S. Companies that do business in Israel #fuckIsrael

"A report soon to be released by the United Nations that calls for an international campaign of legal attacks and economic warfare on a group of American companies that do business in Israel, including Hewlett-Packard, Caterpillar Inc., and Motorola Solutions Inc.

The report attempts to instigate a campaign of boycott, divestment, sanctions, and legal action against a litany of international companies doing business in Israel. In addition to American companies, the U.N. targets include major European firms such as Veolia Environnement, Group 4 Security, the Dexia Group, the Volvo Group."

Read the full report here

#BDS: Shaming the Natural History Museum About Its Choice of Veolia As Support #UK #fuckIsrael

"Today from 12 to 2 pm about 10  Palestine Solidarity Campaigners joined together in our weekly campaign against Veolia outside London’s Natural History Museum. We were not alone with our message of solidarity with Palestine. During the action, we reached out to more than 1,000 visitors and we were supported by literally hundreds of them.

Furthermore, we managed to gather more than 100 signatures for our petition against the Museum’s partnerships with Veolia."

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#BDS Quakers divest from HP and Veolia Environment #fuckIsrael

The Palestine Israel Action Group, a subcommittee of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Ann Arbor Friends Meeting, issued the following press release:

September 24, 2012, Ann Arbor. Friends Fiduciary Corporation, the socially responsible investment firm serving over 300 Quaker institutions in the United States, has dropped its holdings in Hewlett Packard and Veolia Environment, multinational corporations that support Israel’s Occupation of the Palestinian Territories.
Hewlett Packard was removed from Friends Fiduciary’s investments because they provide information technology consulting services to the Israeli Navy, said Jeffery W. Perkins, the Executive Director of Friends Fiduciary. Veolia Environment, the world’s largest water privatization company, was removed because of “environmental and social concerns.” According to Global Exchange, Veolia provides segregated water services to Israeli settlers in the Palestinian Territories and runs a large landfill in the occupied Jordan River valley.
Friends’ Fiduciary’s decision to drop Hewlett Packard and Veolia follows on the heels of another important action, says Anne Remley of the Ann Arbor Friends Meeting, which initiated the divestment requests. In April, 2012, Friends Fiduciary’s removed Caterpillar Corporation from their list of socially responsible corporations based on the 360-year old Quaker Peace Testimony, which disavows support for war.
Friends were concerned that Caterpillar sells bulldozers to the Israeli army to be weaponized and used in the systematic demolition of Palestinian homes and civilian infrastructure. When this concern was brought to Friends Fiduciary, says Perkins, [Caterpillar] “would neither confirm nor deny the extent or type of modifications to the equipment sold to the Israeli military.”
The action of Friends Fiduciary in dropping these three firms marks a major breakthrough in the global campaign to hold corporations accountable for profiting from Israel’s human rights and international law violations in the Palestinian Territories.

Source. 

#BDS: Los Angeles activists put #Veolia’s complicity with Israel’s human rights violations in the spotlight #fuckIsrael

"Last week, activists with various Palestine solidarity and BDS groups under the umbrella of the Dump Veolia coalition came together in protest of the city of Los Angeles’ efforts to renew contracts worth $160 million with Veolia, a French multinational urban transportation and systems corporation, for the city’s transportation needs.

Because of its involvement in contracting with Israel to build a light rail system that will connect West Jerusalem with settlement colonies in East Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, Veolia has been a longtime target of BDS campaigns, especially in Europe and Australia. The corporation has lost billions of dollars worth of contracts as a result of sustained pressure on local councils by boycott activists since 2008."

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#BDS The "pop-washing" of apartheid? Veolia sponsors "green" music festival

First came the news that Lollapalooza, one of the world’s biggest and best-known alternative music festivals, was headed to Israel next year. And with it, producer Perry Farrell is likely bringing millions in revenue, not to mention a massive boon in cultural cache designed to portray the world’s last legal apartheid state as a bastion of diversity. 

Those who haven’t read Benjamin Doherty’s in-depth post on The Electronic Intifada’s blog absolutely should. Doherty is thorough in not just describing how virulent the supposedly liberal Farrell’s Zionism is (he raised funds for soldiers during Operation Cast Lead for example) but also in revealing that next year’s Lolla Israel will literally sit atop the ruins of a Palestinian village.

Now, however, one has to wonder whether there isn’t something larger at play. Last week, advertisements went up around Chicago stumping for the “Rock the Green” festival in nearby Milwaukee. Presented as a “green music fest,” Rock the Green front-loads its rhetoric about environmental sustainability. Its commitment to “near-zero waste” is touted, and interviews with its headlining artists (including Third Eye Blind, Switchfoot and others) all feature their thoughts on what it means to be green.

Just as up front in the publicity for Rock the Green is its primary sponsor and financial backer: Veolia Environmental Services. Continued.

#BDS Pressure increases to deny Dutch bus contract to Israeli settlement profiteer Veolia

Pressure to deny a public transport contract to Veolia because of its role in Israel’s violations of international law increases in the Netherlands, read more here.

#BDS: Norcal Activists take on #Veolia

"The North Coast Coalition for Palestine  in the San Francisco North Bay are preparing to present a letter to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors opposing the county's contract with Veolia. The French multinational company currently operates the county's bus system and has come under international pressure due to its involvement in a light rail line in Occupied East Jerusalem. Activists plans to collect signatures and present the letter to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors."


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#BDS: We want our rubbish managed by a company with clean hands #Veolia #UK

"Since 1967 homes in the Occupied Territories have been bull-dozed on a daily basis, crops are being vandalized, water cisterns smashed, all to make way for the building of illegal Israeli settlements, on stolen land. The list of crimes is endless. And all of this has been, and is still being, committed in order to build an increasing number of illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land

Gazans are trapped in an area no bigger than Shepherd’s Bush in London, effectively a concentration camp, and after having been brutally attacked in ‘Operation Cast Lead’ are prohibited from obtaining the materials needed to rebuild their lives."

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#BDS Norcal Activists take on #Veolia

The North Coast Coalition for Palestine  in the San Francisco North Bay are preparing to present a letter to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors opposing the county's contract with Veolia. The French multinational company currently operates the county's bus system and has come under international pressure due to its involvement in a light rail line in Occupied East Jerusalem. Activists plans to collect signatures and present the letter to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. Read more.

#BDS: Friends of Palestine #Australia to launch boycott #Veolia campaign

"On 4 February, at its annual general meeting, Friends of Palestine WA (FOPWA) resolved to make the French multinational Veolia “the major target for its boycott divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign work in 2012, organising protest actions, lobbying and other activities to draw attention to Veolia's role in profiting from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.” This article by FOPWA member Nick Everett is based on one of the reports to that meeting.

For decades, the state of Israel has denied Palestinians their fundamental rights of freedom, equality, and self-determination through ethnic cleansing, colonization, racial discrimination, and military occupation. Despite abundant condemnation of Israeli policies by the United Nations, international bodies, and human rights organisations, Israel’s crimes have continued with impunity.

On July 9 2005, a year after the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s apartheid wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) to be illegal, a clear majority of Palestinian civil society called upon people of conscience all over the world to launch broad boycotts, implement divestment initiatives, and to demand sanctions against Israel, until Palestinian rights are recognised in full compliance with international law."

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#BDS Boycott Campaigners Claim Credit For Denial Of London Contract To Company Invested In Settlements

A French transportation company, Veolia, that has been the target of a campaign by human rights groups around the world for its investment in Israeli settlements, has been denied a contract in West London – leading supporters of the boycott campaign to claim credit.  Read more here. 

#BDS victory: #Veolia loses huge waste-treatment contract in London boroughs

"Human rights campaigners are celebrating after the West London Waste Authority ('WLWA') excluded French multinational Veolia from a £485 million contract covering 1.4 million inhabitants of the London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond-upon-Thames, for treatment of residual domestic waste.

The reasons behind the decision by the WLWA to exclude Veolia are commercially confidential but the impact of human rights campaigners should not be under-estimated."

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#BDS: French giant #Veolia cut down to size for abusing Palestinian rights

"The French corporation Veolia once appeared unassailable; today it is ailing. It is faced not only with the global economic crisis but also the growing impact of theboycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against its involvement with Israeli apartheid infrastructure and transport projects. A recent merger between Veolia’s transport division and a subsidiary of the main French state investment fund indicates French industry and government have united to find a simple solution to Veolia’s problems: let the taxpayers finance Veolia’s income losses — and its complicity with Israeli war crimes and human rights abuses against the Palestinian people.

On 4 August, Veolia management held a conference call with major financial analysts to defend the company’s latest figures. It wasn’t an easy task. Veolia’s management was forced to gloss over the terrible financial situation of the group that has forced it to draw up sharp cost reduction plans, initiate a complete restructuring of management, plan the pullout from more than forty countries and search for more investors to cover a high debt."

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#BDS: Swedish chain kicks out #SodaStream drink machines made in Israeli settlements

"The summer of 2011 has been a long, hot one for Israeli and international companies complicit in human rights violations in the occupied West Bank.

Facing an intense Europe-wide boycott campaign, Israel’s largest produce exporter, Agrexco, filed for bankruptcy. French multinational Veolia, an urban systems corporation contracted with the Israeli government to provide light rail services for Israeli settlers in the West Bank, announced massive losses due to sustained pressure by activists around the world.

Meanwhile, in Sweden, the Israeli maker of home carbonation devices, Sodastream, took a direct hit when the Coop supermarket chain announced on 19 July that it would stop all purchases of its products due to the company’s activity in illegal Israeli settlements. This marked another important victory for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, as Sweden is Sodastream’s largest market, with an estimated one in five households owning a Sodastream product (“Coop Sweden stops all purchases of Soda Stream carbonation devices,” 21 July 2011)."

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#BDS: #Veolia, major target of Palestinian BDS campaign, in financial crisis

"

• French multinational Veolia to cut back global operations after €67.2 million losses
• BDS campaign has cost Veolia large contracts across Europe over its illegal Israel project
• Losses comes on heals of Agrexco’s financial woes, another main BDS target

Only days after losing out on another lucrative contract in London, French waste and water company Veolia on Thursday announced it would scale back its operations in several countries after a surprising first-half net loss of €67.2 million."

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#BDS: «فيوليا» (لا) تعمل في لبنان؟ #Veolia

(...)

 عربياً تبدو الصورة مختلفة. حيث تعمل فيوليا ومتفرعاتها في العديد من الدول العربية. ففي المملكة العربية السعودية تعمل كل من فيوليا والستوم ضمن ائتلاف شركات الراجحي على تنفيذ خط قطار الحرمين. اضافة الى ابرام عقد شراكة مع شركة ديار المملوكة من الحكومة القطرية العام الفائت. وللشركة نشاطها في مصر والمغرب والامارات، اضافة الى دول تعد رافضة للاحتلال الاسرائيلي كفنزويلا وتركيا. اما اسم لبنان فموجود على احد مواقع الشركة التي تقدم حلولاً لمشاكل المياه. «الأخبار» حاولت الاستفسار باتصال هاتفي عن طبيعة عمل الشركة في لبنان «لأننا نجري بحثا عن مشاكل المياه والحلول المناسبة لها»، كما ادّعينا في الاتصال، فحولونا الى شخص من قسم المناقصات اكد لنا أن «الشركة في لبنان» هي فرع للشركة العالمية، وأن اهم مشاريعها في لبنان لمصلحة «مجلس الإنماء والاعمار»، حيث نفذت الشركة تركيب محطات تكرير المياه المبتذلة في النبطية وراس النبي يونس. لكن، هل قامت الشركة بهذه الاعمال باسمها فيوليا أم باسم آخر؟ ارسلنا استيضاحاً رسمياً عبر الفاكس الى مجلس الإنماء والإعمار الذي رد علينا مؤكداً أن المشروعين قد نفذا من خلال شركة «او تي في» غير المسجلة على لائحة المقاطعة، وفقاً لشهادة مكتب مقاطعة اسرائيل في وزارة التجارة والاقتصاد.

إقرأ\ي المزيد

#BDS victory: #Veolia loses yet another contract in the #UK

"“Veolia is paying a high price for its complicity in Israel’s occupation and violations of international law,” stated a press release from the UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) on Wednesday, after the French urban systems corporation lost yet another contract this time in Ealing, London. The contract is worth £300 million ($490 million USD) in total over 15 years, and “is even more significant given the fact that Veolia had the previous parks maintenance contract,” PSC added.

The decision to bump Veolia from Ealing’s contract was made after British activists met with city councillors and council officials and provided details about Veolia’s ongoing complicity with the Israeli goverment’s light rail project in Jerusalem, which aims to connect West Jerusalem with illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank." 

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#BDS: #Veolia-controlled company participating in a public tender in The #Netherlands

"As Palestinian organisations dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), we are concerned about the involvement of corporations in violations of international humanitarian law. Of recent concern are the activities of Veolia Environment, a French multinational providing infrastructure through its subsidiary VeoliaTransdev to Israeli local authorities,   for its involvement in the construction of a light rail tramway linking West Jerusalem to illegal Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and elsewhere in the West Bank.

On 3 May 2011, as Palestinian Council of Human Rights Organisations, we sent Stadsregio Arnhem Nijmegen a letter urging them to exclude VeoliaTransdev, parent company of the Dutch transport market leader Connexxion, from the upcoming one billion Euros public transport tender for Arnhem Nijmegen and from all future contracts on grounds of grave misconduct in the OPT. The tender in question will include all the Arnhem Nijmegen city district’s public bus services as well as the Arnhem-Doetinchem railway line, one of the most frequently traveled regional tracks."

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