April 22, 2010

To CRH plc management,

Dublin, Ireland

We, at BOYCOTT!*, a group of Israeli citizens, strive to stop our government's human rights and international law violations, which have been facilitated by the cooperation of international companies. Your company has gone to great lengths in getting involved with the Israeli land and resources annexation, segregation and continued colonization of Palestine¹. As you were told by your country's Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), by investing in the Israeli group Mashav Initiating and Development Ltd., you are profiting from the Israeli colonization of Palestinian territory and facilitating illegal settlement expansion and population segregation.

Israeli settlements are illegal by international law, as determined by a number of UN Security council resolutions and according to the Fourth Geneva Convention. In fact, as exposed last year by an Israeli army whistle blower, building and land-seizing violations of Israel's own laws are committed by "the very heart of the settlement enterprise", with the silent approval of the Israeli government and security establishment². By investing in a company that provides materials for settlements' construction you are assisting a criminal activity and thereby putting your own company in harms way.

The Israeli settlement enterprise is a massive land-grab and segregation project, which includes also the building of apartheid roads and the apartheid wall. In 2004 the International Court of Justice ruled the Israeli construction of the Wall in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) to be "contrary to international law" and called for its dismantling and for the annexed land and resources to be returned to their Palestinian owners with reparations. It has also declared the wall illegal for its key role in the segregation of Palestinian towns and villages, depriving Palestinians the right of movement, work, health and other public services.

By divesting from Mashav, CRH can distance itself from the immorality and illegal activity performed by the Israeli settlement enterprise . We will stand with IPSC in their campaign until that day comes.

Sincerely,

Hillel Barak

Ronnie Barkan

Ofra Ben Artzi

Adi Dagan

Naama Farjoun

Racheli Gai

Prof. Rachel Giora

Rosamine Hayeem

Shir Hever (The Alternative Information Center, Jerusalem)

Dr. Tikva Honig-Parnass

Yael Oren Kahn

Peretz Kidron

Prof. (emeritus) Moshé Machover

Dr. Anat Matar (philosophy, Tel-Aviv University)

Yossef Mekyton

Dr. Dorothy Naor

Ofer Neiman

David Nir

Yonatan Pollak

Yehoshua Rosin

Dr. Michal Sapir

Ayala Shani

Tal Shapira

Jonatan Stanczak

Ruth Tenne

Karen Zack

Also endorsed by:

Union of progressive women - National Democratic assembly (Balad)

Kelvin Bland (The Royal Institute of British Architects)

Dr. Judit Druks

Prof. (emeritus) Nigel Harris

Dina Hecht

Harald Molgaard

Elias Nasrallah

* BOYCOTT! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within is a group of Palestinians and Jews, citizens of Israel, who join the Palestinian call for a BDS campaign against Israel, inspired by the struggle of South Africans against apartheid.
http://boycottisrael.info

See also:

CRH Divestment Campaign - Petition