WHO PROFITS: Exposing the Israeli Occupation Industry

The Occupation Industry Research Project

This database reflects an on-going grassroots investigation effort by activists in The Coalition of Women for Peace, a leading Israeli feminist peace organization, dedicated to ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights and reaching a just peace in Israel/ Palestine. In exposing companies and corporations involved in the occupation, we hope to promote a change in public opinion and corporate policies, leading to an end to the occupation.

Along with various political, religious and national interests, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights is fueled by corporate interests. Israeli companies and multinational corporations lead real estate deals, develop the Israeli infrastructure and settlements in the Palestinian occupied territories and the Golan Heights, contribute to the construction and operation of an ethnic separation system, including checkpoints, walls and roads, design and supply equipment and tools used in the control and repression of the civilian population under occupation.

Currently, we focus our attention on three main areas of corporate involvement in the occupation: The Settlement Industry, Economic Exploitation and Control of Population. At this stage in our project, we are not investigating the vast industry of military production and arms trade. The information we provide on the exploitation of Palestinian labor and production is also very limited. Other organizations (Kav LaOved, Adva Center, and The Alternative Information Center) have investigated these fields of involvement in depth, and wherever necessary, we show a link to their publications.

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Highlight on the Settlement Industry and current list of businesses and corporations involved:

Since the 1967 military occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, Israel has built in these occupied territories civilian colonies, or settlements, and encouraged Israeli citizens and industries to move into them. Presently there are 135 Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and dozens of additional “outposts” – settlements not yet officially recognized by the Israeli government. These house over 562,000 Jewish Israeli residents: 282,000 in the West Bank (excluding Jerusalem), 260,000 in neighborhoods built in Arab Jerusalem or annexed to Jerusalem, and 20,000 in the Golan Heights.

Settlements' Products

Israeli industrial zones within the occupied territories hold hundreds of companies, ranging from small businesses serving the local Israeli settlers to large factories which export their products worldwide. Several settlements, especially in the Jordan Valley and the Golan Heights, produce agricultural goods, such as fruits and flowers, and sell them in Israel and abroad.

Settlement production benefits from low rents, special tax incentives, lax enforcement of environmental and labor protection laws and other governmental supports. Palestinians employed in these industrial zones work under severe restrictions of movement or organization, and with hardly no governmental protections, this many times results in exploitative employment practices and labor rights violations.

The origin of exported settlement products is often intentionally obscured. Companies hold marketing addresses within Israel, or market their products under a label which mixes their products with products from within Israel.

Abadi Bakery ("Mizrahiot" Cookies)Ability Computer and Software IndustriesAdaFreshAdanim TeaAdumim Food AdditivesAfic Printing ProductsAgrexco Agricultural Export CompanyAhava Dead Sea LaboratoriesAhdut Factory for Tehina Halva and Sweets Almog TradexAluminum Construction C.L. IsraelAmir Marketing and Investment in AgricultureAmnon and Tamar (Pyramid Herbal Seasonings)Apax PartnersArava Export GrowersAridan Printing ProductionsAroma NamaArza Wine Cellars T.R.Z.Assa AbloyAtid PackagingAvgol Nonwoven IndustriesAyelet BarkanB. Gaon HoldingsB.R.B. Industries, BarBur LaundryBar Mazon ProduceBarkan WineriesBeigel and BeigelBen HasharonBetter and DifferentBlue Square IsraelCaesarea CarpetsCalifornia Shayish and CarpentersCarmel CarpetsCarmel Holdings (E.L.) (formerly Beitili)Carmel WineriesCemexChen Eastern IndustriesChic Design Ltd. G&o HarelCitybook ServicesClima Israel AluminumD.N.M Technical Equipment and ToolsDanshar HoldingsDistek E.P.R. SystemsEastern LinesEden SpringsEitan and Inon HerbsEl Ez Elyahu Zalman & Sons Metal Tubes IndustriesElyakim Ben AriEmilia Development (O.F.G.)Enter Net Computers and EquipmentEwyg Advanced TechnologyExtalFiberTechField ProduceFormula SystemsFried Brothers Feather IndustriesFun Bak Furniture Designing DoronGeneral Mills (Pillsbury)Golan Heights WineryGolden Ryd Dyl Greenkote (Summet Hitech Coatings)Gush Etzion WinesH. Wagshal (H. Vagshal)Ha'alonim Marble 2000 (Haalonim)Hacormim VineyardHadiklaim - Israel Date Growers� CooperativeHamashbir HoldingsHanson Israel (formerly: Pioneer Concrete Israel)HeidelbergCementHishtilHofrey HasharonHousing and Construction Holding Co.Idan CampingIDB GroupImagestore SystemsIntercosmaIsrael Weg EngineeringIsraphot IndustriesJordan Plains Development CorporationJordan River HerbsKerur HabikhaKeter Plastic (Keter Group)Kfar Giladi QuarriesKoralek Almog Sifting Machines and Production Systems Land of Choice Olive Oil (Meshek Achiya)Lithotech MedicalMalam TeamMapal Plastic ProductsMatrix ITMaya Foods, The Jerusalem Spice of LifeMedan General Contracting Earth Roads and QuarriesMeitarim QuarryMenachem WagshalMeytag High Tech VenturesMofet B'Yehuda Mordechai Binyamin and Sons Earth WorksMortan Marketing and TradeMul-T-Lock (formerly Rav Bariach)Neetuv Management and Development Co. New Noga LightOppenheimer Manufacturing and MarketingPalphotPereg United Industries, Otzma Pereg Plasto Polish (Barkan)Plustic SolutionsRamat Hagolan DairiesReadymix IndustriesRenaissan Rolbit Electronic Thermostats and ControllersRonoPolidan Packaging Rosentoys, Buba-Li IndustriesRoyalife (formerly: Royalnight)Salit (Mishor Edomim) Quarry and Plant Shalgal (Food)Shamir SaladsShamrock HoldingShapir Civil and Marine EngineeringShomron Barkalit TiresShufersalSi KirsumSoda ClubSpiral GlassSpray Metal CoatingsSpyro PlasticsStar Night TechnologiesSupergum IndustriesT.A.C. Accessory Corporation IsraelTayar DoorsTeltone ElectronicsTempo Beer IndustriesTescom Software Systems TestingThe ArchivistsThe Trendlines GroupTip Top Toys StarTishbi Estate Winery (Habaron Wine Cellars)TnuvaTop GreenhousesTopTrans Translation ServicesTzarfati Metals IndustriesUnileverVillar International Yardeni Locks HoldingsYatir QuarryZriha Hlavin Industries

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