A new video by Al Jazeera shows how Israel has licensed gas drilling in Palestinian territory. This is made possible via its occupation of Gaza.
In addition, UK company BP received drilling approval in an arrangement that has continued in the face of an on going genocide.
The only reason Israel can grant any licenses is because it colonised 78% of Palestine in 1948. And it took over Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank in 1967. Now it appears to want more.
While the climate crisis means we need to use alternative energy sources, Israeli occupying forces are also blocking Gaza gas exploration worth billions of dollars.
As the new licenses show, Israel could be motivated to exploit still more Palestinian resources for profit-based energy companies:
Israel’s colonisation
Israel’s colonialism also takes the form of a land grab. In March, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said:
Settler violence and settlement-related violations have reached shocking new levels, and risk eliminating any practical possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian State
Türk also noted Israeli expansionism in the West Bank:
Reports this week that Israel plans to build a further 3,476 settler homes in Maale Adumim, Efrat and Kedar fly in the face of international law
In February, representatives from a broad range of states presented the case for ending Israel’s occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
This runs separate to the ICJ finding it “plausible” that Israel is committing an ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The UK Conservative government holds unwavering support for Israel in the face of it breaking international law.
In one example of how the apartheid state’s project is entrenched for the Conservative government, the Tory Party has received £1.3m in donations from JCB and its owners.
That’s since a UN report pointed out settlers were using JCB machinery to expand in the West Bank.
JCB was one of 122 firms listed in the report. And as Amnesty International notes:
For over 50 years Israel has been displacing Palestinians, demolishing their homes, destroying their livelihoods, and seizing their land for Israeli settlers. This is a war crime: a breach of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit an occupying power from transferring its own civilians into the territory that it occupies. British company JCB is a key supplier of machinery used in this systematic violation of human rights – and has failed to take effective action.
Ensuring occupying power Israel follows international law means a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).
But instead, the Tory government is enabling UK companies such as BP and JCB to profit from Israel forcibly displacing Palestinians. That renders the UK in partnership with Israel’s colonialism. This must end.
Featured image via Al Jazeera English – YouTube
By James Wright
This post was originally published on Canary.
