ZIONISM FROM THEODOR HERZL TO LORD ROTHSCHILD
Established Practice: Palestinian Exclusion at the Dead Sea
Palestine and Theodor Herzl
In 1896 Austrian journalist and playwright Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) who founded the Zionist movement was the first person to write of "the Jewish Question" when he wrote, "The Jewish State. A modern attempt to solve the JEWISH QUESTION!" All these years the NSDAP has been unjustly blamed for talking about "A final solution to the Jewish Question" when the suggestion was Herzl's.
His Majesty's government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country." - Balfour Declaration.
Mineral Wealth of Dead Sea
The value of the minerals of the Dead Sea is estimated at five trillion dollars. This estimate appears to be optimistic but it is supported in part by the report of the Crown Agents of the British Colonies entitled "Production of Minerals From the Waters of the Dead Sea" (page 2). It is alleged that all copies of this booklet containing this report have been destroyed except those in the British Museum, Colonial office, and House of Commons. This official report estimates the minerals, except oil, in 1925 as follows: Magnesium Chloride, 22,000 tons, value 600 billion dollars; Potassium Chloride, 20,000 tons, value 75 billion dollars; other minerals valued at 1,200 billion dollars; or a total of about three trillion dollars, exclusive of oil (The Palestine Mystery, pages 12 and 13).
This enormous value staggers the imagination. I am unable to appraise the effect on the human race if the Zionists gain undisputed title to it, or if it should be devoted to public use.
This huge concession was first granted by the British Colonial Secretary to the Russian Zionist Moise Novemeysky in 1923 and finally granted on January 1, 1930, by the British House of Lords to "Palestine Potash Limited", a joint stock company. This company, so far as known, is composed wholly of American, British, and Russian Zionist Jews. Mr. H.H. Klein, a patriotic Jew, states that there are 1500 American stockholders and that they organized themselves into a corporation known as "Palestine Associates Inc.," with a capital of $400,000,000 and that this group owns 581,000 shares of the parent company. He states that Moise Novemeysky owns 30,000 shares; that Casenove Nominees Ltd., owns 221,075 shares; that Palestine Economic Corporation, dominated by the Warburgs, owns 45,111 shares, and that the Anglo Palestine Bank Nominees owns 42,935 shares. He says also that Palestine Potash Ltd. has three American directors, viz: Benjamin Brodie, Julius Simons, and Robert Szold, whose brother is a member of the banking firm of Lehman Bros.
Mr. H. H. Klein says of the British concession and the protocols:
"The aim of Zionist leaders was to establish a Jewish state in Palestine. Why?
'Was it in order to fulfill the plan outlined in biblical prophecies, for world conquest; or was it to protect the concession from the exploitation of all the chemical wealth in the Dead Sea in Palestine, estimated at five thousand billion (five trillion) dollars?
"If it is for the purpose of world conquest, then Jews have been fatally deceived, because Zionist leaders and their financier backers maintain that the Protocols are a forgery. If it is for the purpose of extracting chemical wealth from the Dead Sea, then Jews have been shamefully imposed upon because that purpose has never been mentioned by Zionist leaders.
"If the Protocols are a 'forgery' whatever that may mean, it is the most remarkable 'forgery' ever perpetrated because every step outlined in that amazing document of over 30.000 words, is an accomplished fact. This so-called forgery was published fifty years ago. At that time, the value of the chemicals of the Dead Sea was known to the financial backers of Theodor Herzl who is known as the 'father of Zionism'."
The financial backers of Theodor Herzl were M. A. Rothschild & Son of Paris and N. M. Rothschild & Son of London.
There can be no reasonable question about the authenticity of the protocols and the fact that they were adopted by World Zionist Jewry and that they represent the plan of the Zionist Jews for creating a World Empire. The first and second World Wars were for that purpose and so, likewise, was the Jewish invasion of Palestine. That was also the purpose of the League of Nations and is the purpose of the United Nations - all Zionist enterprises. Mr. Klein says further that the "American Group," owners of 51,000 shares of Palestine Potash, Ltd., incorporated in 1930 under the name of "Palestine Associates, Inc.," and that "at least seven of the directors of this corporation are members of the American Jewish Committee."
He says that ex-Governor of New York Herbert H. Lehman has been honorary head of Palestine Economic Corporation for many years and that this corporation "owns banks, water companies, land holding companies, hotels, and agricultural corporations in Palestine." He says that these facts have been concealed from the Jews and that they have been used as tools by their Zionist leaders. Henry Morgenthau, Jr. is now at the head of this corporation.
Jewish Defense Organizations|Partition Plan
A company that extracted potash from the Dead Sea, the Palestine Potash Company was founded in 1929. In 1930, a plant was established at Kalia, at the northern end of the Dead Sea. Another larger plant was established at Sodom (1934), on the southern shore of the Dead Sea. The product of the Sodom plant was transported by boats to the northern plant, and from there it was sent by truck to Jerusalem and to the Haifa port for export.
During the War of Independence, the potash plant at the north of the Dead Sea was destroyed and the southern plant was shut down.
In 1952, a new company, the Dead Sea Works, with the concession to produce potash, was established by the government. In 1953, a road was built from Be'er Sheva to Sodom, and after it was opened to traffic a new plant was built at Sodom, where work resumed in 1955.
Sources: Israeli Foreign Ministry
Down below more to this specific topic…
The "Balfour Declaration" was made in a letter from Lord Balfour to Lord Rothschild. This same Lord Rothschild was a member of the Zionist International Conference at Bazle, Switzerland in 1897 that adopted the Protocols. This same Lord Rothschild was also a member of the British House of Lords that gave this huge wealth to Palestine Potash Ltd. The Rothschild interests are at the head of political Zionism and they promoted the invasion of Palestine. Their position in our government and financial system is such that they can bring about deflation and a third world war.
A Gigantic Steal
If Palestine has one fourth of its estimated mineral value it will enable the Zionists to control the destiny of the peoples of the world. The Zionist invasion of Palestine is a gigantic steal and an infamous outrage against Christian civilization. Under present circumstances it means a third world war and that the new state of Israeli will line up with the Bolsheviks. The only way to avoid it and to assure permanent peace is to destroy the Rothschild agencies, - alias Zionist Wall Street. It is indeed the best way to restore the solvency of our country and of the world, and to restore constitutional government.
The "Balfour Declaration" to Lord Rothschild and the gift of this fabulous wealth to him and his fellow Zionists is evidence that he and his fellow Zionists then controlled the British Empire. If the British Government were authorized to give it to the Zionists they had the power to keep it or to give it to us as security for our donations, or to give it to the United Nations for the preservation of world peace. They gave it to the war-promoting Zionists for the obvious purpose of promoting Zionism.
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl, of Austria, was the founder of Political Zionism. It was established at a secret convention of Zionist leaders August 29th to 31st, 1897, in Bazle, Switzerland. It was at this convention that the "Bazle Programme" - the Protocols were adopted. Herzl presided at the conference and it was due to his untiring energy and zeal that the conference was called. The object of the Bazle Programme was to unite the scattered Jews of the world into a separate and independent nation and a World Empire. The "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" represent their method of accomplishing this end, and evidently Herzl was one of the authors.
The Zionists revere Herzl as their messiah. They transferred his remains from Austria by airplane and reburied them with pomp and ceremony in Jerusalem. They published a very laudatory "Memorial" of him under the auspices of "The New Palestine," official organ of the Zionist Organization of America edited by Meyer W. Weisgal, and copyrighted in 1929 by "The New Palestine." This Memorial contains many laudatory contributions by prominent Jews. It contains also Theodor Herzl's diary, admitting that it was censored and expurgated by the editors. This diary is an interesting history of Herzl's effort to arouse the Jews to the importance of nationalization, and of his financial difficulties and sacrifices in doing so.
Palestine was not the ancestral home of the Khazar and Ashkenazim Jews. That is only a pretense for obtaining its mineral wealth and the creation of a Zionist Empire. The Jews have always had good homes in America and all other countries in which they have lived. They are the usurers of the work and have always been. They were designated the aristocrats of Europe by the Zionist leader Samuel Untermeyer. They are not farmers. I have never known or heard of a Jew farmer an, I have lived a long time and farmed in three states, viz: Texas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Some of them OWN farms, but they do not work them. There may be some "displaced" Jews but we support them. If given the best farms in America or Palestine they would not work them. They don't know how to farm and farming in Palestine or America is not their purpose. They farm the Christians, not the land.
The ancestors of the small Sephardic tribe once lived in Asia. but their descendants constitute only about 5% of the present Jewish population. The present day Jews, including the Rothschilds, are either of the Ashkenazi or Khazar tribes. These Jews are and always have been nomadic predatory people. It was a company of these Jews that bought and sold Joseph. They have always been traders and the dealers in slavery and narcotics and usury. The Roosevelt fortune was founded by a Jewish opium smuggler.
A few days after the adjournment of the first Bazle convention, to-wit, on September 3, 1897, Herzl said of it in his dairy
"If I were to subsume the Bazle Congress in one word which I shall not do openly - it would be this: at Bazle I founded the Jewish State" (Diaries of Theodor Herzl, page 149).
They appointed an "inner action committee" at this first Congress and founded the "Jewish Colonial Bank." He says, (page 151):
"The Bazle Congress represents the creation of the Society of Jews for the Jewish State . . . The work of the next few years will be the creation of the Jewish Company, temporarily called the Jewish Colonial Bank."
The protocols obviously represent the programme of their secret "Inner Action Committee."
Kaiser Wilhelm Interested
Herzl first sought the aid of Kaiser Wilhelm. He says of the Kaiser in his diary, October 19, 1898:
"The Kaiser, in the dark uniform of a Hussar, came toward me. I stood still and made a deep bow. He came up to me, almost to the door, and offered me his hand. I believe he said that he was glad to see me, or something like that. I said: 'Your Imperial Majesty, I am happy to be the recipient of this distinction.' . . .
"He soon took over the lead and explained why he considered the Zionist movement of worth. Unfortunately I was an embarrassed listener, and I had to exert all my strength in preparing the replies, so that I have not been able to retain all the details. He never mentioned the Jews except as my 'Landsleute' - and not in an exactly friendly tone. He had no doubt that we had sufficient money and manpower at our disposal to carry out the colonization of Palestine. Here my attention failed a little, for I was observing my own impression that my three years of work have made of the world 'Zionism,' a terme recu, which the Kaiser used freely in speaking with me.
"'There are,' he said, 'among your Landsleute certain elements which it would be well to have immigrate into Palestine. I am thinking, for instance, of those cases where there are a number of usurers among the country people. If these were to take their wealth and settle in the colonies, they would make themselves more useful.' These were his words, more or less.
"The Kaiser observed that he believed the Jews would set about the colonization of Palestine if they knew that he would keep them under his protection, and that they really would not be leaving Germany.
"I said: 'Your Excellency, that is purely a matter of money. As a writer I regret to have to say it.'
"I felt my arguments growing stronger and stronger under the encouragement of the Kaiser's approval" (Pages 154-5).
Herzl later met the Kaiser in Palestine, to-wit, on October 28, 1898. He said of this meeting:
"He laughed, and flashed with his kingly eyes: "'How are you?'
"'I thank Your Majesty. I am seeing the country. How has your Majesty's journey been so far?'"His eyes flashed.
"'Very hot. But the land has a future.'
"'At present it is still sick,' I said . . .
"'It needs water, much water,' he said, speaking downward at me.
"'Yes, Your Majesty. Colonization on a grand scale.'
"He repeated: 'It is a land of the future.'
"The spectators of Mikveh Israel were utterly dazed. A few of them asked who that had been. The Rothschild administrators looked timid and irritated . . .
"'The settlements which I have seen, the German as well as those of your Landsleute, may serve as a model of what can be done in this country. The land has room for all. Only provide water and shade. For the native population, too, the colonies can serve as models to be imitated. Your movement, with which I am well acquainted, contains a healthy idea.'. .
"'Well, you certainly don't lack the money," exclaimed the Kaiser jovially, and slapped his whip against his boots. 'You have more money than all the rest of us.'"
The Kaiser was willing to sponsor the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine as a colony of the German Empire, but that did not fit in with Herzl's plans. It would have meant that the German government would acquire the mineral wealth of Palestine and Herzl wanted it for the Rothschilds and Zionists and their independent state.
Negotiates with Sultan of Turkey
Failing to make a satisfactory deal with the Kaiser, Herzl sought to acquire Palestine from the Sultan of Turkey, first with the Kaiser's support and later by direct negotiation with the Sultan's minister, N. Bey. He first offered Bey 1,000 francs to arrange for an interview with the Sultan. Seeing that was not enough, he offered 20,000 francs. He said of N. Bey in his diary, August 22, 1899:
"At first he was dry, unfriendly, as if he did not know why I had come. Soon I got the truth out - the twenty thousand francs were not enough. He said: 'Considering your position in the Zionist movement, an audience means a great deal to you. Besides, any banker would offer me twice as much as you did for an audience with the Sultan.'
'We won't haggle about this,' I said. 'You will get forty thousand.'. .
'You ought to give this man ten or fifteen thousand francs, to make Stimmung for you.'
"I saw where this was leading to. Money talks. I said to him, almost harshly: 'I shall give you ten thousand francs in advance, and thirty thousand on the day of the audience. How you use that money is your business. I won't ask you what you have done with it.'
"He became as soft as butter and said: 'Done! I'll have to add some money of my own to it, but the speculation is worth it. I believe I can earn a couple of million on this: and that's worth a risk" (Pages 164-5; 158-9).
"Herzl said of his interview with the Sultan (page 170-1):
"But this is not enough for me. I told him (the Sultan) through Ibrahim that I was devoted to him because he was good to the Jews. The Jews all over the world were grateful to him. I in particular was ready to serve him in every way possible, naturally not on a small scale - I left that to others - but on a large scale . . .
"Then the Sultan said: 'I always have been and still am a friend of the Jews. I rely chiefly on Mussulmans and Jews. I haven't as much faith in my other subjects as in them' . . .
'The Public Debt I consider to be the thorn. If this could be removed then Turkey could once more blossom in her strength, in which I believe'. . .
'Well then,' I said, 'I believe I can. But the first and principal condition, a condition of precedent, is absolute secrecy.'
"The ruler lifted his eyes to heaven, placed his hand on his bosom and murmured: 'Secret, secret!'
"I said, - as from now on I kept the reins of the conversation in my hand - that I could carry through this operation through my friends on all the Exchanges of Europe, if I had the help of His Majesty. But this help had to consist, at the right time, of a mass measure in favor of the Jews, made public in the proper way.
"Ibrahim sucked in with astounded looks the words of his master and translated them with joy. 'His Majesty has a court jeweler, who is a Jew. He could give anything of a friendly nature to him, to publish in the papers. He also has a Chief Rabbi for the Jews, the Chasham Bashi. He could also tell him.'
"My impression of the Sultan is that he is a weak, cowardly, but thoroughly well-meaning person. I think he is neither treacherous nor cruel, but a deeply unhappy prisoner, in whose name a thieving, infamous and dishonest camarillia commit the most shameful acts . . .
"The dishonesty and bribery which began at the door of the palace and wind up only at the foot of the throne are probably not the worst. Everything is business, and every official is a thief. At least, I hear this on every side, and from what I know of the way things are done, I do not believe this to be a calumny . . .
"I still see him before me, this Sultan of the dying robber kingdom. Small, shabby, with his badly dyed beard - which is probably dyed only once in a week, for the Selamlik. The hook-nose of a clown, the long yellow teeth and the big gap in the upper jaw to the right. The fez drawn down deep over his head, which is probably bald - the protruding ears. The strengthless hands in the big white gloves, and the ill-fitting, big, multicolored cuffs. The bleating voice, the limitation in every word. And that rules! As a matter of fact he rules only in appearance and in name."
Herzl proposed to lend the Sultan 1,500,000 pounds (about five million dollars) if the Sultan would grant a charter giving the Zionists Palestine. The Sultan, Herzl says, did not know anything about its vast mineral wealth. It was only known to Herzl and the Rothschilds. The editor of the Memorial says in a footnote:
"Herzl will not budge before he has the charter. The Sultan apparently will not budge before he gets money - if then" (Diaries, page 173).
"However, the impasse was partially broken. The Sultan would open his empire to all Jews who wish to become Turkish subjects, but the regions to be settled were to be decided from instances to instances, and Palestine was not to be included. The Company could colonize in Mesopotamia, Syria, Anatolia, but not in Palestine. A Charter without Palestine I refused at once" (Diaries, page 174).
It was obviously the plan of Herzl to found a Zionist Empire; That probably was also the purpose of the Rothschilds and oil rich Jews, and it was the only basis on which Herzl could interest them in his Zionist Empire scheme. This plan was clearly revealed in his diary memo of September 4, 1899, as follows:
"Yesterday, after the opera, I had supper in the Hotel Bristol, with Martin Furth. He told me that the day before he had met N. Bey at the races. The latter had spoken to him very favorably of Zionism. It was not impossible, he said, to win the Sultan over to the idea, as the latter was a friend of the Jews. BUT THE NEWSPAPERS OUGHT NOT TO WRITE THAT WE WANT TO FOUND A JEWISH EMPIRE. N. Bey, said Furth, has been very serious about it. He asked me if I knew him. "Very faintly," I said" (Diaries, page 165).
Herzl interviews Chamberlain and Rothschild
Herzl approached the British through Lord Rothschild and the British Prime Minister Chamberlain, to-wit: on October 23, 1902. He said in his diary of that date:
"I laid the entire Jewish question before the immobile mask which is Joe Chamberlain. My relations to Turkey,
'I am in negotiation with the Sultan,' I said in English.
'But you know what Turkish negotiations are. If you want to buy a carpet, first you must drink a half dozen cups of coffee and smoke a hundred cigarettes. Then you discuss family stories, and from time to time you speak a few words again about the carpet. Now I have time to negotiate, but my people have not. They are starving in the Pale. I must bring them immediate help.' And so on. The mask smiled at the carpet story. I then passed on to the subject of the territory which I wanted from England."
Herzl also said:
"I set my hopes on Chamberlain, whom I shall see next week. He stands at a distance from the whole business, sees it from a higher point - AND DOES NOT KNOW THE VALUE OF THE BIG STRETCH OF LAND FOR WHICH I AM ASKING" (Diaries, page 178).
But the Rothschilds knew the value of the "big stretch of land" for which he was asking. When he and the Kaiser visited Palestine they found the Rothschild agents there (see supra). Lord Walter Rothschild to whom the Balfour Declaration was made, was not at first very friendly to his colonization scheme. Herzl (p. 176) says of his interview with him:
"In England, said Rothschild, there will never be any anti-Semitism, etc. In France, too, it was something else, etc. He does not believe in Zionism. We should never get Palestine, etc. He is an Englishman and wants to remain one. He 'desires' me to say this and that to the Alien Commission, and not to say this and the other.
At this point the business became too stupid for me. I had interrupted him a couple of times. But now I began to overshout him in such a way that he was dazed and kept his mouth shut. . .
'I shall tell the Commission what I think proper and the truth as I see it. That is my habit, and I shall cling to it now, too.'
It was false, I said, that the powers were against our going to Palestine. I have influenced Germany and Russia in our favor. England, I thought, would have nothing against it. I was PERSONA GRATIA with the Sultan.
'Yes,' he threw in, 'The Sultan is naturally friendly to you because you are Dr. Herzl of the Neue Freie Presse.'
'It would be stupid and arrogant of me,' I said, 'to read the Commission a lecture on the characteristics of the real Englishman. I shall simply say what terrible misery there is in the East, and that these people must either get away or perish. The need in Rumania has been known to us since 1897; the Congress petition received no attention. In Galicia it is perhaps even worse. There are seven hundred thousand people there in misery. They also begin to move.
My Lord said: 'I hope you are not going to say that to the Commission. Or else we shall have restrictions.'
At this point I became massive: 'Certainly I shall say it. You can count on that.'
Whereupon his jaw dropped, he rang, and called his brother Leopold.
To him he repeated what had been said, and added that in my opinion Jewish charity had merely become a machine for the suppression of the cry of misery . . .
At the same time I shall make a semi-official attempt to get in touch with Lord R. He is in a furious rage against me - perhaps this is the psychological moment for the conclusion of peace. When he was asked in the Commission why he was opposed to calling me, he said that I was demagogue, a windbag."
But he sold Rothschild on his plan as being the practical to obtain what both of them wanted. He said (Diaries, page 177):
"We went into the dining room, where I met Lord Roseberry's son and later Alfred, the third Rothschild, a true spiritual child of his father.
"Later, in my Lord's study, Alfred told me of his very high Austrian and Russian orders. 'Great, what? Kronenoden, first class.' The same Alfred asked me what I wanted to do for the Jews. Colonization? Good. But why in Palestine? It sounded so Jewish.
"After the coffee I went over to the writing desk and asked him:
'Would you like to hear my scheme now?'
'Yes'.
"I shoved my chair closer to his better ear and said:
'I want to get a Charter for Colonization from the English Government.'
'Don't say Charter. The word doesn't sound so good now.'
'Call it what you like. I want to found a Jewish colony in British territory.'
'Take Uganda.'
'No, I can use only this.. .' And as there were several others in the room I wrote on a piece of paper: Sinai Peninsula, Egyptian Palestine. Cyprus. And I added: 'Are you for it?'
"He reflected, grinning, and answered: 'Very much.'
That was victory; I then added on the piece of paper: STOP THE SULTAN FROM GETTING MONEY.
"He answered: 'I prevented Rumania from getting money. But here I can do nothing, as the great powers want it. They want to have the railway built.'
"I said: 'The Sultan offered me Mesopotamia.'
He, astounded: 'And you refused?'
'Yes.'"
Baron Rothschild of Paris was Original Zionist Promoter
Baron Edmond Rothschild of Paris, the managing partner of the original M. A. Rothschild & Son banking firm was the main support of the Zionist political movement in the beginning. Herzl says in his diary (page 196):
"For three extraordinarily difficult years they struggled against overwhelming odds, and would surely have been defeated had not a miracle saved them. . .
"The miracle was this: When one of the colonists of Rishon le Zion went to Paris and there saw Baron Edmond Rothschild and told him of the work of the Jewish settlements, the Baron grew so enthusiastic about the colonists that he immediately sent his representative to Palestine to study conditions and to help the settlers with money and advice. From that day on Baron Rothschild's interest in Jewish colonization has never waned; indeed, this work came to fill his entire life. He is known, and quite properly, as the father of Jewish colonization in Palestine. There is no doubt that it would have been impossible to preserve the early Jewish settlements and to establish new ones had not the Baron generously assisted the colonists at the beginning. He it was who, when the colonists did not know what branch of agriculture to choose, directed them toward wine-growing, by sending them expert instructors and good French vines, and by building large wine-vaults for them. In the first years, moreover, the Baron bought their grapes at a fixed price, thus assuring them of a definite income."
There can be no doubt about the fact that the principal purpose of Herzl was to nationalize the Zionists and to create a Zionist Empire. The Rothschilds wanted the minerals of Palestine. They knew about the fabulous mineral wealth of the Dead Sea and they wanted it and had taken steps to acquire it before meeting Herzl. Herzl's "Inner Action Committee" and Jewish Colonial Bank did not supply him with sufficient money for his campaign and he became very much discouraged in the early stages of it.
Herzl's Difficulties
In April 1899 he says (Diaries, page 162-3):
"While these gentlemen direct affairs, the worries of getting money for the preliminary work devolve on me. The guarantee fund is exhausted; I believe the money is being badly managed. Now H. writes me that he needs another six hundred to one thousand pounds."
"Never was a greater task undertaken with less adequate means.
"Tomorrow I must again ask pardon of my 'chiefs' for the leave of absence I have taken without their permission. Who knows how long they will let me carry on in this way?
"The movement demands my constant travel; and there is no doubt about it that the Neue Freie Presse can dismiss me for neglect of duty, 'with all the respect in the world for difference of opinion'. This pitiful clash of duties wearies me, unnerves me and wears me out more than anything else."
He says on August 23, 1899 (Diaries, page 163-4):
"Je La Connais Aussi. My work will look much more marvelous when people will get to know with what money worries I had to struggle as a result of my efforts of Zionism.
"I miss at every turn the fifty thousand kronen which I have sunk in the movement: the lack of the money makes me less free than ever in my relations to the Neue Freie Presse."
He appears to have been disillusioned by November 9, 1899. He says (Diaries, page 166):
"This is a good lesson for me. I suppose it would be even worse if I were completely ruined.
'Put not your trust in Princes -
They are an eternal delusion'is something I might well say about the 'help' of the German Kaiser.
"But when I think of my followers, so easily prone to rebellion, I can add the end of the verse;
'He that cries Hosannah for you today
Tomorrow will cry: Crucify!'"And, indeed, I put my trust neither in Princes, nor in the people, but in myself."
And on May 1, 1900, he says (Diaries, page 167):
"I have a first class epitaph for myself:
'He had too high an opinion of the Jews.'"
Herzl's Success
But after obtaining the support of the Rothschilds his spirits were revived. He records on June 13, 1901 (Diaries, page 172):
"Society is interested in me. I am a social curiosity, a dish; people come to meet Dr. Herzl.
"Yesterday Sir Francis Montefiore was here with several ladies and gentlemen. There were Princess Lowenstein, Lady Jane Taylor, and others whose names I have forgotten. Also Gilbert Farquhar, lord and actor.
"I shall use Princess Lowenstein, in order to reach the King. For they all invited me. Lady Jane was present as spectator at the last Congress and said her daughters envied her because she was lunching with me."
It appears from Herzl's diary that the Rothschilds had agents on the ground in Palestine when he met the Kaiser there on October 29, 1898 for he records the fact that "The Rothschild administrators looked taunt and irritated." They no doubt had other plans for obtaining the mineral wealth of the Dead Sea and feared that the presence of Herzl and the Kaiser would interfere with them. It was necessary for Herzl to sell Lord Rothschild on his colonization scheme as being the surest and best method to reach their goal.
When Herzl sold his plan of conquest to Lord Walter Rothschild, managing partner of N. M. Rothschild & Son and managing director of their Bank of England, his financial troubles were over. There was no longer any need for his colonial bank. N. M. Rothschild & Son took over the financing and management of Herzl's World Empire scheme and Herzl became their lieutenant. Herzl is now dead but the perpetual Rothschild partnership never dies. The two enormousy rich partnerships of M. A. Rothschild & Son of Paris and N. M. Rothschild & Son of London then and now control the gold and press of the world with minor exceptions, and the economy of the people of the world. It was to Lord Rothschild that Lord Balfour wrote his note promising Palestine. It was the agents of the Rothschilds that wrote our Federal Reserve Act. It was the agents of the Rothschilds that inveigled us into two wars and established the Zionist United Nations. The Rothschilds control the economy of the people of the world and seek to enslave them.
The Protocols represent the program of the Zionist "Inner Action Committee" then and now. They are the program of the Rothschilds. As bigoted and cruel and satanic as they are, they are not any more so than the Talmud and the Zionist Politburos of Moscow and Wall Street. They are rounded upon the Talmud and breathe its spirit. They were obviously written, at least in part, by Theodor Herzl himself. He was a very adroit and cunning man, a facile writer and a master of intrigue and deception as revealed by his diaries and other writings. But there is no mention of them in his dairy. The Zionists have sought to suppress them. If Herzl had actually referred to them, his Zionist editors would have omitted the reference.
The rich Zionists do not want Palestine as a "home" but for it mineral wealth, estimated at five trillion dollars. It is reported that they have a few collective farms patterned after the Soviet system and that they live in the cities and employ the Arabs to do the work. Their ancestral home propaganda is only camouflage, a smoke screen, to hide their real purpose. The majority of the are contented to live in the countries in which they reside, as their refugees to remain in idleness at our expense in German homes (given them by President Truman's order) until they can migrate to America.
Wealth of Palestine does not belong to Zionists
This enormous mineral wealth belongs to the Allies of World War I by right of conquest.
It did not belong to the British - who were only its custodians by virtue of a mandate. The Zionists stole these minerals by the newly created and recognized state of Israeli. Theft is an ugly word but it forcibly expresses the truth. Lord Balfour knew nothing about these minerals when made his conditional promise. He did not promise a state and the minerals of Palestine, but, based on his restricted promise, the Zionists have created a state which includes the minerals within its boundaries. But Herzl and the Rothschilds knew about these minerals when they sought the "home," and as early as 1897.
We need these minerals for our national defense and we must repudiate this concession and recover them for the use and benefit of ourselves and our Allies of World War I. Moreover, their enormous wealth is sufficient to restore the solvency of the British and ourselves and our other Allies. The recovery of these minerals together with the destruction of Zionist Wall Street will establish the peace of the world and it will probably be a permanent peace. There is no other way. The Rothschilds must be banished and their ill-gotten wealth confiscated and devoted to the public good. herzl.htm
WOW It is amazing to see how one side goes against the other, but in essence has the same way of thinking and really thinks that the mineral resources of a region would not be due to the region but to war winners from 100 years ago. Given the fact that the people who live there are exposed from both sides only for these lower motives.
The international community, if there was still something left over with humanity, grace and dignity, should do something with honor and ensure that the resources belong Exclusively to the region and to the people in there especially those who have suffered so unimaginable the most, the Palestinians, this included Muslims, Jews, Christians and all other religions and views that have been able to live together there for decades in peace and rebuild this place again with the Guarantee that resources never ever could lead to genocide & destruction!
This was an article from:
The ZIONISTS
by George Armstrong
Chapter 6
Journal of Palestine Studies Vol.49 No. 2-
Established Practice: Palestinian Exclusion at the Dead Sea
AUTHOR:
DIGITAL SECTION:
KEYWORDS:
natural resources
Dead Sea
Tourism
international law
business
human rights
AHAVA
ABSTRACT:
The Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth, is one of the natural wonders of the world. Rich in minerals and salt, the lake has attracted visitors for millennia, and the economic value of its mineral riches has been important to both the local Palestinian population and to every colonial power that has ruled the area. Today, Israel exercises total control over the Dead Sea, the northern basin of which lies in the occupied Palestinian territories. Israeli settlements and international businesses, aided by state-funded initiatives, have established a profitable tourism sector and extractive industries based on the Dead Sea's natural resources, while Palestinians remain effectively excluded from pursuing such opportunities. Qumran National Park, private beach resorts, and the cosmetics company AHAVA, among others, reap enormous profits from settlements in the Dead Sea area, benefiting from Israel's occupation and unlawful policies and helping to drive a self-serving narrative of the area's history.
FULL TEXT:
The Dead Sea is one of the most renowned natural wonders of the world: the lowest place on Earth, it is rich in unique minerals and salts. Tourists flock there to immerse themselves in its medicinal waters and to take photos while floating in its hypersaline water. However, behind the allure of the Dead Sea lies a misleading portrayal of the land. Since 1967, Israel has maintained total control of the area, erasing the Green Line that effectively divides the lake into its northern and southern basins, respectively located in what is now the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) and Israel.1 In doing so, Israel has unlawfully appropriated vast tracts of Palestinian land, established illegal settlements, and implemented an array of restrictions on movement and planning for Palestinians in the northern Dead Sea area. The lack of access to land has prevented Palestinians from developing lucrative extractive and tourism industries, resulting in the loss of an estimated $1.4 billion annually to the Palestinian economy.2 At the same time, international and Israeli businesses have reaped enormous benefits from Israel's total control of the Dead Sea area.
This report examines the history of Palestinian exclusion from economic development in the Dead Sea region, and how Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory has entrenched both Palestinian exclusion and Israeli and international exploitation of the area. The report highlights the intertwined interests of the Israeli settlement enterprise and the Israeli extractive and tourism industries. Using the latter as an example, the paper emphasizes the responsibility of international businesses to respect human rights in their operations, including their obligation not to support or profit from Israel's appropriation and exploitation of Palestinian land and resources in the Dead Sea area.
Historical Context: Foreign Powers and Palestinian Exclusion
THE BATTLE FOR CONCESSIONS
Many early explorations of the Dead Sea area—and of what is still referred to as the Holy Land—were influenced by what one scholar has termed “geo-pious” motivations, or a desire to retrace what is considered biblical history.3 Colonial interests were never far behind,4 attracted by the prospect of exploiting the area's natural resources.
Indeed, the vast economic potential of this salt lake did not go unnoticed whether by the Ottoman Empire, the British Mandate authorities, or the Zionist movement and, ultimately, Israel.5 As early as 1888, the Ottoman Empire commissioned expeditions to begin exploring the economic potential of the Dead Sea.6 Similarly, by 1890, the Zionists had set their sights on the possibility of benefitting from the Dead Sea's vast resources.7 In his book Altneuland, the founder of the Zionist movement, Theodore Herzl, discussed the economic potential of the Dead Sea as a vital component of his plans for the future Zionist state.8 In 1904, he commissioned a German geological party to explore the Dead Sea for its economic potential.9 Two years later, their report was shared with Moses Novomeysky, a Russian mining engineer who was at one time president of the World Zionist Organization in Siberia, and who expressed interest in a concession from the Ottoman Empire as early as 1907.10
Novomeysky later traveled to Palestine in 1911 to further explore the possibility of exploiting the Dead Sea.11 Around the same time, the Ottoman authorities issued concessions to Ottoman subjects for the extraction of bromine that were ultimately annulled.12 Although Novomeysky would not return to Palestine until 1920, the Zionist movement “adopted the Dead Sea Concession as a national project of the Jewish people.”13
These foreign parties, alongside Israel later on, often attempted to justify their control over Palestine's natural resources on the grounds that the native population was either incapable of or had no interest in developing and monetizing them.14 Yet, as early as the mid-1700s, the local Palestinian population had recognized the natural wealth of the Dead Sea and engaged in small-scale salt farming on its shores.15 Palestinians also had more ambitious hopes to develop the Dead Sea economy and indeed made plans to benefit from its riches.16
In 1913, Ibrahim Hazboun, a Palestinian from Bethlehem, began exploring the development of a mineral extraction plant on the Dead Sea.17 Hazboun is reported to have expressed his interest to the Ottoman governor at the time, but he was not awarded the concession.18 Instead, he was given a managerial position in the Ottoman transportation operations at the Dead Sea, which served as a transport route during World War I.19 Hazboun's family claimed that he accepted the position based on the understanding that it would lead to a mineral concession after the war.20 Hazboun later acquired the transport business, and repeatedly reiterated his interest in the concession to the British, but the British and the Zionists had their own plans to exploit the Dead Sea.21
In 1918, the British commissioned a research team to survey the area, and quickly reported on the potential for a “large and profitable industry in the Dead Sea,”22 emphasizing the large quantities of potash and bromine available.23 The British were interested in securing their supply of potash, in particular, as an alternative to near-total reliance on Germany for the mineral.24 At the same time, the promise of the “Jewish national homeland” had already been elaborated, and in support, British foreign secretary Arthur Balfour had clearly set out Britain's intent to assist the Zionist movement in establishing economic dominance in Palestine. This is reflected in statements attributed to Balfour in 1919 noting that Zionists would be given preference, even over British interests, for developing concessions in Palestine.25 Bolstering this support, the 1922 Mandate for Palestine expressly outlined the special treatment reserved for the “Jewish population.”26
Meanwhile, despite financial difficulties, Hazboun continued to operate his transport business based on the purported promise that he would be granted a salt concession after the Mandate for Palestine was officially ratified.27 At the same time, Novomeysky was making offers to purchase Hazboun's business in what he called “a way to establish myself legally on the Dead Sea.”28 Hazboun attempted to maintain his footing and continued to communicate his demand for the concession. But with rising business debts, in 1921, the British Mandate government urged Hazboun to accept Novomeysky's offer.29
Enticed by the prospect of Zionist funding and keen to fulfill the promise of a Jewish national homeland, the Colonial Office in London supported Novomeysky's concession application.30 Lord Melchett, a member of the House of Lords and the president of the Economic Board of Palestine, reflected this support in a communication to Novomeysky: “You will readily understand that the matter is of more than industrial significance. The Dead Sea represents the only important mineral wealth of Palestine, and those of us who are interested in establishing there a National Home for the Jews cannot contemplate with equanimity the control of the passing into the hands of the American group, who are not interested in the economical development of the country.”31 The Zionist Department of Trade and Industry also endorsed Novomeysky's application.32
In 1925, Britain's Crown Agents office for the colonies formally solicited tenders for the Dead Sea concession, allowing Novomeysky and others, including a British group, a U.S. industrial consortium,33 and assignees of the Ottoman concession to submit tenders for consideration.34 It is unclear whether Hazboun filed a formal tender at this time, as he was embroiled in bankruptcy proceedings related to his business. However, the process paved the way for Novomeysky to acquire the lease for the Dead Sea land and Hazboun's transport business in 1925.35 Despite London's objections, most of which favored direct British control of Dead Sea resources,36 Novomeysky was officially granted the concession in 1930.37
Palestinians protested the British government's decision, describing the concession to Novomeysky as “robbery” and a “stolen treasure.”38 An official protest letter was delivered to the British House of Lords by Haj Amin al-Husseini, the president of the Supreme Muslim Council and the most prominent leader of the Palestinian national movement at the time. The letter affirmed that granting the concession to a Zionist was a “political weapon against the rights of Arabs and their interests.”39 The Palestinians' objections were ignored.
Novomeysky went on to establish Palestine Potash Ltd., headquartered in what is now the Israeli settlement of Kalia, and began production in 1930.40 The company headquarters was destroyed during the 1948 war, but a factory on the southern shores of the Dead Sea, known as Dead Sea Works, remained.41 This concession, among others awarded to the Zionists in the early twentieth century, proved to be a “significant pillar”42 of the future Jewish state, providing the Zionists the political capital to further their settler-colonial aspirations.
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE POTASH INDUSTRY
Discussions on the regional development of the mineral extraction industry from the Dead Sea were well underway when Hazboun and Novomeysky were vying for the concession. In 1922, Dead Sea mineral extraction was central to the battle over the delimitation of the boundary between Transjordan and Palestine, during which Zionist demands were given undue consideration.43 After his successful concession bid, Novomeysky is reported to have reached an agreement with King Abdullah I of Transjordan to extract minerals on a profit-sharing basis, both men being convinced that such an industry was central to the region's economic growth.44
It was not until 1956 that Jordan established its own mineral extraction company, the Arab Potash Company (APC). In 1958, the Jordanian government granted APC an exclusive one hundred-year concession for the exploitation of the Dead Sea (on the Jordanian side) for salts and minerals.45 APC's plant did not begin operations until 1982. Today, the mining industry plays a significant role in the Jordanian economy.46 According to APC's 2018 annual report, potash sales surged to an all-time high of 2.44 million tons that year,47 reaping net profits of JD 124.9 million (approximately $176 million), compared to JD 90 million (approximately $75 million) in 2017.48
In comparison, Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL), the parent company of Dead Sea Works and sixth-largest potash producer globally, registered profits of $5.55 million for 2018.49 According to ICL's annual report, its total potash production reached 4.9 million tons in 2018, of which 3.8 million tons were produced inside Israel (the company produces potash elsewhere).50 While failing to disclose how much of its revenue comes from the Dead Sea, ICL notes that there are practically unlimited supplies of minerals in the Dead Sea and that Israel is one of nine countries in the world that account for 94 percent of world's natural potash reserves.51
Although outside of the scope of this paper, it should be noted that mineral and mud extraction, alongside other practices by both Israeli and Jordanian government authorities and companies, has contributed to the Dead Sea's ecological degradation.52
Israel's Occupation in 1967: Continued Economic Control and Exploitation
By the time Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, its economic interests in the Dead Sea area were abundantly clear, and it quickly confiscated vast portions of land to secure the area.53 Through a series of military orders, the Israeli authorities manipulated existing land codes to seize control of Palestinian land and the natural resources therein, including the entire northern Dead Sea coastline.54 Specifically, state land declarations were used to acquire large swaths of land in the Dead Sea area,55 including the shoreline that had been exposed by the shrinking of the lake.56
Within ten years of occupying the West Bank, the Israeli government had initiated the establishment of nineteen settlements in the greater Jordan Valley region, including the Dead Sea area.57 Israel continues to develop settlements around the Dead Sea in particular, allocating some NIS 417 million (approximately $116 million) to settlement expansion there in 2018.58 Today there are six settlements in the Dead Sea area—Mitzpe Shalem, Vered Jericho, Avnat, Beit Ha'arava, Almog, and Kalia59— out of a total of thirty-seven settlements and outposts in the Jordan Valley.60 The six Dead Sea area settlements are primarily involved in exploiting Palestinian natural resources, including via the extraction of raw materials, agriculture, and tourism.61
In addition to settlements, accompanying infrastructure, including settler-only roads, checkpoints, roadblocks, closed military zones, and other constraints, severely hamper Palestinian access to the Dead Sea area.62 This was exacerbated in 1993 with the signing of the Oslo Accords, which designated most of the Dead Sea region as “Area C,” placing it under complete Israeli control.63 As a result, Palestinians cannot construct or rehabilitate any structure absent a permit from the Israeli Civil Administration, which is rarely if ever granted.64 These obstacles severely limit, indeed, practically prohibit, Palestinian economic activity in the area.65
STIFLED MINERAL EXTRACTION: WEST BANK SALT COMPANY
The only Palestinian factory that operates on the shores of the Dead Sea is the West Bank Salt Company, which faces an array of difficulties due to Israeli restrictions.66 Othman Hallak established the factory in 1964 when the northern Dead Sea was still under Jordanian rule. After Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, it declared the area a closed military zone and demanded the closure of the factory. Hallak resisted and filed court proceedings against the military orders, which eventually allowed him to continue operations, implicitly conditioned upon noncompetition with the Israeli extractive industry.67 As a result, despite having licenses from Israel for both mud and mineral extraction from the Dead Sea area of the occupied West Bank, the West Bank Salt Company only produces natural salt and exports a limited quantity of mud.68
The factory operates in a closed military zone and is located directly next to an Israeli military installation. Consequently, the premises and workers are heavily monitored and subject to random searches by the military. Due to its location in Area C, Israel has prohibited the factory from expanding or upgrading its operations for over fifty years.69 In addition, Israeli restrictions kept the factory from being connected to the electricity grid until 2010. Such restrictions have all had a significant impact on the company's production and profitability.70
A number of studies have estimated the potential value of the extractive industry to the Palestinian economy. For example, a 2013 World Bank report dedicated to the economic prospects of Area C noted that the “potential incremental value added to the Palestinian economy from the production and sales of potash, bromine and magnesium has been conservatively estimated at $918 million per year, or 9 percent of GDP [gross domestic product].”71 Similarly, in 2015, the Jerusalem-based Applied Research Institute estimated that the development of the Dead Sea mining industry could produce an average $1,642 million per year or 12.9 percent of Palestine's GDP.72 Despite such economic potential, and because of its lack of access to the Dead Sea, the Palestinian Authority has not included the extractive industry in its national policy agenda.73
THE ISRAELI DEAD SEA TOURISM INDUSTRY
In addition to obstructing the Palestinian extractives sector, Israel has used its control over the northern basin of the Dead Sea to establish a lucrative tourism industry and consolidate Israel's narrative regarding Palestinian land.74 In its 2013 report, the World Bank noted that “Israel has been generating revenues from historical and nature tourism sites in the Dead Sea area and around Jericho since 1976.”75 These revenues have likely increased over the past few years, as Israel has seen record numbers of tourists entering the country. Nearly half of the 3.6 million76 tourists that visited Israel in 2017 went to the Dead Sea.77
Tourists regularly visit Qumran, the Dead Sea beach, and the AHAVA factory store,78 all settlement sites established on occupied land that are often packaged together for tour groups.79 The sites, both jointly and individually, contribute to the Israeli national and settler economy, while obscuring the character of Israel's occupation and violations of international law.80 Conversely, due to Israeli restrictions throughout the oPt, tourism contributes to the Palestinian economy only minimally,81 despite the commitment under Oslo II (the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) to develop tourism in the Dead Sea area, including via “Palestinian private projects as well as joint ventures in accordance with the DOP” (Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, or Oslo I).82
QUMRAN: WHOSE HISTORY?
The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the caves of Qumran in 1947. Following the end of the 1967 war, when Israel occupied the West Bank, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority took over the site. The Authority claims the caves were “settled by members of the Essene sect, the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls,”83 while the Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh asserts that “[t]here is no unequivocal answer to the question of who were the [original] inhabitants of Qumran.”84 Be that as it may, Israel has invested heavily in the area to establish the Qumran caves as a site of uniquely Israeli Jewish heritage. In 2010, it launched a five-year national heritage sites project to emphasize the “Jewish and Zionist history” of Israel,85 with $190 million allocated to the development of Qumran and other sites in the occupied West Bank.86 Israel continued its increased investment in parks in the West Bank, including Qumran, by allocating an additional NIS 12.1 million (approximately USD 3.3 million) to such parks at the end of 2017.87
Israel's seizure of Qumran has enabled it to excavate and remove Palestinian cultural property from the site, in violation of its duties as an occupying power.88 Some of the artifacts removed can be found in the Israel Museum.89 Accordingly, the Palestinian economy loses potential fees from entry to Qumran,90 alongside those that could be gained from displaying artifacts in a Palestinian museum.91 This sum is not insignificant; revenues from Qumran entry fees alone were estimated at $2.05 million in 2011.92
AHAVA
The settlement of Mitzpe Shalem, which was established in 1970 on land belonging to the Palestinian Bedouin village of ‘Ayn Trayba,93 is home to the most prominent Dead Sea cosmetics company, AHAVA Dead Sea Laboratories, Ltd. AHAVA was founded by the settlements of Mitzpe Shalem and Kalia in 1988, and in 2004 the Israeli authorities gave it exclusive rights to extract mud from the shores of the Dead Sea in the oPt.94 In addition to benefiting from this illegal mining, AHAVA runs a visitor center and gift shop for tourists in Mitzpe Shalem.
In September 2016, a subsidiary of the Chinese holding company Fosun purchased majority shares in AHAVA for approximately $80 million.95 At the time of the sale, media reports noted that the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement might possibly have impacted the company, referencing a 25 percent decrease in the number of employees between 2013 and 2015.96 By the end of 2018, however, Fosun had established a 100 percent equity interest in the company and seen two years of positive growth.97 This was in part due to increasing sales revenue inside Israel, which the company attributed to Chinese tourists.98 Fosun has further detailed its targeting of the Asian market, and specifically China,99 with the aim of making AHAVA one of China's top-selling “luxury” brands.100
It should be noted that in April 2016, the Israeli Civil Administration claimed that AHAVA no longer held the license for mud excavation.101 While it is unclear where AHAVA procures the mud for its products, AHAVA continues to contribute to and benefit from Israel's unlawful settlement enterprise due to its production site and visitor center in Mitzpe Shalem.102
ENJOYING THE DEAD SEA: EXCLUSIONS APPLY
Israel's full control of the Jordan Valley, and of the Dead Sea coast in particular, has been central to its tourism sector. Kalia settlement's eponymous beach alone attracts an estimated six hundred thousand tourists annually,103 potentially bringing in close to $10 million a year in revenue.104 Palestinians, for their part, are prohibited from developing hotels and other tourism-related infrastructure in the area, creating an estimated loss “of some $126 million per annum,”105 according to the World Bank. The entry fee schedule at Kalia Beach is another example of how Palestinians are exploited. Kalia Beach charges an entry fee of NIS 59 (approximately $16) per adult, and NIS 48 (approximately $13) for Israeli soldiers and veterans.106 Given that army service is compulsory in Israel, meaning that nearly all Israelis are either current or former members of the military, the fee schedule effectively means the beach can charge higher rates for Palestinians than for Israelis.
Alongside discriminatory pricing, settlement beaches have tried to exclude Palestinian customers altogether by denying them entry “mainly but not exclusively on weekends and Jewish holidays,” a rule enforced by the Beit Ha'arava checkpoint that was established in 2007.107 During a court case over the legality of this step, an Israeli brigade commander is reported to have stated, “The arrival of Palestinians from the Territories to the beaches harms tourism and the economy of beach owners. The district council contacted the defense ministry on this issue and that it why there is a checkpoint at the Beit Ha'arava junction.”108 A petition, brought by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, demanded the removal of the checkpoint in 2009, but the court denied the action arguing that since the checkpoint was no longer used to prohibit the entry of Palestinians and served only for “checking activities” at various times, the “essence of the petition” had been granted.109
Irrespective of the case's outcome, tourism at Dead Sea beaches in the oPt provides financial support to the maintenance of an unlawful and blatantly discriminatory business sector.
INTERNATIONAL TOURISM TO THE DEAD SEA
While each settlement site profits independently from Israel's occupation, they also function together to support and benefit from Israel's tourism industry. For example, AHAVA and the Dead Sea are both frequent stops for tour groups visiting Qumran. Many trips also include Masada and begin in Tel Aviv, serving to blur the Green Line for naive tourists.110
Critically, online tourism companies advertise and facilitate reservations for such tours and for properties in Israeli settlements.111 Viator and Expedia, among others, market tours to the Dead Sea and Qumran,112 including those that stop at the “famous Ahava cosmetics shop.”113
As noted, settlement sites are also independently profitable and marketed. For example, Booking.com, Travelocity, Expedia, and Tripadvisor all advertise Kalia Kibbutz Hotel, alongside other settlement properties.114 Booking.com describes the location of Kalia Kibbutz Hotel as an “Israeli Settlement.”115 On the other hand, Travelocity, Expedia, and Tripadvisor, cite the location as “Palestinian Territories” or “Kal[i]a,” but do not indicate that it is an Israeli settlement.116 While it is unclear how each site determines the definition of its locations, as will be discussed below, the varying designations do not alter the companies' responsibilities pursuant to international law.117
Beyond tourism operators, other business enterprises also bolster Israeli settlement sites. For example, stores in the United States and other countries that sell AHAVA products not only generate profits for the company but also provide continued brand exposure and legitimization. As noted in an interview by the Fosun group's director in 2016,118 this likely translates into purchases by tourists visiting Israel/Palestine. Other business enterprises may serve to provide guidance and expertise for the settlement tourism sector. For example, the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, along with other government partners, initiated the “Dead Sea Valley Tourism Complex” to make the Dead Sea an “international attraction for international elite tourism.”119 Although the complex itself will be developed inside the Green Line, the project will be reliant on, and indeed advertise sites in, the Dead Sea areas that lie within the oPt.120 Notably, Deloitte (London) prepared the strategic plan for the complex.121
Business Obligations under International Law
Businesses connected to Israel's settlement tourism sector are not only obscuring the reality of Israel's occupation, but are also violating their responsibilities under international law. Indeed, it is incumbent on both state and non-state actors to respect international law, and both may be held criminally liable for violations. These obligations and responsibilities exist irrespective of the domestic laws in force in a country. In the case at hand, Israel's legalization of settlements does not impact their unlawful nature under international law.
Accordingly, business enterprises operating in or with settlements and/or in coordination with the Israeli occupying authorities in the oPt must respect international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law.122 As noted in the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the responsibility to protect human rights requires that businesses “seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products, or services by their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts.”123 Businesses must ensure that they are not involved in gross human rights abuses and should treat such risk as a legal compliance issue.124 In conducting their due diligence, businesses should also recognize the international consensus on the illegality of Israeli settlements in the oPt as well as Israeli policies that violate the right of Palestinians to “permanent sovereignty over their natural wealth and resources.”125 International crimes, such as the transfer of settlers into the occupied territory, the extensive destruction and appropriation of property, and pillage,126 have all been alleged to have occurred in the oPt, including in connection with businesses operating in settlements.127 These and other Israeli policies and practices have a broad impact on the individual and communal rights of Palestinians in the oPt, including obstructing the right to self-determination, the right of peoples to freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources,128 the right to freedom of movement,129 the right to development,130 and the right to an adequate standard of living,131 among others.
Importantly, the UN is mandated to establish a database132 of all businesses that have “directly and indirectly, enabled, facilitated and profited from the construction and growth of the settlements.”133 While businesses with a direct presence in settlements, such as AHAVA, have an immediate connection to violations of international law, tourism companies and others based outside Israel and the oPt may also contribute to adverse human rights impacts due to their business relationships.134 For example, the aforementioned travel sites, such as Booking.com, provide a service for marketing and reserving settlement properties,135 creating a veneer of legitimacy as well as profits for businesses that are in effect operating unlawfully; accurately distinguishing these properties as being in an Israeli settlement does not diminish their unlawful presence or the company's legal responsibilities.
It should be further noted that tourism companies catering to foreign tourists also have an obligation to adhere to the domestic laws in the countries in which they operate when in conformity to international law. Because states at large do not recognize Israel's sovereignty over the oPt, settlement locations cannot be labeled as “Israel.” This was highlighted in 2008 when the British Advertising Standards Authority affirmed that the Israeli Ministry of Tourism misled consumers by placing a picture of Qumran under the heading “Israel.”136
In sum, such business activities, whether resulting from a business enterprise's direct presence or as an entity in its value chain, are conducted at the expense of the Palestinian people and economy.137
* * * * *
Throughout Palestine's colonial history, Palestinians have been systematically excluded from freely enjoying and benefitting from the wonders of the Dead Sea. This exclusion is now perhaps at its most severe juncture, with Israel exercising full control over the resource. Key to this situation of exclusion and adverse impacts on the rights of Palestinians today are businesses that use and exploit Palestinian land and other resources; participate in a system that discriminates against Palestinians, including via access restrictions; and facilitate the transfer of Israeli settlers into the oPt. At the same time, countless tourists flock to the Dead Sea in the oPt, visiting Qumran, AHAVA, and the coast itself, unaware of or indifferent to the situation faced by Palestinians due to such settlement sites and Israel's occupation.
Given the reliance of these businesses on tourists, and in the case of AHAVA, foreign markets at large, third states could take measures to limit and help end the adverse impacts on Palestinians caused by Israel's unlawful policies and the businesses that benefit from and support them. Such measures would be in line with states' legal obligations under international law, as detailed in UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016), which requires states to “distinguish in their relevant dealings between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories it occupied since 1967.”138 This may include adopting legislation to ensure that businesses neither directly nor indirectly contribute to the Israeli settlement enterprise. It may also necessitate warning multinational businesses of the potential for legal liability, reputational risks, and other consequences for engaging with settlements, and businesses therein. Such risks have been underscored in international campaigns against AHAVA and settler tourism.139
While these initiatives have raised awareness and may potentially impact the behavior of companies, an environment of impunity persists. What will remain of the precious resources of the Dead Sea for Palestinians to enjoy and use when foreign rule over Palestine comes to an end remains in question.
ENDNOTES
↵ For a map of the Dead Sea which shows how the Green Line separates the lake, see “Humanitarian Fact Sheet on the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea Area,” United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 8 February 2012, https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-fact-sheet-jordan-valley-and-dead-sea-area-february-2012.
↵ In 2013, the World Bank stated that the potential value added to the Palestinian economy from the mineral extraction sector was conservatively estimated at $918 million per year; the corresponding figure for the tourism sector was $126 million. See, World Bank, West Bank and Gaza: Area C and the Future of the Palestinian Economy, 2 October 2013, pp. 13 and 24, http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/137111468329419171/pdf/AUS29220REPLAC0EVISION0January02014.pdf.
↵ Haim Goren, Dead Sea Level: Science, Exploration and Imperial Interests in the Near East (London: I.B. Tauris, 2011), p. 125.
↵ Salman Abu-Sitta, Atlas of Palestine, 1917–1966 (London: Palestine Land Society, 2010), p. 25. The Palestine Exploration Fund played a central role in surveying Palestine as a prelude to land conquest in the nineteenth century.
↵ Jacob Norris, “Toxic Waters: Ibrahim Hazboun and the Struggle for a Dead Sea Concession, 1913–1948,” Jerusalem Quarterly 45 (2011): pp. 25–42, http://www.palestine-studies.org/sites/default/files/jq-articles/45_toxic_2.pdf.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 28.
↵ Arie Nissenbaum, “The Dead Sea: An Economic Resource for 10,000 Years,” Hydrobiologia 267, nos. 1–3 (September 1993): p. 135.
↵ Nissenbaum, “The Dead Sea,” p. 135.
↵ Barbara J. Smith, The Roots of Separatism in British Palestine: British Economic Policy, 1920–1929 (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1993), p. 126.
↵ Barbara Kreiger, The Dead Sea: Myth, History, Politics (Hanover, NH: Brandeis University Press of New England, 1997), pp. 141–42.
↵ Bernard Regan, The Balfour Declaration: Empire, the Mandate and Resistance in Palestine (New York: Verso, 2017), p. 161.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 28. Another source suggests that the Ottoman sultan issued a concession in 1913 to three Ottoman nationals to extract potash, common and other salts, and the sole right to produce bromine from the resulting brine, but it does not mention that such a concession was annulled. See A. H. Lane, The Alien Menace: A Statement of the Case, 5th ed. (London: Boswell Publishing, 1934), p. 171.
↵ In time, Novomeysky secured financial support from influential Zionists such as James de Rothschild and U.S. Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis. See Michael J. Cohen, Britain's Moment in Palestine: Retrospect and Perspectives, 1917–48 (New York: Routledge, 2014), pp. 202–4, quote at p. 202.
↵ During a House of Commons debate, Winston Churchill stated that “the Arabs of Palestine …; would have been quite content to dwell—a handful of philosophic people—in the wasted sun-scorched plains, letting the waters of the Jordan continue to flow unbridled and unharnessed into the Dead Sea.” See 156 Parl. Deb. H.C. (5th ser.) (1922) col. 335, https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1922/jul/04/colonial-office#column_335.
↵ Early Palestinian salt farmers dug small pits on the shores of the Dead Sea, which would swell with water as the Jordan River rose. Once the water had evaporated, a bed of salt was exposed, which was then collected and sold to merchants in Jerusalem. See Kreiger, Dead Sea, p. 143.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 26
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 28.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 28.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 28.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 29.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 32.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 29.
↵ “Dead Sea's Vast Mineral Wealth Healing to Offset Losses to Axis,” International Herald Tribune, 4 October 1942, RG 44, Division of Press Intelligence, National Archives, Washington, DC.
↵ Potash became increasingly important during World War II for use in munitions. See “Dead Sea's Vast Mineral Wealth,” International Herald Tribune.
↵ Smith, Roots of Separatism, p. 117.
↵ Article 11 of the Mandate reads, “The Administration may arrange with the Jewish agency mentioned in Article 4 to construct or operate, upon fair, and equitable terms, any public works, services and utilities.” See The Mandate for Palestine, Council of the League of Nations, 24 July 1922.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 32.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 32.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 32.
↵ Major Thomas Tulloch of the British Navy had also sought the concession but could not solicit the necessary funds. He was encouraged by the Colonial Office to partner with Novomeysky, who had access to Zionist capital. See Smith, Roots of Separatism, p. 127.
↵ Cohen, Britain's Moment in Palestine, pp. 201–2.
↵ Smith, Roots of Separatism, p. 126; the monetary and political support of the likes of Rothschild and Chaim Weizmann, president of the World Zionist Organization, were “undoubtedly critical in securing the concession for Novomeysky.” See Cohen, Britain's Moment in Palestine, p. 202.
↵ Large U.S. companies including General Motors, Du Pont, and Standard Oil reportedly submitted tenders. See Kreiger, Dead Sea, p. 147.
↵ Lane, Alien Menace, p. 171.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 33.
↵ During a British House of Lords debate following the granting of the concession, Viscount Templetown stated, “Only a British control can do justice amid the varied interests and ensure for this great wealth the development due to the inhabitants. It therefore becomes a matter of grave concern to the British public in what way, and under what influence, the Dead Sea and the most strategic areas of Palestine are being dealt with.” See 73 Parl. Deb. (5th ser.) (1929) cols. 731–58, https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1929/mar/20/dead-sea-salts-concession.
↵ Smith, Roots of Separatism, p. 129.
↵ Norris, “Toxic Waters,” p. 36.
↵ The letter, “Supreme Muslim Council Protests against Granting Dead Sea Concession to Zionists, 1929” [in Arabic], is archived on the Institute for Palestine Studies website at https://tinyurl.com/t9kphtl.
↵ David B. Green, “This Day in Jewish History//1961: ‘Broken-Hearted' Father of Israeli Potash Industry Dies in Paris,” Haaretz, 26 March 2016, https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-1961-broken-hearted-industrial-founder-dies-1.5422914.
↵ Green, “1961.”
↵ Cohen, Britain's Moment in Palestine, p. 208.
↵ Gideon Biger, The Boundaries of Modern Palestine, 1840–1947 (New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004), p. 180.
↵ Kreiger, Dead Sea, 153–54.
↵ Arab Potash Company, Partners in Food Security, 2018 annual report, 24 April 2019, p. 17, http://www.arabpotash.com/EchoBusV3.0/SystemAssets/PDFEN/APC%202018%20Annual%20English.pdf.
↵ Rami Alrawashdeh and Khalid Al-Tarawneh, “Sustainability of Phosphate and Potash Reserves in Jordan,” International Journal of Sustainable Economy 6, no. 1 (January 2014): pp. 45–63.
↵ Representing the highest recorded volume in the company's history according to a statement by Arab Potash Company. See “Arab Potash Company Achieves ‘Record' Production in 2018; Revenues up by 39%,” Jordan Times, 13 February 2019, http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/arab-potash-company-achieves-%E2%80%98record%E2%80%99-production-2018-revenues-39.
↵ Arab Potash Company, Partners in Food Security, p. 11.
↵ Israel Chemicals Limited (ICL), Annual Report for the Period Ended December 31, 2018, p. 26, http://iclgroupv2.s3.amazonaws.com/corporate/wp-content/uploads/sites/1004/2019/02/ICL-2018-Annual-Report-20-F.pdf.
↵ ICL, Annual Report, p. 59.
↵ ICL, Annual Report, pp. 36 and 45.
↵ For more information on the degradation of the Dead Sea and plans to revive it, see Clive Lipchin, Deborah Sandler, and Emily Cushman, eds., The Jordan River and Dead Sea Basin: Cooperation amid Conflict (Dordrecht: Springer, 2009).
↵ Israel now controls the entire Dead Sea area west of Jordan, as the southern basin of the Dead Sea is located inside the Green Line.
↵ Claudia Nicoletti and Anne-Marie Hearne, Pillage of the Dead Sea: Israel's Unlawful Exploitation of Natural Resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Ramallah: Al-Haq, 2012), p. 14, http://www.alhaq.org/publications/publications-index/item/pillage-of-the-dead-sea-israel-s-unlawful-exploitation-of-natural-resources-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory.
↵ “Through Military Order No. 59 of 31 July 1967, Israel defined ‘State property' as any property – movable or immovable, which prior to 7 June 1967 belonged to a hostile State or to any arbitration body connected with a hostile State.” See Nicoletti and Hearne, Pillage, p. 16.
↵ In one specific case, four Palestinian villages made a claim to the local preliminary registration committee that the exposed land was rightfully theirs given their ownership of the shoreline prior to the occupation. The committee rejected their claim and declared the exposed shoreline state land, paving the way for Israeli developers to move in and expand tourism projects in the area. See Chaim Levinson, “Israel Rejects Palestinian Claims, Registers Dead Sea Land as State Land,” Haaretz, 28 March 2013, https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-pa-claim-to-dead-sea-land-denied-1.5236033.
↵ B'Tselem, Dispossession and Exploitation: Israel's Policy in the Jordan Valley and Northern Dead Sea, May 2011, https://www.btselem.org/campaigns/2011_jordan_valley/english/index.html.
↵ Madeeha Araj, “Investment in Settlements Top of Israel's Priorities,” Palestine News Network, 23 April 2018, http://english.pnn.ps/2018/04/23/investment-in-settlements-top-of-israels-priorities/.
↵ See Megilot Dead Sea Regional Council, “Dead Sea Settlements” [in Hebrew],
https://www.dead-sea.org.il/?CategoryID=169&ArticleID=147
.
↵ Peace Now, “The Dispossession of Palestinians in the Jordan Valley,” 18 April 2017, http://peacenow.org.il/en/jordan-valley.
↵ Nicoletti and Hearne, Pillage, p. 20.
↵ B'Tselem, Dispossession, p. 38.
↵ Nicoletti and Hearne, Pillage, p. 18.
↵ For example, between 2010 and 2014, only 1.5 percent of Palestinian permits were approved. See OCHA, Under Threat: Demolition Orders in Area C of the West Bank, 2014, https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/demolition_orders_in_area_c_of_the_west_bank_en.pdf.
↵ World Bank, West Bank and Gaza.
↵ The company produces table salt, and in addition to supplying the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, it also exports to some foreign markets, including Germany.
↵ Husam Hallak (owner of West Bank Salt Company), in discussion with the author, 21 May 2019, on the premises of the company.
↵ Hallak noted that while his operation does not extract minerals such as potash and bromine from the Dead Sea, it does extract limited quantities of mud which he exports in bulk but does not sell in Israel. Hallak, in discussion with the author, 21 May 2019.
↵ Hallak, in discussion with the author, 21 May 2019. During a visit to the factory, Hallak revealed that the company is currently building a visitor center based on an “oral permit” provided to them by the local Israeli military commander. Nevertheless, the company is being forced to demolish a small annex built off the side of the original factory for failure to obtain a construction permit.
↵ See “West Bank Minerals Factory by the Dead Sea Shore – Palestine Television,” YouTube video, 05:47, posted by Aroon Hamayreh, 4 May 2017,
; and “Palestinian Factory by the Dead Sea Shore/Filmed by Adel AbuNemah,” YouTube video, 03:21, posted by Adel Nemah, 31 May 2012,
.
↵ World Bank, West Bank and Gaza, p. 13.
↵ Jad Isaac, et al., The Economic Cost of the Israeli Occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Jerusalem: Applied Research Institute, 2015), p. 28, https://www.arij.org/files/arijadmin/2016/The_Economic_Cost_of_the_Israeli_occupation_Report_upd.pdf.
↵ State of Palestine, National Policy Agenda, 2017–2022: Putting Citizens First (Ramallah: Prime Minister's Office, December 2016), https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/npa_english_final_approved_20_2_2017_printed.pdf.
↵ According to the UN, “The designation of national parks and archaeological sites and their promotion for Israeli and international tourism continues to contribute to consolidating Israeli civilian presence and control over land in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” See the annual report of UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem, and in the Occupied Syrian Golan, ¶21, UN Doc. A/HRC/34/39 (13 April 2017), https://undocs.org/A/HRC/34/39.
↵ World Bank, West Bank and Gaza, p. 24.
↵ Max Schindler, “More Tourists Visit Israel in 2017 Than Ever Before,” Jerusalem Post, 2 January 2018, https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/More-tourists-visit-Israel-in-2017-thaa-ever-before-522665.
↵ Almost 50 percent of tourists to Israel reportedly visited the Dead Sea area in 2017. See Israeli Ministry of Tourism, Inbound Tourism Survey Annual Report 2017, May 2018, p. 6, available at https://motwebmediastg01.blob.core.windows.net/nop-attachment/8862_english5.pdf.
↵ Other activities include desert camping, a horse ranch, and climbing. See Go Dead Sea, “Northern Dead Sea Attractions,” http://en.godeadsea.com/category/northern-dead-sea-attractions.
↵ This is based on researching tour packages and on field visits to the various sites. It appears that package tours often stop in the oPt section of the Dead Sea, given its proximity to Qumran. See for example, Compass Travel Israel, “Masada Dead Sea Daily Tour Business Class,” https://compasstravelisrael.com/tours/masada-dead-sea-daily-tour-business-class/; and Diesenhaus, “Masada and Dead Sea Full-Day Tour from Tel Aviv,” Expedia, https://www.expedia.com/things-to-do/masada-dead-sea-full-day-tour-from-tel-aviv.a186097.activity-details.
↵ The violations include, but are not limited to, unlawful land confiscation, pillage, racial discrimination, and unlawful excavation.
↵ According to the 2013 World Bank report referenced throughout this study, tourism contributes less than 3 percent to Palestinian GDP. See World Bank, West Bank and Gaza, p. 20.
↵ Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Israel-PLO, Annex VI, Article 5, section 6 (a)(5), 28 September 1995, https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/IL%20PS_950928_InterimAgreementWestBankGazaStrip%28OsloII%29.pdf.
↵ Israel Nature and Parks Authority, “Qumran Park,” https://www.parks.org.il/en/reserve-park/qumran-park/.
↵ Emek Shaveh, “Israel's ‘National Heritage Sites' Project in the West Bank: Archeological Importance and Political Significance,” 13 September 2013, https://alt-arch.org/en/heritage/.
↵ Nir Hasson, “Critics Slam Heritage Plan for Omitting Non-Jewish Sites,” Haaretz, 25 February 2010, https://www.haaretz.com/1.5052227.
↵ Raffi Berg, “Israel Heritage Plan Exposes Discord over West Bank History,” BBC News, 16 April 2013, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-21973708.
↵ According to an Emek Shaveh publication, “In recent years the Ministry of Tourism and the Civil Administration have made considerable investments in parks in the West Bank. For example, at the end of fiscal year 2017, 12.1 million NIS were allocated to parks such as Qumran, Mount Gerizim, Herodium, Nabi Samuel etc.” See Chemi Schiff, “National Parks in Israel and the West Bank—on Which Side Is the Grass Greener?” Emek Shaveh, 15 April 2018, https://alt-arch.org/en/grass-greener_en/.
↵ The Second Hague Protocol for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict prohibits excavations except where “required to safeguard, record or preserve cultural property.” See Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, Article 9(1)(b), 17 May–31 December 1999, 2253 U.N.T.S. 172, http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=15207&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.
↵ The Israel Museum, “The Dead Sea Scrolls,” https://www.imj.org.il/en/wings/shrine-book/dead-sea-scrolls.
↵ The Nature and Parks Authority currently charges an entrance fee of NIS 29 (approximately $8) for adults and NIS 15 ($4) for each child.
↵ The Israel Museum charges NIS 54 (approximately 25) for adults. See the ticket section of the museum's website at https://www.imj.org.il/en/content/tickets?culture=en-US.
↵ World Bank, West Bank and Gaza, p. 24.
↵ Who Profits, Ahava: Tracking the Trade Trail of Settlement Products, April 2012, p. 25, https://whoprofits.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/old/ahava_report_final.pdf.
↵ Who Profits, “The Israeli Exploitation of Palestinian Natural Resources, Part IV: Ahava,” November 2016, https://whoprofits.org/updates/the-israeli-exploitation-of-palestinian-natural-resources-part-iv-ahava/.
↵ Fosun International Limited, Annual Report, 2016, 2017, p. 248, http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/IROL/19/194273/annualreports/E_656AR.PDF.
↵ “Ahava Bought by Chinese Conglomerate in Midst of BDS Concerns,” Times of Israel, 2 September 2015, http://www.timesofisrael.com/ahava-bought-by-chinese-conglomerate-in-midst-of-bds-concerns/?fb_comment_id=856621941073486_856704424398571.
↵ Fosun International Limited, Annual Report, 2018, 2019, https://www.fosun.com/wp-content/themes/fuxing/document/report-2018-yr-en.pdf.
↵ Aviv Levy, “Fosun Plans Huge Global Expansion for Ahava,” Globes, 12 April 2016, https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-fosun-plans-huge-global-expansion-for-ahava-1001117055.
↵ According to Fosun, “10,000 Chinese customers were recorded in six months.” See Fosun International Limited, Annual Report, 2017, 2018, https://www.fosun.com/wp-content/themes/fuxing/document/report-2017-yr-en.pdf.
↵ Navit Zumer, “Fosun Mulling Float of Dead Sea Cosmetics Manufacturer Ahava, Exec Says,” CTech, 14 December 2018, https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3752030,00.html.
↵ Who Profits, “Israeli Exploitation.”
↵ Principle 2 of the UN Global Compact, a voluntary initiative to implement universal sustainability principles and to take steps to support UN goals, affirms that businesses must “make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.” See “The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact,” UN Global Compact, https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/mission/principles/principle-2.
↵ World Bank, West Bank and Gaza, p. 24.
↵ This figure was calculated by assuming six hundred thousand tourists were charged the maximum fee of NIS 59.
↵ World Bank, West Bank and Gaza, p. ix.
↵ This rate is also applied to children and the disabled. See the home page of the Kalia Beach website at http://kaliabeach.com/en/.
↵ Donald Macintyre, “Palestinians Barred from Dead Sea Beaches to ‘Appease Israeli Settlers,'” The Independent, 14 June 2008, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/palestinians-barred-from-dead-sea-beaches-to-appease-israeli-settlers-846948.html.
↵ Yossi Wolfson, “The Israeli Military in the Service of the Dead Sea Beach Operators: HCJ 5148/08 the Association for Civil Rights in Israel v. Chief of the General Staff (Judgment of 10 December 2009),” Hamoked, 12 January 2009, http://www.hamoked.org/Document.aspx?dID=Documents1222.
↵ The court further stated, “Nonetheless, in the event of a focused security alert, a temporary blocking of passage by Palestinians through the checkpoint may occur.” See Wolfson, “The Israeli Military in the Service of the Dead Sea Beach Operators.” It should be noted that according to Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, the Beit Ha'arava checkpoint has since been removed. This information was gathered via Al-Haq's Monitoring and Documentation department, email to author, 17 October 2018.
↵ Fun-Time Tour and Travel, “Masada, Ein Gedi Nature Reserve and View of Qumran Tour,” https://www.fun-time.co.il/Trips/TourDetails/1525/masada-ein-gedi-and-view-of-qumran-tour.
↵ Hotels in the Dead Sea area include Biankini Dead Sea Resort in Kalia settlement and Almog Kibbutz Hotel in Almog settlement.
↵ See, for example, Viator, “Dead Sea relaxation day from Jerusalem,” https://www.viator.com/tours/Jerusalem/Dead-Sea-Spa-and-Wellness-Trip-from-Jerusalem/d921-5209SEAHEALTHJ.
↵ Diesenhaus, “Masada and Dead Sea”; Groupon has also offered a “tour of Israel,” which included settlement sites such as Qumran. See Groupon, “Tour of Israel with Airfare from Gate 1 Travel – Tel Aviv, Tiberias, and Jerusalem,” https://www.groupon.com/deals/ga-gate-1-travel-israel-2.
↵ Booking.com, “Kalia Kibbutz Hotel,” accessed on 25 August 2018, https://www.booking.com/hotel/il/kalia-kibbutz.html; Travelocity, “Kalia Kibbutz Holiday Village,” accessed on 25 August 2018, https://www.travelocity.com/Kalya-Hotels-Kalia-Kibbutz-Holiday-Village.h3066836.Hotel-Information; Expedia, “Kalia Kibbutz Holiday Village,” accessed on 25 August 2018, https://www.expedia.com/Kalya-Hotels-Kalia-Kibbutz-Holiday-Village.h3066836.Hotel-Information; Tripadvisor, “Kalia Kibbutz,” accessed on 25 August 2018, https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1884032-d1746768-Reviews-Kalia_Kibbutz-Kalia_Dead_Sea_Region_West_Bank.html.
↵ Booking.com, “Kalia Kibbutz Hotel.” See 114n above.
↵ Travelocity, Expedia, and Tripadvisor Searches for “Kalia Kibbutz.” See 114n above.
↵ Airbnb, “Kalia Beach – Stays,” accessed on 28 May 2019, https://tinyurl.com/sb4z82f.
↵ Fosun highlighted that Chinese tourists that visit “Israel” are primary customers, and that it will use its holdings in tourism-sector businesses to market the brand globally. See Levy, “Fosun Plans.”
↵ Dead Sea Valley, “An out of the Ordinary Opportunity: The Dead Sea Valley Tourism Complex,” Israeli government website, https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/generalpage/investment_opportunities/en/English_Presentation.pdf.
↵ Dead Sea Valley, “An out of the Ordinary Opportunity.”
↵ Dead Sea Valley, “An out of the Ordinary Opportunity.”
↵ UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy' Framework,” 2011, principle 12 and commentary, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Business/A-HRC-17-31_AEV.pdf.
↵ OHCHR, “Guiding Principles,” principle 13.
↵ OHCHR, “Guiding Principles,” principles 7 and 23.
↵ UN General Assembly, Resolution 3175 (XXVII), Permanent Sovereignty over National Resources in the Occupied Arab Territories, A/RES/3175 (17 December 1973), https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/8F9EF0C2108AB49C852568C6006704CC.
↵ Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 8, 17 July 1998, 2187 U.N.T.S. 3.
↵ See, for example, Yesh Din, “Petition to Halt All Israeli Quarry and Mining Activities in the West Bank,” 9 March 2009, https://www.yesh-din.org/en/petition-to-halt-all-israeli-quarry-and-mining-activities-in-the-west-bank-hcj-216409-yesh-din-volunteers-for-human-rights-v-the-commander-of-the-idf-forces-in-the-west-bank/; Human Rights Watch, Occupation, Inc., 19 January 2016, https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/01/19/occupation-inc/how-settlement-businesses-contribute-israels-violations-palestinian.
↵ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 1, 19 December 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Article 1, 16 December 1966, 993 U.N.T.S. 3, https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cescr.aspx.
↵ ICCPR, Article 12.
↵ UN General Assembly, Resolution 41/128, Declaration on the Right to Development, A/RES/41/128 (4 December 1986), https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/41/128.
↵ ICESCR, Article 11.
↵ UNHRC, Resolution 31/36, Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, A/HRC/RES/31/36 (24 March 2016), https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/RES/31/36. As this article went to print, the UN issued its database report, which included some but not all of the tourism companies mentioned in this article. See Report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Doc. A/HRC/43/71, 28 February 2020, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session43/Pages/ListReports.aspx.
↵ UNHRC, Report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission to Investigate the Implications of the Israeli Settlements on the Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the Palestinian People throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem, ¶ 96, UN Doc. A/HRC/22/63 (7 February 2013), https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session22/A-HRC-22-63_en.pdf.
↵ Business relationships include those with “business partners, entities in [the business enterprise's] value chain, and any other non-State or State entity directly linked to its business operations, products or services.” OHCHR, “Guiding Principles,” principle 13 and commentary.
↵ The UN database will include businesses that provide “services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements.” See UNHRC, Fact-Finding Mission, ¶ 96.
↵ Danny Sadeh, “Why Are British Upset with Israeli Tourism Ministry?” Ynet News, 14 April 2008, https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3531468,00.html.
↵ “The Staggering Economic Cost of Occupation: The Palestinian Economy Would Be at Least Twice as Large without Israeli Occupation, UNCTAD Report Says,” United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 6 September 2016, http://unctad.org/en/pages/newsdetails.aspx?OriginalVersionID=1317.
↵ United Nations Security Council, Resolution 2334, S/RES/2334 (23 December 2016), https://www.un.org/webcast/pdfs/SRES2334-2016.pdf.
↵ See for example, Nancy Kricorian, “Stolen Beauty: The Struggle for a Just Peace in the Middle East Coming to a Store Near You,” CodePink, 21 July 2009, https://www.codepink.org/stolen_beauty_the_struggle_for_a_just_peace_in_the_middle_east_coming_to_a_store_near_you; and “Destination: Occupation,” Amnesty International, n.d., https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/01/destination-occupation-digital-tourism-israel-illegal-settlements/.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:
Aseil Abu-Baker, JD, is a U.S.-licensed attorney. She is currently a legal consultant in Palestine.
Marya Farah is a U.S.-licensed attorney who focuses on international human rights law and advocacy.
Source: https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1649969