The Palestinian Government asked Spain to leave the companies that build trams in Jerusalem

In the text available to this newspaper, it is claimed that two Spanish multinational companies are collaborating on the JLR light rail project. expansion of illegal Israeli settlements It is located on land confiscated from the Palestinians, but it also contributes to the forced displacement and disintegration of Palestinian communities,” the letter claims. illegal annexation Jerusalem “He’s busy”.

Industry confirms receipt of the letter to this newspaper and assures that: A response is being processed. They recall that the National Contact Point, an organization affiliated with the ministry and dedicated to ensuring compliance with corporate social responsibility, offered to mediate in the case. The mediation in question was not accepted by the CAF company, and after hearing the Advisory Council, the PNC closed the case without reaching an agreement between the two parties, but made a number of recommendations to the companies to strengthen mediation. “Elements related to human rights, dissemination of information and due diligence Industria says that in any case, “the execution of projects in third countries is the responsibility of the companies and the Ministry cannot intervene in the decisions.”

CAF, the company subcontracted to GMV, did not respond to a request for information at the end of this article.

Million dollar project

Basque rail giant CAF, together with its Israeli partner Shapir, is participating in the construction of two tram lines that will connect Israeli parts of Jerusalem to colonies in lands considered Palestinian by both Spain and the international community. There are more than 700,000 Israeli settlers scattered across the West Bank and the Palestinian part of the Holy City. Madrid company GMVis responsible for providing automatic location systems for trams. This is a project that has been going on for four years. approximately 1,000 million euros in total.

The involvement of Spanish companies in these projects has been strongly criticized by organizations such as Amnesty International or the Committee of Solidarity with the Arab Cause, which consider them to reinforce Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. In 2017, the UN Human Rights Council declared the tram expansion project illegal. violates several of its decisions According to Amnesty International, it and other international railway companies refused to enter into public tenders.

Four Spanish companies in occupied Jerusalem

PNC asked both companies to re-evaluate the situation the impact of your project on the human rights situation In the lands occupied by Israel.

Currently, only the CAF company has published the required report, Prensa Ibérica’s El Periódico de España reports. The text acknowledges that International Humanitarian Law (specifically Article 49 of the Geneva Convention) does not permit “infrastructures serving the movement and settlement of settlers.” However, the study finds this does not apply in the case of trams because “Almost all of the settlements existed before the construction of this infrastructure.” and because it is “local urban transport” and not “a railway infrastructure that will connect more or less remote areas and facilitate the transfer of the population” that changes the demographic structure of the region.

Last week, it became known that another Spanish company, the Catalan COMSA, together with its Israeli partner J-Train, won the $2.2 billion tender for the construction of another line, the so-called blue line, connecting settlements. That’s why there are currently four companies working on controversial projects in the Holy City (the fourth is TYPSA, which also serves CAF).

Tram in occupied Jerusalem

The light rail expansion project in Jerusalem connects areas legally controlled by Israel with settlements deemed illegal by Spain, the EU, the United Nations and the United States, among others.

For example, the green and blue lines end like this: Gilo townAn enclave of more than 30,000 Jewish settlers and strongly defended by the Army.

The red line is linked to illegal settlement. Pisgat Ze’ev, also in occupied Jerusalem. The same line is now extended northwards to connect with the colony. Neve Ya’akov.

CAF is a publicly traded multinational railway company headquartered in Beasain (Guipuzcoa) and Invoiced more than 3,000 million euros in 2022. It has more than 13,000 employees. It has a 15-year concession with Shapir for the design and delivery of 57 electric trains consisting of 114 wagons for the green line. In addition, 46 trams serving on the red line need to be renewed. CAF, together with GMV (more than 3,000 employees and 260 million in revenue), must provide the energy, signaling, location and communication systems for the service.

Shapir is inside United Nations blacklist Number of companies operating in settlements in the occupied West Bank. It consists of 112 companies, both Israeli and foreign, and includes various online tourism firms such as the American Airbnb, Expedia, Trip Advisor or Booking, the British Opodo or eDreams. A group of 31 human rights organizations and trade unions has asked the UN to include CAF over its involvement in the expansion of the Jerusalem light rail system.

The letter sent by the Palestinian Government does not contain any reference to the project carried out by the Catalan COMSA, as it was before the concession.