Targeting Israeli Apartheid: a BDS handbook - Corporate Watch ...

19 A BDS HandbookOrganic produce seems to be the next big growth area, with increasing demand for organicgoods in Europe and with areas used for organic farming having doubled in Israel during thelast decade. 75 per cent of organics are grown for export, with a massive 90 per cent destinedfor the EU market. 18 Corporate Watch's own research in the occupied territories has shownthat a lot of organic produce destined for Europe originates from illegal Israeli settlementsbut is still packaged in boxes showing accreditation from international standard settingbodies for organic goods, such as the International Federation of Organic AgricultureMovements (IFOAM). 19 IFOAM's own guidelines state that its accredited operators should“respect the rights of indigenous peoples, and should not use or exploit land whoseinhabitants or farmers have been or are being impoverished, dispossessed, colonized,expelled, exiled or killed, or which is currently in dispute regarding legal or customary localrights to its use or ownership.” 20A captive workforceThere are 18,000 Palestinian workers with Israeli work permits employed in illegalsettlements throughout the West Bank. 21 A further 20,000 permit holders work inside Israel. 22Most Palestinians employed by Israeli businesses work in agriculture, construction or in oneof the industrial zones. 23 The Israeli high court ruled in 2007 that Israeli labour laws had tobe extended to Palestinians employed by Israelis in the occupied territories and, since then,Palestinians have been legally entitled to the Israeli minimum wage and other benefits suchas holiday pay, payslips and health cover. 24 However, Palestinian settlement workers ingeneral, and agricultural workers in particular, have seen few changes in their workingconditions as a result, as there is almost no enforcement of the high court ruling inside theoccupied territories. 25 In the few instances where the pay of settlement workers hasincreased, it has only done so after court cases on behalf of individuals. Most of those caseshave been brought by employees in industrial zones rather than agricultural workers. 26On top of the figures for security-cleared workers with permits, there are an estimated10,000 'illegal' Palestinian settlement workers. Almost all of them work in the agricultural18 Ibid, p.180.19 See for instance http://corporateoccupation.wordpress.com/2010/08/12/hadiklaim-in-the-jordanvalley/and http://corporateoccupation.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/further-information-about-edomuk-signs-of-more-mislabelling/,[accessed 10/3/2011].20 The IFOAM basic standards for organic production and processing. Available:http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/standards/norms/norm_documents_library/IBS_V3_20070817.pdf,[accessed 10/3/2011].21 Alenat, Salwa (2010), Working for survival: labor conditions of Palestinians working in settlements,Kav LaOved, Available: http://www.kavlaoved.org.il/media-view_eng.asp?id=3048, [accessed10/3/2011].22 Roy Wagner from Kav LaOved, interview with authors, March 2010.23 Alenat, S (2010), Working for survival, Idem.24 Kav LaOved (2007), Precedent setting ruling, Available: http://www.kavlaoved.org.il/mediaview_eng.asp?id=1123,[accessed 10/3/2011].25 Alenat, S (2010), Working for survival, Idem.26 Ibid.