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April 20, 2015 Annex XI: Letter from Human Rights Watch to XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX Bank President XXXXXXXXXXX Dear Mr. XXXXX, We write to request information in connection with research that Human Rights Watch has carried out with regard to businesses engaged in activities related to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which we plan to publish in the coming months. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization that monitors and reports on human rights in 90 countries around the world. Our research indicates that XXXXXXXXXX finances construction and provides mortgages for real estate in Israeli settlements. Consequently, I am writing to seek your response to several questions, set out below. We would appreciate it if you could provide us with a reply by May 20, 2015 so that we can reflect your views and comments in our forthcoming report. According to Human Rights Watch’s information, XXXXXXXXXX has an accompanying agreement with XXXXX for the development of Green Ariel, a construction project in Ariel. XXXXXXXXXX also provides mortgages to Israeli buyers in Green Ariel and elsewhere in Israeli settlements. The bank’s website advertises the pre-sale of apartments in several buildings under construction in settlements. Green Ariel, like all Israeli settlements, is built on land Israel appropriated in apparent violation of international humanitarian law, which only permits an occupying power to appropriate property it occupies for military purposes or for the benefit of the occupied 145 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JANUARY 2016
people. 411 By financing construction and providing mortgages in Israeli settlements, XXXXXXXX would appear to be facilitating another Israeli violation of international law, the prohibition against the transfer by an occupying power “of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” 412 The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights require business enterprises to carry out human rights due diligence “in order to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their adverse human rights impacts.” Human rights due diligence should include impacts that a company “may cause or contribute to through its own activities, or which may be directly linked to its operations, products or services by its business relationships.” 413 Reflecting these responsibilities, XXXXXXXX2013 corporate social responsibility report noted that the “Bank ensures human rights in all its operations.” 414 Based on those considerations, we would appreciate receiving your responses to the following questions: 1. Does XXXXXXXX conduct due diligence to determine the legal status of the underlying land before providing financing or mortgages in Israeli settlements? 2. Does XXXXXXXX offer its clients preferential terms for mortgages in Israeli settlements? Do the bank’s clients receive subsidies or other preferential terms from the Israeli government, and from which the bank indirectly benefits, for the development or purchase of properties in Israeli settlements? 3. Is XXXXXXXX the accompanying bank for apartments it lists for pre-sale on its website? 4. Does XXXXXXXX have a human rights or corporate social responsibility due diligence policy? If so, please provide us with relevant details. We would welcome receiving any additional information or comments that you are able to provide. 411 See Hague Regulations of 1907, article 55. An occupying power may only confiscate private property if “absolutely necessary” for military operations. See ibid., article 46; Fourth Geneva Convention, article 53. See also, Yorem Dinstein, The International Law of Belligerent Occupation (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009), pp. 224-27. 412 See Fourth Geneva Convention, article 49, para. 6. 413 United Nations, Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (A/HRC/17/31), para. 17, http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf (accessed April 20, 2015). 414 Mizrahi Tefahot, Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2012-2013, page 106, available at https://www.mizrahitefahot.co.il/Lists/BankMizrahiSiteAssets/PDF-English/mizrahi_corporate_in_Separated_eng.pdf (accessed April 9, 2015). <strong>OCCUPATION</strong>, <strong>INC</strong>. 146
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H U M A N R I G H T S W A T C H OCC
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Copyright © 2016 Human Rights Watc
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Land Confiscation .................
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Summary Almost immediately after Is
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housing units or infrastructure, or
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population or if justified by milit
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transfer parts of its own civilian
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The virtually complete lack of gove
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administering or otherwise supporti
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To Third-Party States Assess tra
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to be identified only by their firs
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a 72 square kilometer area of the W
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The second type of settlement busin
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and enforce clear origin labeling o
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Hague Regulations of 1907. 17 Artic
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Israel’s “two-track” legal sy
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This principle is reflected in the
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III. How Businesses Contribute to a
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31 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JANUARY 201
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are 23 settlements in the Jordan Va
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located settlements and industries
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Many Israeli policies that harm Pal
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under construction in the distance,
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Palestinians to delays, resulting i
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equipment, which Israel returns onl
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comptroller found that the Civil Ad
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Heidelberg Cement continues to own
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military’s Civil Administration,
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Palestinian-owned quarry operating
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produce more efficiently if I didn
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A committee investigating Israeli e
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IV. How Businesses Contribute to an
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Ariel cultivates the image of an Is
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IZ Israel border Separation barrier
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According to Abdul-Ghani’s brothe
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Israel] from Tel Aviv. A four-room
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Ma’aleh Adumim and Ariel, like al
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sold the rights to use the RE/MAX b
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in settlements, or attracting new r
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seized in the 1970s. 194 This decla
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least 50 percent of the parcel with
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lawsuits like his, Suleiman said, e
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land. Palestinians are virtually cu
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For example, like all settlement bu
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ultimately agreed to issue a permit
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for settlement businesses on this b
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VI. How Business Contribute to and
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In June 2015, the company employed
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However, while Jordanian laws apply
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Lack of Oversight According to seve
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Page 108 and 109: Annex I: Settlement Industry Settle
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Page 128 and 129: Annex IV: Letter from Human Rights
Page 130 and 131: 1. What amount of taxes, royalties,
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Page 136 and 137: Annex VII: Letter from Human Rights
Page 138 and 139: 3. How many Palestinians does Hanso
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Page 142 and 143: December 2011 the Israeli High Cour
Page 144 and 145: Annex IX: Letter from Human Rights
Page 146 and 147: impacts.” 405 RE/MAX Israel, as a
Page 148 and 149: Annex X: Letter from Human Rights W
Page 150 and 151: identify, prevent, mitigate and acc
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Page 158 and 159: April 21, 2015 Annex XIII: Letter f
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