French company to withdraw from Jerusalem rail project

[azurnoir]

Under pressure from pro-Palestine campaigners, a French company is poised to withdraw from the controversial Jerusalem Light Rail project that links the city center to illegal West Bank settlements.

Campaigners in Europe targeted Veolia and another company, Alstom, over their involvement in the project, ultimately causing Veolia to lose 7 billion US dollars in contracts in Bordeaux, Stockholm, and West Midlands, England. Dutch activists also convinced a Dutch bank to divest from Veolia.

The loss of the contract to operate the Stokholm metro, under pressure from peace groups and organizations linked to the Church of Sweden, cost the company 4.5 billion dollars.

Of the eight proposed lines in the Light Rail system, only one is actually under construction. The line connects downtown West Jerusalem with the settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev, which is built on Palestinian land in East Jerusalem.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38406

[Howardx]

1. boycotts work

despite what youre told around here...

[Vegasaurus]

3. Until anyone tries to boycott the technological or medical advances from Israel

SUre, go ahead and boycott to your heart's content.

Will be great to be a sick luddite.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

4. You're being deliberately obtuse.

The goal of a boycott is not the barren demonstration of moral superiority, it's to put pressure on Israel to encourage it to act differently.

That means that a) a boycott doesn't have to be 100% to achieve something, and b) since (I think, although I'm by no means certain) the way that medical researh is funded means that boycotting Israeli medical or similar advances won't actually achieve anything.

[shaayecanaan]

8. Do you boycott the medical advances from Nazi Germany?

Asprin? X-rays? No?

[Sezu]

9. The only ones who LOST were the companies

involved...$7 billion and the employees of that company and new employees that would have been created. Some victory.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

2. All hail BDS!!!!

[azurnoir]

5. I was thinking of you when I posted this

and yes BDS does work!!!!!:hi:

[Fozzledick]

6. Baby Duck Syndrome?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Duck_Syndrome

:shrug:

Yeah, you guys do seem to be stuck in an ideological dead-end from force of habit.

[azurnoir]

7. LOL hardly I am a reformed Israel supporter

I supported Israel for many years until the mid 1990's in fact, there was no one thing that transformed my opinion it was step by step and Bush had nada to do with it, but I do support Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions