UN Settlements Blacklist Now Covers 214 Companies

The United Nations human rights office added 61 companies to its UN settlements blacklist on Friday, in the annual update of a database that names businesses with ties to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The additions bring the total on the UN settlements blacklist to 214 firms, according to the Associated Press, and the update lands as several Western governments tighten their own rules on settlement trade.

The vast majority of the companies are Israeli, and the listed firms are based in 11 countries. Five companies that appeared on last year's list of 158 were removed after the UN office decided their involvement had ceased. The office said it could not say how inclusion on the UN settlements blacklist has affected the companies financially.

What the UN settlements blacklist is

The database was first published in 2020, following a vote by the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN settlements blacklist has been updated since through reviews of companies doing business in or with Israeli settlements, which the UN considers illegal under international law. The council has no power to force companies to change their behavior, and inclusion carries no legal penalty. The stated point of the UN settlements blacklist is to name and shame, according to the Associated Press.

The UN's human rights chief, Volker Türk, said the report was a reminder that companies have human rights responsibilities and should check that their operations do not contribute to rights abuses.

The database sorts firms by how closely their work is judged to be connected to the settlements. In the latest update, 200 of the companies on the UN settlements blacklist were assessed as contributing to adverse effects on the Palestinian right to self-determination, while 14 were judged to be directly linked to such effects, according to the UN office. None reached the highest tier of involvement, which the office reserves for activity that on its own is enough to affect people's ability to enjoy a human right.

Who is on the list and how it was updated

The listed firms span construction, finance, technology, transportation, energy, hospitality, agriculture, food production, telecommunications, waste management, and online travel. The UN settlements blacklist includes major operations such as Motorola and travel apps including Airbnb, Booking.com and Tripadvisor, according to the New York Post's report on the release.

The companies are based in the occupied territories, South Africa, China, the United States, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Mexico. The update followed a review of 126 of the 381 firms that remained under consideration after last year's assessment. Five companies were dropped from the UN settlements blacklist after the office concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe their involvement in the listed activities had stopped.

Reaction in Geneva and beyond

Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva rejected the database, calling it a political tool used by Türk's office to run what it described as a smear campaign against businesses that had done nothing wrong. The mission has repeatedly criticized the Human Rights Council, which created the list under a resolution during Michelle Bachelet's time as high commissioner. The UN applies no similar business database to any other disputed territory, the mission said.

The report was released on September 25, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on September 24. Earlier in September, Britain banned trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and France and Canada said they would take similar steps, giving the UN settlements blacklist more weight than it has carried before. Students have also kept up pressure closer to home, as in the NYU divestment protest over university ties to Israeli companies. For background on the wider conflict, see our Middle East explainer.

The UN office said it could not point to financial damage for listed firms so far. But the trade moves by Britain, France and Canada mean companies have a growing practical reason to pay attention, and the office said the update should prompt firms to review their supply chains and partnerships. More detail on the findings is in the Associated Press report from Geneva.