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Motorola is the latest corporate target for campaigners complaining about human rights abuses in Israel.
The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a coalition of dozens of non-governmental organizations, has begun a ‘Hang up on Motorola’ programme against the multinational, which operates in more than 70 countries and is best known for making mobile phones.
The coalition says it has selected Motorola for various reasons, including the company’s $90million (£45m) contract to supply a secure cellphone communication system to the Israeli military. The group claims this ‘directly enhances the monitoring capabilities of the occupying forces in their illegal military operations in the Palestinian territories’.
It also objects to the supply to the Israeli military – through Motorola Israel, a fully owned subsidiary – of bomb fuses, and surveillance systems that it says are used to monitor the controversial Israeli West Bank barrier, a wall that Israel argues is necessary to minimize terrorism but which many Palestinians view as an illegal attempt to annex land.
The campaigners, whose members include the Catholic Peace Fellowship, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, have begun a letter-writing campaign to Motorola chief executive Greg Brown, supported by leaflets and petitions. The possibility of a consumer boycott has been left open.
In a prepared statement Motorola, which is currently carrying out a periodic review of its human rights policies, said: ‘We have a long record of working with customers in countries throughout the Middle East and support all efforts in the region to find a peaceful resolution.’
Volvo and Caterpillar, who both supply the Israeli military with bulldozers that are sometimes used to demolish Palestinian homes, have been the pressure group’s main targets until now. However, neither company has yet bowed to the campaigners’ demands.
The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a coalition of dozens of non-governmental organizations, has begun a ‘Hang up on Motorola’ programme against the multinational, which operates in more than 70 countries and is best known for making mobile phones.
The coalition says it has selected Motorola for various reasons, including the company’s $90million (£45m) contract to supply a secure cellphone communication system to the Israeli military. The group claims this ‘directly enhances the monitoring capabilities of the occupying forces in their illegal military operations in the Palestinian territories’.
It also objects to the supply to the Israeli military – through Motorola Israel, a fully owned subsidiary – of bomb fuses, and surveillance systems that it says are used to monitor the controversial Israeli West Bank barrier, a wall that Israel argues is necessary to minimize terrorism but which many Palestinians view as an illegal attempt to annex land.
The campaigners, whose members include the Catholic Peace Fellowship, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, have begun a letter-writing campaign to Motorola chief executive Greg Brown, supported by leaflets and petitions. The possibility of a consumer boycott has been left open.
In a prepared statement Motorola, which is currently carrying out a periodic review of its human rights policies, said: ‘We have a long record of working with customers in countries throughout the Middle East and support all efforts in the region to find a peaceful resolution.’
Volvo and Caterpillar, who both supply the Israeli military with bulldozers that are sometimes used to demolish Palestinian homes, have been the pressure group’s main targets until now. However, neither company has yet bowed to the campaigners’ demands.
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