JERUSALEM POST
Palestinians hail Dutch firm’s decision to pull out of east Jerusalem sewage project

A Dutch engineering firm that was slated to participate in the construction of a sewage treatment facility in east Jerusalem announced on Friday that it was pulling out of the project.

In a move that drew praise from the Palestinians, the company, Royal HaskoningDHV, released a statement on Friday saying that it decided to terminate its involvement in the project “after due consultation with various stakeholders.”

“Royal HaskoningDHV has today advised the client it has decided to terminate the contract for the Kidron waste water treatment plant project,” the firm announced on its Web site. “The project is in the early stages of the preliminary design phase.”

Royal HaskoningDHV carries out its work with the highest regard for integrity and in compliance with international laws and regulations,” the company said. “In the course of the project, and after due consultation with various stakeholders, the company came to understand that future involvement in the project could be in violation of international law.”

“This has led to the decision of Royal HaskoningDHV to terminate its involvement in the project.”

The move was applauded by the Palestinian Authority. Hanan Ashrawi, an executive committee member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, hailed the Dutch firm’s decision. According to Ashrawi, the Dutch government had pressured the company to withdraw from the project.

“Royal HaskoningDHV has emphasized that it conducts its work with the highest regard for integrity and in full compliance with international law and regulations,” Ashrawi said in a statement. “The planned Israeli water treatment plant in East Jerusalem breaches international law, and it is primarily designed to service illegal settlements that cause severe human rights violations.”

“This project deepens Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, consolidates its occupation of the West Bank, and constitutes another obstacle to the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital.”

This past July, the European Union enraged the Israeli government after its controversial decision to institute new guidelines limiting interaction with Israeli entities beyond the pre-1967 lines.

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Palestinians-praise-Dutch-firms-decision-to-pull-out-of-east-Jerusalem-sewage-project-325433

WAFA
RAMALLAH, September 7, 2013 (WAFA) – PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi applauded Friday a decision by the Dutch engineering firm, Royal HaskoningDHV, to terminate its involvement in an illegal Israeli project in occupied East Jerusalem.

“Royal HaskoningDHV has emphasized that it conducts its work with the highest regard for integrity and in full compliance with international law and regulations,” said Ashrawi.

“The planned Israeli water treatment plant in East Jerusalem breaches international law, and it is primarily designed to service illegal settlements that cause severe human rights violations,” she said in a statement.

Ashrawi said the project “deepens Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, consolidates its occupation of the West Bank, and constitutes another obstacle to the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

She commended the Dutch government “for translating its opposition to Israel’s disastrous settlement policy into action, which is in line with EU policy, and for urging Royal HaskoningDHV to end its participation with the illegal project.”

The PLO official called on international corporations to terminate their projects and activities with links to the military occupation and to the illegal settlements.

“We urge other states to assume responsibility and to bring to an end the involvement of corporations within their jurisdiction that contributes to maintaining an illegal situation that causes deep human suffering for the Palestinian people,” Ashrawi concluded.

Royal HaskoningDHV said Friday in a statement that it has decided to terminate the contract for a wastewater treatment plant project, which was still in the early stages of the preliminary design phase.

It said that it made that decision “in compliance with international laws and regulations,” and because “the project could be in violation of international law” due to its presence in occupied territory.

M.S.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=23125

HAARETZ
Dutch engineering giant cancels East Jerusalem project
The Dutch government had warned Royal HaskoningDHV against a wastewater treatment plant with the Jerusalem municipality, because it was to be built over the Green Line.
By Barak Ravid | Sep. 6, 2013

Dutch infrastructure giant Royal HaskoningDHV announced Friday that it has decided to withdraw from a project it planned with the Jerusalem municipality because it will be built over the Green Line.

Two weeks ago, Haaretz reported that the Dutch government has asked the company, Holland’s largest engineering company to rethink its participation the sewage treatment plant because the project was based on the Palestinian side of the 1967 border, and that this would violate international law.

In a statement issued Friday, the Dutch company said that it had “advised the client it has decided to terminate the contract for the Kidron wastewater treatment plant project.” It added that “the project is in the early stages of the preliminary design phase.”

Royal HaskoningDHV carries out its work with the highest regard for integrity and in compliance with international laws and regulations,” it stated. “In the course of the project, and after due consultation with various stakeholders, the company came to understand that future involvement in the project could be in violation of international law. This has led to the decision of Royal HaskoningDHV to terminate its involvement in the project.”

The Dutch government warned Royal HaskoningDHV about the possible consequences of carrying out projects for Israeli companies in East Jerusalem or the West Bank, Haaretz reported last month.

Dutch Foreign Ministry officials told Royal HaskoningDHV that such a project would violate international law, leading the company to consider pulling out of the project to avoid financial, legal and image problems.

In the project, a sewage treatment plant would be built to battle the pollution in the Kidron stream, which runs from the Mount of Olives and the village of Silwan in East Jerusalem toward the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim and the Dead Sea. The plant is to be built in Area C, under full Israeli military and civilian control.

A senior Israeli Foreign Minstry official told Haaretz that in the past two weeks there have been discussions with the Dutch government in an effort to solve the crisis, including talks with the Netherlands’ ambassador in Tel Aviv, Caspar Veldkamp. The Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands, Haim Divon, has also held talks with senior officials at the Dutch Foreign Ministry. At this stage it’s still unclear if the efforts by Israeli diplomats will lead to the resumption of the project.

Two weeks ago, Haaretz reported that The Netherlands’ government contacted Royal HaskoningDHV and recommended that it reconsider taking part in the project. The project was supposed to involve Mati, a subsidiary of Hagihon, the municipality’s water and sewage company. In the project, a sewage treatment plant would be built to battle the pollution in the Kidron stream, which runs from the Mount of Olives and the village of Silwan in East Jerusalem toward the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim and the Dead Sea. The plant is to be built in Area C, under full Israeli military and civilian control.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor said in response that the project meets all the requirements of Israeli and international law. “The decision of the Dutch company to back away from the project indicates that political pressure that has nothing to do with law was applied to it,” Palmor said. “The result of the intimidation and harassment of the company is that Palestinian residents will be denied an important public service. It is hard to see how this serves a European interest.”

PLO Executive Committee member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi welcomed the company’s move, saying, “This project deepens Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, consolidates its occupation of the West Bank and constitutes another obstacle to the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state in the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

“I commend the Dutch government for translating its opposition to Israel’s disastrous settlement policy into action, which is in line with EU policy, and for urging Royal HaskoningDHV to end its participation in this illegal project,” said Dr. Ashrawi.

“We call on international corporations to terminate their projects and activities with links to the military occupation and to the illegal settlements.”

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.545605