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PSC Veolia Contract Statement
PSC Veolia Contract Statement
Another VE Israeli subsidiary, Veolia Environmental Services - Israel, supervises, consults for, and operates the Tovlan Landfill in the occupied Jordan Valley, collecting refuse from illegal settlements. Israel renders it almost impossible for Palestinians in the Jordan Valley to gain permits to build homes, toilets, wells, animal pens, or other vital infrastructure for local communities, which has forced almost all Palestinian families out, with those remaining living in dire conditions. Some are left with no alternative but to work on settlements that have taken their families land, for pay far below the minimum wage, unable to take bathroom breaks, and denied any rights to unionize. Veolia takes captured Palestinian land and natural resources to service the settlements exploiting or driving out Palestinians. Finally, VE has also been involved in the construction and operation of a tramway linking illegal settlements in East Jerusalem with Israel. The tramway not only institutionalizes the occupation, but it is a settlement in itself, given that it is settler infrastructure built on occupied land. VEs immoral practices and extensive profiting from Israels illegal discriminatory practices have provoked global outcry and made the company a target for boycott and divestment campaigns around the world -- costing it $12.5 billion to date in lost contracts. Recently, the Friends Fiduciary Corporation, which handles investments for hundreds of Quaker institutions around the U.S., divested from VE following advocacy from Palestine solidarity groups. Now, VE is bringing its risky and immoral business to our backyard. Veolia Water is the U.S. arm of VE. As St. Louisans, we do not feel that our tax dollars and water payments should go toward supporting a company profiting from environmental destruction, unfair labor practices, and the bloodshed of and systematic ethnic discrimination against the Palestinian people. The St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee stands in solidarity with public workers, water and environmental justice activists, and the Palestinian people threatened by this contract. We call on the Board of Estimate & Appointment not to approve this public contract with Veolia. St. Louis Jewish Voice for Peace also endorses this statement.