FIDH and civil society organisations [1] published a comprehensive report on May 6 denouncing the business relationship between the Orange Group and Partner Communications operating in Israeli settlements in the OPT, and the participation of the French State as Orange’s principal minority shareholder. This dangerous relationship indirectly contributes to the maintenance and strengthening of the settlements, which are considered illegal by the international community.
The report argues that Orange should end the relationship with Partner and align its business operations with its responsibility to respect human rights, as set out in the Group code of ethics and in the OECD Guidelines and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The report also calls on the French authorities to demand an end to the business relationship, in accordance with its international human rights obligations both as a home State and a shareholder on Orange and in light of the June 2014 advisory to French businesses on the legal and economic risks entailed by their activities and transactions in Israeli settlements or benefiting those settlements.
Following the publication of the report, Saeb Erekat, lead negotiator of the Palestinian Authority (PA), wrote to France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, to denounce the link between Orange and Partner.
Read the full report: Orange’s Dangerous Liaisons in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
See also the “Made in Illegality”campaign