Connex in Israel breaches international law ..............................

Connex has won the contract to run the �280 million light railway linking the Pisgat Ze'ev settlement in north-eastern Jerusalem, along municipal road number 1, through the city centre, Jaffa St., the western entrance to the city, to Mount Herzl. The 13.8 km railway is to be constructed by the consortium City-Pass which consists of domestic investors Polar Investments, Ashtrom Ltd. and Harel Insurance Investments, and Paris-based transport giants Alstom and CGEA-Connex. Connex and Alstom will operate the railway for the next 30 years.

So far, there have been 65 United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions passed against Israeli actions; in particular resolution 446 declaring that settlements on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to be illegal. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Qidwa has pointed out that one of the articles of the Geneva Convention prevents any state from transferring a part of its population onto a territory it occupies, and stipulates that all signatories of the Geneva Convention are bound to stop any company that helps carry out this process. Connex will therefore be aiding and abetting this breach of international law.

The 'Separation Wall' forces the Palestinian people into a series of enclaves
Ever since the formation of the Israeli state in 1948 with the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians and the systematic destruction of more than 400 villages, Israel has maintained a callous and brutal policy towards the Palestinian people. This has been shown more recently by the building of the 8 metre high 'Separation Wall,' also known as the 'Apartheid Wall' (120 kms of it in Jerusalem alone). The purpose of the Wall is to annexe more Palestinian territory and to enlarge the illegal Israeli settlements. The Wall has sliced through villages and neighbourhoods annexing large areas of fertile land (including the aquifer system that provides most of the Palestinians' water). On completion of the Wall, the Palestinians will be left in a series of disjointed enclaves linked by a substandard, aging road network interrupted by checkpoint bottlenecks.

The Connex light railway to link illegal settlements
The contrast between the ghettoization of the Palestinian people - and the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlements is crystal-clear. Alongside the destruction of Palestinian communities comes the massive Israeli investment in the infrastructure that will link the illegal settlements. This is where the Connex light railway comes into this equation. The railway will be built on stolen Palestinian land and will link Jerusalem with the illegal settlements in the West Bank. So while Israeli's expansion is in direct breach of the Geneva Convention and multiple United Nations' resolutions and has been the subject of international condemnation (though ignored by the UK and US media), Connex has, characterisically, disregarded all legal and moral objections, and plans to go ahead with this universally condemned project.

Palestinian organisations are now calling for boycotts, demonstrations and actions against Connex businesses.