The United Nations and BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions): Modern Antisemitism

Timeline of BDS at the UN


2023

  • The Human Rights Council adopts a resolution mandating the High Commissioner for Human Rights to release annually an updated blacklist of businesses "conducting activities in or related to" Israeli "settlements" and requesting the U.N. Secretary-General to allocate resources to enable the High Commissioner to do so:

    U.N. Human Right Council Resolution, A/HRC/RES/53/25, “Implementation of Human Rights Council Resolution 31/36,” adopted July 14, 2023

    "The Human Rights Council,
    ...
    Reaffirming also that Human Rights Council mandates should be implemented and adequately funded without interference of any kind, Recalling Human Rights Council resolution 31/36 of 24 March 2016, in which the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to produce a database of all business enterprises involved in the activities detailed in paragraph 96 of the report of the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

    1. Requests the Secretary-General to allocate the financial and human resources and expertise necessary to enhance the capacity of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure that the mandate given by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 31/36 is fully implemented, and requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure that the yearly updates of the database include addition and removal of companies, and to present the database on an annual basis to the Council starting from its fifty-seventh session;

    2. Decides to remain seized of the matter."
  • The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights releases an updated blacklist of businesses "conducting activities in or related to" Israeli "settlements":

    OHCHR update of database of all business enterprises involved in the activities detailed in paragraph 96 of the report of the independent international factfinding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights June 30, 2023

    "Introduction

    1. The United Nations Human Rights Council, in its resolution 31/36, on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, adopted on 24 March 2016, requested “the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in close consultation with the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, in follow-up to the report of the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and as a necessary step for the implementation of the recommendation contained in paragraph 117 thereof, to produce a database of all business enterprises involved in the activities detailed in paragraph 96 of the afore-mentioned report, to be updated annually, and to transmit the data therein in the form of a report to the Council at its thirty-fourth session”.

    2. In response to this request, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights submitted an interim report to the Human Rights Council, setting out methodology used for the production of the database (A/HRC/37/39), and a further report containing the database of 112 business entities based on relevant activity of such entities to 1 August 2019 (A/HRC/43/71). That report further stated, in its paragraph 32, that a business enterprise may provide information indicating that it was no longer involved in the relevant listed activity, and that, where there were reasonable grounds to believe that the business enterprise was ceasing or was no longer involved in the relevant activity, the business enterprise would be removed from the database.

    3. Since the publication of that report in February 2020, a number of companies provided OHCHR with information indicating that they were ceasing or were no longer involved in the relevant activity. In addition, OHCHR became aware of information that a number of business enterprises had seen changes in their structure, ownership and/or operations with implications on their involvement in relevant listed activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

    4. In absence of regular budget resources required for annual updating of the database on an open-ended basis, the present update has been prepared within existing resources, on an exceptional basis, and without prejudice as to any future decision.
    ...
    Updated database

    13. Of the 112 business enterprises included in the 2020 database report A/HRC/43/71, OHCHR found reasonable grounds for the removal of 15 business enterprises on basis that they were ceasing or were no longer involved in one or more of the listed activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, according to the standard described above. They were, as a result, removed from the updated database set out in Section A below.
    ...
    Conclusion

    17. In OHCHR’s view, the process of preparing the present update has facilitated continuing constructive engagement with business enterprises in particular. The update, in complement with the February 2020 report, serves to promote clarity and transparency with respect to the activities in question, and in turn to assist both Member States and business enterprises in complying with respective obligations and responsibilities applicable under international law."

2021

  • The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights informs the Human Rights Council that there is insufficient funding to allow the blacklist to be updated annually:

    Statement by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Human Rights Council, 46th session, Agenda Item 7 March 13, 2021

    "...questions have been raised in the course of this session with respect to my report to the Council's 43rd session issued under resolution 31/36 (A/HRC/42/71) and associated process. Operative paragraph 17, which mandated that the data contained in the database be reported to the Council's 34th session, also contemplated the database 'to be updated annually'. In the Statement of Programme Budget Implications read out prior to the Council's adoption of resolution 31/36 in March 2016, however, it was clearly stated that resource implications of the resolution set out in the Statement were on a one-time basis.

    In my statement last June to the Council's resumed 43rd session on introduction of this report, I also specifically noted the question of resource requirements for any further work. It is not possible for the Office to absorb, on an open-ended recurring basis into the future, the substantial resources that updating the database and reporting to the Council would annually imply. Any further work in this area can only be discharged consistent with the Organization's budgetary process applicable to funding mandates of the Council."

2020

  • The Secretary-General produced another "progress" report on damages that the UN General Assembly claims Israel owes to Palestinians as a result of the barrier it built to protect Israelis from Palestinian terrorism. The recent SG report says it has so far received 71,547 damage claims. There have been 12 such reports to date.

    Letter from the Secretary-General to the President of the General Assembly including the progress report from the Board of the UN Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, A/ES-10/839, July 24, 2020

    "1. The Board of the United Nations Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory provides the present progress report, in accordance with paragraph 6 (h) of General Assembly resolution ES-10/17, covering the period from 22 June 2019 to 1 July 2020......
    ...
    4. By 1 July 2020, 71,547 claim forms for registration of damage and more than 1 million supporting documents had been collected and delivered to the Office of the Register of Damage in Vienna...
    ...
    21. The Board of the Register of Damage will continue to provide periodic reports."
  • The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights releases the blacklist of businesses "conducting activities in or related to" Israeli "settlements":

    Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/43/71, Database of all business enterprises involved in the activities detailed in paragraph 96 of the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, February 12, 2020

    "A. Background
    1. The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to resolution 31/36, on "Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan", adopted by the Council on 24 March 2016.

    2. In paragraph 17 of resolution 31/36, the Council requested production of a database of all business enterprises involved in certain specified activities related to the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, to be updated annually, and to transmit the data therein in the form of a report to the Council.
    ...
    B. Mandate
     6. Human Rights Council resolution 31/36 requesting production of a database was in follow-up to the report of the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (A/HRC/22/63). In its report, the fact-finding mission set out a list of activities that raised particular human rights concerns for it ("listed activities"). In resolution 31/36, the Council defined the database by reference to the listed activities compiled by the fact-finding mission in its report, which were:

    (a) The supply of equipment and materials facilitating the construction and the expansion of settlements and the wall, and associated infrastructures;
    (b) The supply of surveillance and identification equipment for settlements, the wall and checkpoints directly linked with settlements;
    (c) The supply of equipment for the demolition of housing and property, the destruction of agricultural farms, greenhouses, olive groves and crops;
    (d) The supply of security services, equipment and materials to enterprises operating in settlements;
    (e) The provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements, including transport;
    (f) Banking and financial operations helping to develop, expand or maintain settlements and their activities, including loans for housing and the development of businesses;
    (g) The use of natural resources, in particular water and land, for business purposes;
    (h) Pollution, and the dumping of waste in or its transfer to Palestinian villages;
    (i) Captivity of the Palestinian financial and economic markets, as well as practices that disadvantage Palestinian enterprises, including through restrictions on movement, administrative and legal constraints;
    (j) Use of benefits and reinvestments of enterprises owned totally or partially by settlers for developing, expanding and maintaining the settlements.

    7. Paragraph 5 of the previous report outlined parameters of the database, which encompasses business enterprises, whether domiciled in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territory or abroad, carrying out listed activities in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
    ...
    F. Database of business enterprises

    31. OHCHR identified that 112 of the 188 business enterprises considered for inclusion in the database met the required standard of reasonable grounds to believe involvement in one or more of the listed activities. These are set out immediately following.
    ...
    H. Recommendation

    33. Resolution 31/36 contemplated that the database be updated annually. OHCHR would recommend that the Human Rights Council establish a group of independent experts, with a time-bound mandate, to report directly to the Council for such a purpose."

2019

  • The Secretary-General produced another "progress" report on damages that the UN General Assembly claims Israel owes to Palestinians as a result of the barrier it built to protect Israelis from Palestinian terrorism. The recent SG report says it has so far received 69,554 damage claims. There have been 11 such reports to date.

    Letter from the Secretary-General to the President of the General Assembly including the progress report from the Board of the UN Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, A/ES-10/821, July 2, 2019

    "1. The Board of the United Nations Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory provides the present progress report, in accordance with paragraph 6 (h) of General Assembly resolution ES-10/17, covering the period from 23 June 2018 to 21 June 2019...
    ...
    4. By 16 June 2019, 69,554 claim forms for registration of damage and more than 1 million supporting documents had been collected and delivered to the Office of the Register of Damage in Vienna...
    ...
    17. The Board of the Register of Damage will continue to provide periodic reports."
  • The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights submits a report to the UN Human Rights Council calling for states to not "aid or assist" settlements:

    Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/40/43, Ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, March 13, 2019

    "51. Given the obligations of third States not to recognize as lawful a situation violating international law and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation, States should not recognize the unlawful situation resulting from Israeli settlements or aid or assist in maintaining it. In this regard, Security Council resolution 2334 of 23 December 2016, having reaffirmed that that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, had no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation under international law, called upon all States 'to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967.'"
  • The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights writes a letter to the President of the UN Human Rights Council supporting the creation of the database but explaining the delay of its release due to "the novelty of the mandate and its legal, methodological and factual complexity":

    Letter from the High Commissioner to the President of the Human Rights Council regarding Human Rights Council resolution 31/36, March 4, 2019

    "I write further to Human Rights Council resolution 31/36 of 24 March 2016, entitled "Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan".

    In a letter dated 25 January 2017 to the then President of the Human Rights Council, my predecessor as High Commissioner, Zeid Ra' ad Al Hussein, recommended a deferment of the report requested in resolution 31/36, based on the need to consider inputs submitted and ensure that due process was fully respected. In a report to the Council dated 1 February 2018 (A/HRC/37/39), my predecessor described the state of progress made, and advanced a preliminary analysis. On 7 August 2018, by way of letter to the then President of the Human Rights Council, further detail was provided as to process as it stood at that time, with indication that OHCHR expected to provide the Council with an update on the matter in the future.

    Since my assumption of functions as High Commissioner in September 2018, I have been engaged in a process of consideration and assessment of the steps undertaken to date. The steps taken pursuant to resolution 31/36 have led to important, and welcome, engagement with Member States, business entities, civil society and other stakeholders, which is ongoing. I am committed to discharging the mandate of the Human Rights Council set out in its resolution 31/36, and intend to report to the Council accordingly. Given the novelty of the mandate and its legal, methodological and factual complexity, further consideration is necessary to fully respond to the Council's request.

    My Office shall continµe to devote requisite attention to the matter, with a view to finalizing this mandated activity in coming months, and I look forward to engagement with the Council in that regard."

2018

  • The Secretary-General produced another "progress" report on damages that the UN General Assembly claims Israel owes to Palestinians as a result of the barrier it built to protect Israelis from Palestinian terrorism. The recent SG report says it has so far received 67,235 damage claims. There have been 10 such reports to date.

    Letter from the Secretary-General to the President of the General Assembly including the progress report from the Board of the UN Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, A/ES-10/801, July 9, 2018

    "1. The Board of the United Nations Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory provides the present progress report, in accordance with paragraph 6 (h) of General Assembly resolution ES-10/17, covering the period from 17 June 2017 to 22 June 2018...
    ...
    4. By 22 June 2018, 67,235 claim forms for registration of damage and more than 1 million supporting documents had been collected and delivered to the Office of the Register of Damage in Vienna...
    ...
    16. The Board of the Register of Damage will continue to provide periodic reports."
  • The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights submits a report to the UN Human Rights Council calling for states to "take appropriate measures" against corporations operating in settlements:

    Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/37/41, Ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, March 19, 2018

    "42. Human Rights Council resolution 34/28 also calls upon all duty bearers to pursue the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the occupied Palestinian territory. In its recommendations, the report of the fact-finding mission also refers to third States' responsibility concerning situations where a State is breaching peremptory norms of international law. States should not recognize as lawful a situation violating international law, nor render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation. Accordingly, third States should not recognize the unlawful situation resulting from Israeli settlements, nor to aid or assist Israel in this regard. In addition, third States shall also cooperate to bring to an end, through lawful means, any serious breach arising under a peremptory norm of general international law. Such cooperation is also implied by the Charter of the United Nations to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms, as expressly recalled by most of the international human rights treaties.

    43. Recognizing that "business enterprises have, directly and indirectly, enabled, facilitated and profited from the construction and growth of the settlements", the fact finding mission also called upon all Member States to take appropriate measures to ensure that business enterprises domiciled in their territory and/or under their jurisdiction, including those owned or controlled by them, that conduct activities in or related to the settlements respect human rights throughout their operations."

  • The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights submits a report to the UN Human Rights Council on corporations that are "conducting activities in or related to" Israeli "settlements" and asks for more "resources" to publish the full list of companies:

    Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/37/39, Database of all business enterprises involved in the activities detailed in paragraph 96 of the report of the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem," January 26, 2018:

    "1. The present report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to resolution 31/36, on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, adopted by the Council on 24 March 2016. In paragraph 17 of resolution 31/36, the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to produce a database of all business enterprises engaged in certain specified activities related to the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in consultation with the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, and to transmit the data therein in the form of a report to the Council at its thirty-fourth session. The Council also requested that the database be updated annually.
    ...