The Settlement Industry
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 04:26PM 
http://whoprofits.org/Involvements.php?id=grp_inv_settlement#grp_inv_settlement_2
Since the 1967 occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, Israel has constructed civilian colonies, or settlements, in them and encouraged Israeli citizens and industries to move into them. Presently there are 135 Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories and dozens of additional “outposts” – settlements not yet officially recognized by the Israeli Government. These house over 562,000 Jewish Israeli residents: 282,000 in the West Bank (without Jerusalem), 260,000 in neighborhoods built in Arab Jerusalem or annexed to Jerusalem, and 20,000 in the Golan Heights.
The Israeli civilian construction includes housing projects as well as extensive infrastructure such as roads and water systems for the exclusive use of Israeli settlers, on lands confiscated from Palestinians or declared “state lands” in various ways. This has resulted in the effective partial or full annexation of the Occupied Territories into the Israeli state. An occupying power moving its citizens into the occupied area is in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and making permanent changes in the occupied land for these settlers is in violation of the Hague Regulations.
In this section of the database, we distinguish between three different forms of corporate involvement in the settlement industry: The Israeli companies which are located in the settlements and thus use the captive resources of Palestinian land and labor in their production; The companies involved in sustaining the settlements and connecting them to Israel; The companies involved in real estate deals and the construction of Israeli infrastructure and settlements on occupied lands.
Israeli industrial zones within the Occupied Territories hold hundreds of businesses and factories, ranging from small businesses serving the local Israeli settlers to large factories which export their products worldwide. Several settlements, especially in the Jordan Valley, produce agricultural goods, such as fruits and flowers, and sell them in Israel and internationally.
Settlement production usually enjoys tax incentives, low rent and other governmental supports. Many times, the restrictions on Palestinian movement and the lack of protection for Palestinians in the Israeli controlled areas result in gross violations of Palestinian labor rights.
The origin of exported settlement products is often intentionally obscured. Companies hold marketing addresses within Israel, or market their products under a label which included products from within Israel.
The ever-on-going construction of all these involves Israeli and international firms � in real estate transactions, planning and construction, infrastructure and engineering, security guards and maintenance.