Friends of Palestine boycotts Veolia

The article on the left is the report from the Perth Voice about the Friends of Palestine WA (FOPWA) action on Saturday October 27.

FOPWA is calling on the WA government to cancel contracts with Veolia because of its relationship with Apartheid Israel.

Veolia runs CAT buses and other parts of the Perth bus service through a  subsidiary called "Southern Coast Transit".

Veolia also runs transport services to illegal settlements in occupied Palestine. These services reinforce the process of building and maintaining these settlements which violate Palestinian rights (as well as international law). These Veolia run services have also discriminated against Palestinians in terms of access and employment.

[See below a letter by Friends of Palestine WA member Alex Bainbridge to the Perth Voice in response to the article.]

Thanks for reporting the Friends of Palestine campaign calling on the state government to cancel contracts with Veolia. It is Veolia which runs parts of the bus system in Perth (via a subsidiary) and which is complicit in human rights abuses in occupied Palestine.

Public Transport Authority spokesperson David Hynes responded by saying the PTA has a good relationship with Veolia which generates "high level[s] of satisfaction".

This is reminiscent of the supporters of Italian Fascism who praised Mussolini for having the trains run on time.

Perth people care about human rights and we should not be using taxpayers money to prop up the profits of a company that benefits from Israeli Apartheid and the illegal occupation of Palestine.

Finally, it is worth pointing out that John Hyde is incorrect to accuse the BDS movement of "anti-Semitism".

The BDS movement is entirely devoted to pressuring Israel to comply with international law and to stop discriminating against Palestinians.

There is nothing anti-Jewish about supporting human rights.