Which companies are doing business in occupied Palestine? That’s a key question that’s been essential to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement known as BDS, which is trying to increase economic and political pressure on Israel to end the occupation and the growth of Israeli settlements. On Thursday, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to create a blacklist of corporations doing business in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Golan Heights. The Palestinian Authority and members of Arab nations put forth the resolution and the proposal did not receive any “no” votes, while 32 supported the move, and 15 member states abstained from voting altogether. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the decision, calling the United Nations “an anti-Israel circus.”
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