Editor’s note: Katharine Booth holds a LLM,
Advanced Programme in European and International Human Rights Law from Leiden
University, Netherlands and a LLB and BA from the University of New South
Wales, Australia. She is currently working with the Asser Institute in The
Hague. She previously worked for a Supreme Court Justice and as lawyer in
Australia.
Overview
On 12 February 2020, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (Commissioner) issued a report on all business
enterprises involved in certain activities relating to Israeli settlements in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) (Report). The Report contains a database of
112 businesses that the Commissioner has reasonable grounds to conclude have
been involved in certain activities in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Of
the businesses listed, 94 are domiciled in Israel and the remaining 18 in 6
other countries: France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Thailand, the UK and the US.
Many of the latter are household names in digital tourism, such as Airbnb,
Booking, Expedia, Opodo and TripAdvisor, as well as Motorola. More...