How oil supports the occupation of Palestinian territories

A group of associations asks Eni to suspend the contract with those occupying the Palestinian territories.And the government of Colombia has stopped sending coal.

• A petition launched by ReCommon and other associations asks that Eni abandon the agreement signed with the British company Ithaca Energy.
• The company is 89 percent controlled by Delek Group, accused of violating the rights of the Palestinian people in the West Bank.

Last April, Eni signed an agreement merger between its UK subsidiary and Britain's Ithaca Energy:the goal of the synergy is to bring production in the North Sea to over 100 thousand barrels of oil per day in the short term, and to over 150 thousand by 2030.Associations involved in disinvestment campaigns from fossil fuels, including ReCommon – already involved in it The right cause, the trial against Eni - they point out that not only by doing so does the oil company confirm its willingness to continue with its business as usual based on fossil fuels, but would worsen its reputation by establishing relationships with a company that violates Palestinian rights.

The petition to stop funding

Ithaca Energy, whose 2023 revenues are more than $350 million, is controlled to 89 percent by Delek Group, one of Israel's major energy companies.From 2020, Delek Group is included blacklisted of the United Nations which lists companies active in the Territories occupied by Israel since 1967.In fact, the company supports the occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and supplies fuel to the armed forces of Tel Aviv, engaged in the war underway in Gaza.According to the associations and pressure groups, who launched a petition against Eni, all of this would constitute a violation of international law.

The petition has already been signed from numerous realities of Italian civil society:Greenpeace Italy, Friday for future Italy, Focsiv and many others.“Eni has a strong business relationship with a company that is actually helping to finance the war in the Middle East,” said Eva Pastorelli, ReCommon campaigner.“For this reason, it seems right to us that Italian civil society makes its voice heard and asks the main multinational in our country to interrupt this controversial link.No economic interest can justify perpetuating a conflict that has already claimed tens of thousands of victims and for which there is currently no end in sight,” concluded Pastorelli.

Sanctions are possible:the case of Colombian coal

Energy sanctions were a widely used tool against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.In fact, the European Union and the United States have adopted several sanctions packages to force their companies to avoid the import and export of Russian gas and oil.Sanctions of this type have not currently been adopted against Israel.Yet, there are those who go against the trend compared to the rest of the world:Colombia, for example, is the largest exporter of coal to Israel, or rather, it was until last June 8, when President Gustavo Petro he announced cutting supplies until Israel ends the destruction of the Gaza Strip.

Over 60 percent of coal imported by Israel in 2023 He was of Colombian origin and 22 percent of Israel's electricity generation depends on coal.This fossil fuel therefore represents a vital resource for the same electricity grid that powers not only illegal settlements and Israeli weapons factories, but also the infrastructure used by the Israeli army to perpetrate the war in the Gaza Strip.

Sintracarbón, the main Colombian miners' union, raised a solidarity appeal launched by the trade union movement Palestinian general federation of trade unions, issuing a statement calling for the suspension of Colombian coal exports to Israel.In their request, the miners also highlighted Israel's nefarious role in training paramilitaries and mercenaries responsible for widespread atrocities in Colombia, and called on workers around the world to "stop the production of metals, minerals and fuels used in these wars."

A coalition of Palestinian groups, which adopted the name of Global energy embargo for Palestine (Total energy embargo for Palestine), followed up on this appeal, making a much more extensive request: block, globally, the sale of fuels used to fuel the apartheid underway against the Palestinian people at the hands of Israel.Among the main points emerge, in particular, the interruption of the export of energy sources to Israel, the suspension of purchases of Israeli gas, and the cessation of any collaboration of energy companies in any Israeli energy projects.

For the moment, Colombia has responded positively to the appeal regarding "its" coal.With this energy embargo, the Colombian government wants to show the whole world that exercise a pressure concrete on Israel it's possible.