Under pressure from a looming referendum on a boycott of Israel, the Amsterdam City Council recently declared that its procurement process cannot involve direct or indirect complicity in human rights violations. The factions of PRO Amsterdam, Denk, D66, and Bij1 are already testing that principle.
GVB, the city’s public transport operator, has started a tender process for the purchase and maintenance of 75 new trams, the parties wrote in written questions to the Transport Region (Vervoerregio) Amsterdam. The City of Amsterdam and the Transport Region together own the GVB.
The parties want to ensure that GVB does not choose the Spanish train and mobility company CAF. They point out that CAF worked on the expansion of the Jerusalem Light Rail. “This light rail connects West Jerusalem with settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, thereby helping to facilitate human rights violations,” the politicians write. “UN human rights office OHCHR states that CAF is indeed involved in certain activities surrounding the settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.”
Most of the boycotts that are currently somewhat succesful are, unfortunately, scattershot. I do not hold that against those who boycott, I do it myself and by all means, boycott. But we need a more piercing and precise boycott strategy to make sure we actually manage to make some impact. Something a referendum, I think, would be very useful for.