The Croatian government must end its cooperation with the Israeli company Enlight Renewable Energy and deny permits for two new mega-projects, because with this it supports the genocide in Gaza and the illegal occupation of Palestine.
This is the message that Zelena akcija/FoE Croatia sent today in front of the government building in Zagreb, as part of the Global Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice. They symbolically depicted the victims of genocide through "bloody" children's toys, shoes and picture books, as well as the blood on the hands of the Croatian authorities for their cooperation with Israel and Israeli companies.
“We have already seen for ourselves that Andrej Plenković’s shameful government has no moral compass because it does not sanction Israel even after at least 65.000 Palestinians have been killed, unlike neighboring Slovenia. Moreover, it warmly welcomed Israeli Minister Sa’ar”, said Marija Mileta from FoE Croatia, adding: “However, it must not enter into new projects with the company Enlight which is complicit in the Israeli genocide and occupation of Palestine”. Specifically, these are the Gala-Obrovac Sinjski solar power plant and the Moseć-Crni Umac/Sitno gornje wind power plant in Dalmatia, which Enlight is planning through its domestic subsidiaries Aureus Solis and MO-BO energy.
“FoE Croatia advocates renewable sources, but not in the hands of large corporations and investors who use them as a tool for occupation and control”, explained Mileta. She states that Enlight is responsible for the exploitation of natural resources in the occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories (the Golan Heights, the Negev, the West Bank and the Gaza Envelope) through the construction of wind farms and solar farms, including Israel's largest renewable energy project, Wind of Genesis. Furthermore, it provides electricity to illegal Israeli settlements and creates such settlements because illegal settlers come to areas with a new source of energy.
In a historic ruling from July 2024, the International Court of Justice confirmed that Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territories since 1967 is illegal and that it is obliged to end it as soon as possible. The Court made it clear to other states that they must refrain from entering into economic or trade deals with Israel, but also take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that help maintain Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine. "The termination of further cooperation with Enlight is an obligation of the Republic of Croatia", Mileta said.
She pointed out that the company also has a history of cooperation with the Israeli army and has installed solar panels on the roofs of its bases. "Enlight profits from cooperation with an army that massacres Palestinians, and it also profits from the occupation."
EU law requires that foreign trade should not involve trade with those who violate human rights, and this is explicitly stated in Article 2 of the EU-Israel trade agreement, the suspension of which is currently under discussion. International law requires that states must take measures to prevent and punish the crime of genocide, and Croatia is a signatory to the Convention from which this obligation arises. “Now, finally, the UN’s top investigative body for Palestine and Israel has ruled that Israel is guilty of the crime of genocide in Gaza. Croatia is aiding genocide by maintaining economic relations with Israel”, Mileta concluded.
The Global Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice addresses the links between war, militarism and social, economic and climate injustice. FoE Croatia joined through the Friends of the Earth network with the message: no to energy for genocide, whether through energy flows to Israel or cooperation with Israeli energy companies.
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https://climatemilitarism.org/weekofaction/
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/un-concludes-israel-guilty-genocide-gaza
https://www.icj-cij.org/node/204176
https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-adv-01-00-en.pdf
https://www.icj-cij.org/index.php/node/204160
https://eeas.europa.eu/archives/delegations/israel/documents/eu_israel/asso_agree_en.pdf
https://investigate.afsc.org/company/enlight-renewable-energy
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