Rosebank campaigners highlight human rights record of Israeli company

Campaigners, faith groups, human rights lawyers and politicians have today gathered outside the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office to oppose the controversial Rosebank oil field. And they warned that the project risks funnelling millions of pounds to a company linked to human rights concerns in Palestine.

The Rosebank field, which has long faced staunch opposition on climate, environment and economic grounds, could send over £200m towards Delek Group if it gets the green light. Delek, one of Israel’s largest companies, is a fuel conglomerate that the UN has flagged for human rights concerns in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The company operates in illegal West Bank settlements and provides fuel to the Israeli military via its subsidiary, Delek Israel.

The demonstration highlights growing concerns over the human rights implications of Rosebank and follows earlier demonstrations which took place across Scotland last week, with support from MSPs and the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

The move also follows legal advice, which led to the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign warning the UK government earlier this year that it could breach its own obligations under international law should it choose to reapprove the Rosebank project.

Among those demonstrating outside the Foreign Office today were Green Party MP Ellie Chowns, Labour MP Richard Burgon, human rights lawyer Alice Hardy and representatives from War on Want, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Christian Climate Action, Fossil Free London and more.

Hardy, a partner at Bindmans, said:

Approving this project would see the UK condone the flow of hundreds of millions of pounds towards a company operating in Israel’s West Bank settlements – which are indisputably illegal under international law.

The UK government has already been warned that it could breach its own obligations under international law should it choose to do so.

Ministers now face a choice: respect international law in their decision making, or wave through a project without regard for those laws.

There are endless reasons why the polluting Rosebank project should not go ahead – but the fact that it could financially benefit a company that is connected to atrocities in Palestine cannot be ignored.

Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East, commented:

Rosebank is wrong on every level. Not only will it cause unparalleled climate damage – it risks funding serious injustice and human suffering abroad.

At a time when the links between oil and conflict are more stark than ever, the UK government must wake up to reality. Not only will new fields like Rosebank keep us locked into the fossil fuel rollercoaster, they will simply enrich oil giants and companies like Delek Group that the UN has linked to serious human rights concerns.

The government must get off the fence and reject Rosebank – making it clear that the UK will not allow North Sea oil profits to fuel harm overseas.

Dr Ellie Chowns, Green MP for North Herefordshire, said:

Moving ahead with the Rosebank oil field project would be a fundamentally reckless and indefensible decision, inflicting devastating damage on our environment while doing nothing to protect energy security or jobs.

At a time when ordinary families across Britain are reckoning with the impacts of climate breakdown and the economic pain of yet another conflict-driven energy crisis, the government should be making every effort to speed up investment in a just transition to renewable energy, not rubber-stamping new fossil fuel projects.

There is also growing evidence that revenues from the Rosebank project could benefit a company linked to illegal settlements and human rights abuses in Palestine, implicating the UK in breaches of international law against Palestinians already suffering amidst ongoing starvation, besiegement, and genocide.

The government cannot disregard the clear environmental, economic, security, and human rights risks posed by this project – it’s time to reject Rosebank for good.

Featured image via the Canary