Private Security Companies and the Israeli Occupation Report by Who Profits Research Center January 2016 Cover photo by ActiveStills. Private Security Companies and the Israeli Occupation Report by Who Profits Research Center January 2016 Who Profits from the Occupation is a research center dedicated to exposing the commercial involvement of Israeli and international companies in the continued Israeli control over Palestinian and Syrian land. Currently, we focus on three main areas of corporate involvement in the occupation: the settlement industry, economic exploitation and control over population. Who Profits operates an online database which includes information concerning companies that are commercially complicit in the occupation. Moreover, the center publishes in-depth reports and flash reports about industries, projects and specific companies. Who Profits also serves as an information center for queries regarding corporate involvement in the occupation – from individuals and civil society organizations working to end the Israeli occupation and to promote international law, corporate social responsibility, social justice and labor rights. www.whoprofits.org | [email protected] | P.O.B. 1084 | Tel-Aviv 6101001, Israel NOVACT-International Institute for Nonviolent Action promotes international peace-building actions in conflict situations. The Institute has been created through the collective effort of those active in international civil society to contribute to a peaceful, just and dignified world. Understanding nonviolence as a transformation strategy, NOVACT strives to achieve a society based on human security and real democracy, free of armed conflicts and violence in all of its dimensions. NOVACT is part of the campaign Control PMSC (Private Military Security Companies - http:// controlpmsc.org/) that calls for the adoption of binding international and national regulations to limit the privatization of warfare and security, to regulate the activities of private military and security companies and hold these companies accountable for their human rights abuses and violations of the law. With the support of the Ajuntament de Barcelona Table of Contents Introduction 9 Private Security Companies in the Checkpoints 11 The Privatization Process in “Border Checkpoints” 13 The Crossing Points Authority 16 The Authority of Private Security Guards 20 The Process of Passing Through a Checkpoint 21 Private Checkpoint Operators 26 Sheleg Lavan 28 Modi’in Ezrachi 29 Outsourcing Security in the Settlements 30 Private Security Companies in the Settlements 33 Modi’in Ezrachi 36 G4S Israel 37 T&M Protection Resources Holdings Israel 39 Moked Matara 40 Nof Yam Security 40 Galshan Marketing Human Resources Guarding & Security 40 Avidar Security 41 Ben Security 42 Reshef Security 42 Conclusion 44 Appendix: Galshan Marketing response letter 45 Introduction Under the severe military regime that has been in place in the occupied territories since 1967, some three and a half million Palestinians are denied basic rights and liberties and subjected to repressive violence by Israeli security forces and Israeli settlers, under the protection of different security bodies. The power of the Israeli authorities over the Palestinian people is imposed, among other means, by restrictions on the movement of Palestinians through various mechanisms, such as checkpoints, curfews and detentions. In the West Bank, over two million Palestinians are divided between dozens of fragmented enclaves, which are surrounded by a system of roadblocks, walls and checkpoints, as well as by Israeli settlements and roads designated for the exclusive use of Israelis. The Palestinians who live in these enclaves are deprived of basic rights and needs, such as the right to have a home and a family and the right to work, acquire an education and have access to basic healthcare services. Large areas of the West Bank are either closed off to Palestinian movement altogether or require extremely rare entry permits.1 The Israeli control over the occupied Palestinian territory (hereinafter: oPt) is implemented through various security and police forces. In recent decades, many military responsibilities were handed over to private civilian companies, turning the private security industry into one of the fastest growing industries in Israel.2 Private security companies guard 1 United Nation, OCHA-oPt, “Five years after the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion”, a summary, OHCHA-oPt, July 2009, p. 16, http://bit.ly/1SH18Cx. 2 Rela Mazali, 2009, “The Gun on the Kitchen Table: The Sexist Subtext of Private Policing in Israel.” Private Security Companies and the Israeli Occupation 9 settlements and construction sites in the oPt, and some are also in charge of the day-to-day operation, security and maintenance of Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza. This report aims to expose and describe the involvement of private security companies in West Bank and East Jerusalem checkpoints and settlements. The report analyzes the privatization of the checkpoints, mainly along the Separation Wall, the operation of checkpoints and the outsourcing process in West Bank settlements. It highlights the role of private security guards in the systematic oppression of the Palestinian population. Our methodology included desk research based on public sources, governmental databases, protocols of Knesset committees and settlement council meetings and Freedom of Information requests. In addition, we conducted field research in different sites in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in order to gather evidence on the involvement of private security companies in the apparatus of occupation. All sources for the information about companies in this report are on file with Who Profits. Who Profits requested the response of all the companies that are mentioned in this report. Only Galshan Shvakin replied to the Who Profits letter - the response letter is attached in the annex at the end of this report. In: Gender Perspectives on Small Arms and Light Weapons., eds. Vanessa Farr, Albrecht Schnabel. New York: UN University Press. Private Security Companies 10 and the Israeli Occupation Private Security Companies in the Checkpoints The Israeli checkpoints are part of the control and surveillance mechanism imposed over the Palestinian population, and they are a significant element in the daily reality of the occupation. Furthermore, as part of the Separation Wall apparatus, the checkpoints prevent the expansion and development of the Palestinian society. The system of Israeli checkpoints and permits has underwent several changes over the years that followed the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967. Initially, there were no permanent border barriers between Israel proper and the oPt. The state of Israel benefited from having a cheap labor force in years of inflation, and enabled Palestinians with a general permit (authorized by the Israeli General Security Service in Israel – the GSS or the Shabak) to enter Israel. A general crossing permit enabled Palestinians to enter Israel without any major considerable limitations. The change in the function of the checkpoints began between the years 1991-1993, when the general crossing permit was cancelled and Israel initiated a policy that included long closures on the oPt and distributionissuance of specific permits under strict conditions.3 In the years following the Second Intifada, between 2001-2003, the Israeli government initiated a separation project that included the construction of “border checkpoints”4 along the route of the Separation Wall. Dozens of checkpoints were established between Israel and the West Bank and 3 Van Leer Institute, Policy Paper: The Privatization of Checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Hebrew), 2014, http://bit.ly/1G9YI8r. 4 Border checkpoints are defined as the last checkpoint before entering Israel. Private Security Companies and the Israeli Occupation 11 in the Jerusalem envelope:5 checkpoints for pedestrians, vehicles and merchandize, agricultural checkpoints and “fabric of life” checkpoints, a term that mostly refers to checkpoints for settlers only.6 During those years, the interest in the checkpoints grew and their operation was reviewed by Israeli security forces, Israeli and international civil society organizations and foreign governments. Among those was the Israeli women’s organization MachsomWatch, which was established in 2001 and is dedicated to documenting the activity in the checkpoints.7 MachsomWatch was included in the research for this report, and their perspective and data will be presented below. According to B’Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, by April 2015 there were 96 fixed checkpoints in the West Bank. These include 57 internal checkpoints, located well within the West Bank, and 39 checkpoints that are the last inspection point before entering Israel, although most are located several kilometers east of the Green Line, or just outside the entrance to Jerusalem. These checkpoints will be referred to in these paper as “border checkpoints”. In addition, the military erects hundreds of surprise “flying checkpoints” 8 along West Bank roads. 5 The area of the Separation Wall in Jerusalem and its surroundings. 6 State Comptroller, “The Operation of the Crossings between Israel and the Judea and Samaria Area” June 2010 (Hebrew), http://bit.ly/1MOZnhn. 7 Van Leer, Policy Paper. 8 B’Tselem, Checkpoints, Physical Obstructions, and Forbidden