'The European Union has broken its commitment to cease funding firms based in Israel’s illegal settlements.
Five years ago, the EU issued a policy paper stating that Israeli companies were not eligible to draw down subsidies if they had been set up in the occupied West Bank.
One such company, the cosmetics maker Ahava, has nonetheless managed to participate in Horizon 2020, the Union’s latest program for scientific research. It is benefitting from a $4.5 million EU-funded scheme on using nanotechnology to develop new skin care products.
Ahava is headquartered in the settlement of Mitzpe Shalem. Like all Israel’s settlements in the West Bank, Mitzpe Shalem has been constructed in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
There can be no doubt that Ahava is based there.
Pretending to be a staff member with a pro-Israel lobby group, I contacted its offices in Mitzpe Shalem, saying that I was interested in bringing some European lawmakers to tour the site.
The woman who took my call confirmed that Ahava runs a visitors center in Mitzpe Shalem, with a factory “behind the store.” When I asked if that was the company’s main factory, she replied: “It is the only factory of Ahava.”'
Read more: Why is Europe still funding occupation profiteer Ahava?
