A French court ruled that Israel did not violate international law by building a portion of the Jerusalem light rail in the eastern capital.

The ruling on March 22 by the Versailles Court of Appeals was on a lawsuit filed in 2007 by the PLO and the France-Palestine Solaridite association against three firms that participated in the construction of the Light Rail.

On 30 May, the High Court of Nanterre dismissed a petition by the France-Palestine Solidarity Association (AFPS) to nullify under French law contracts signed by French transport giants Veolia and Alstom for building a light rail system in Jerusalem. AFPS has until 30 June to appeal the decision.

In its petition, AFPS asserted that the Jerusalem light rail project will connect western Jerusalem with eastern Jerusalem, which it views as “occupied” normalizing the illegal situation on the ground.

The Nanterre court found that under French law these particular international law provisions have no direct effect on private individuals and companies who are not a party to the conflict. Under French law, only states which signed the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and The Hague Regulations of 1907 can be regarded as being bound by the specific treaty provisions listed in AFPS’s legal arguments.

The Nanterre court judgment repeatedly refers to the obligation (common to all four Geneva Conventions of 1949) on all states “to respect and ensure respect” for the terms of those treaties. The court’s ruling is therefore a reminder that states who are party to those treaties made solemn promises about protecting civilians under military occupation from violations by the occupying power.

According to French international law specialist Monique Chemillier-Gendreau, commenting on the Jerusalem light rail project in Le Monde Diplomatique, “A state is accountable for the actions of its country’s major companies if they break international law and if the state does not do what it can to prevent them” (“Jerusalem’s apartheid tramway,” 17 February 2007).

Not only is France not ensuring the respect of international law, it is actively defying it. Gerard Araud, the country’s ambassador to Israel, took part in the official Jerusalem light rail contract-signing ceremony in the offices of then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. On that occasion, Sharon made it clear that the light rail would “sustain Jerusalem for eternity as the capital of the Jewish people, the united capital of the state of Israel” (“PM Sharon’s Statements at the Ceremony for the Signing of the Light Train Agreement,” Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, 17 July 2005).

France should be held to account for disregarding its responsibilities towards the involvement of Veolia and Alstom in Israel’s illegal activities in the “occupied West BanK.”

The court did not rule on the claims by the companies that the light rail system was being built for the benefit of all local residents, without discrimination.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)