News on Veolia gets better and better

Well the news is pretty much the same, that is that the zionist occupation's preferred multinational corporate suppier, Veolia, withdrew their bid to handle refuse in North London.  It was campaigners in the London Borough of Hackney who brought the pressure which led to Veolia throwing the towel in.  The better bit is the way that the whole thing has been covered in the local press.  The Hackney Citizen and the Hackney Gazette have both been very informative and supportive of local democracy and accountability throughout the whole process, raising awkward questions as it unfolded in the Town Hall.

Now the Hackney Gazette has a congratulatory piece by Senior Reporter, Emma Bartholomew under the headline, “Best Christmas present ever” for Veolia campaigners:

Campaigners who spent two years vociferously campaigning to block Veolia’s for a multi-million pound deal are celebrating their best Christmas present ever, after the waste company dropped out of the tender.

Veolia was down to the last two bidders for the North London Waste Authority’s £4.7bn waste services and fuel use contract – but the No 2 Veolia Action Group (No2VAG) said the company should be blacklisted because it provides transport, waste, sewage and water services to Jewish settlements in Palestine, which are considered illegal under international law.

The shock news Veolia had withdrawn from the tender process came last Friday, and it is unclear why the decision was made.

The deal, involving seven London boroughs which will cost Hackney £600 million, hit the headlines this month after No2VAG spokeswoman and Hackney resident Caroline Day was blocked from making a five-minute speech at a Hackney Council meeting.

David Lewis, secretary and treasurer of pro-Israeli group Lawyers for Israel, went on to claim silencing her as a ‘victory’, after the Labour party supported Tory Cllr Linda Kelly’s motion to block the speech in a whipped vote.

Veolia declined to comment to the Gazette about why it had dropped out from the tender, and refused to categorically deny it had anything to do with the Israeli settlements controversy.

Ms Day said her group is “absolutely delighted” and lauded the move as a “huge victory for local democracy”.

“Powerful lobbies representing unethical interests in the illegal settlements may have won a short-term victory in silencing me, but in standing up for their right to see their money invested ethically, local people have achieved a victory for justice for the Palestinian people,” she said.

“This really has been the result of very determined collective campaigning across the seven boroughs and huge credit goes to our chair Yael Kahn who has dedicated her life to this for two years,” she added.

As you can see, the full story had some remarkable ingredients including the boasting of Israel lobbyists, at least one whom is a Hackney councillor.

Mondoweiss has an analytical piece on the campaign itself and Charlie Pottins at Random Pottins gets very technical about the whole thing.

All in all, a great victory for BDS and a lesson for others to follow.