Carmel_Agrexco

Carmel Agrexco

Carmel Agrexco (or in short Agrexco), established in 1956, is Israel’s largest exporter of agricultural produce, with the European Union one of its major markets. Agrexco is a state-owned company, with 50% of its stock held by the State of Israel, 25% by the Israeli Production and Marketing Boards, and 25% by Tnuva. In August 2008, the Israeli government approved a privatization program for Agrexco, stipulating that at least 51% of Agrexco's stock should be tendered to private investors. This decision follows in the wake of the recently completed transformation of Tnuva from a cooperative owned by Israeli farmers (kibbutzim and moshavim) to a private company owned by Apax Partners.

In 2007, Agrexco marketed 435,000 tons of fresh agricultural produce with a turnover of €653 million. This consisted mainly of vegetables (47%), cut flowers (19%), and fruits (14%). In addition to exporting the produce of Israeli farmers inside the Green Line and in West Bank settlements, Agrexco is the main export channel to Europe for Palestinian fresh produce from Gaza (carnations, strawberries, cherry tomatoes).

Agrexco has a global network of marketing branches operating in London, Frankfurt, Paris, Rotterdam, New York, Zurich, Vienna, Madrid, and Milan. Special sales offices in Israel deal with countries where Agrexco does not have representative offices, such as Eastern Europe, the Far and Near East. Carmel Agrexco's main UK depot is in Swallowfield Way, Hayes, Middlesex.

Protests in the UK

There have been various protests at Carmel Agrexco’s depot in Middlesex. Critics claim Carmel Agrexco is responsible for the export of two-thirds of all produce from the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian Territories.

On 5 July 2007, ten activists entered Carmel Agrexco depot in Hayes Middlesex. The Israeli flag that usually flies was replaced with a Palestinian flag and the black-and-red flag of anarcho-syndicalism took the place of the Union Flag. The activists handed leaflets to the workers to explain the reasons for their actions. Two locked themselves to equipment with D locks. They asked to speak to workers about Carmel Agrexco’s support for ethnic cleansing and war crimes in Palestine, but were opposed.

Generally no arrests are made and even when they are no charges are brought. However the protesters suggest that Carmel Agrexco asked the police not to arrest or prosecute, because the protesters have declared that they will seek to present a defence that they are justified in using these types of tactics against Carmel Agrexco, which they claim violates international law by supporting settlements and engaging in persecution of Palestinian workers.

On 18 August 2007 activists from the Camp for Climate Action entered Carmel Agrexco's UK warehouse. The Israeli flag was taken down and protesters locked themselves to gates. The UK Press Association quoted Amos Orr, the general manager: “A lot of them were drunk. They broke doors, spread papers everywhere and they were very aggressive. They were singing about Hamas.” The activists however denied being drunk and strenuously denied "singing about Hamas", which they claimed were an attempt to smear campaigners. The activists claimed their motives were to highlight the damaging effects of air freighting of food and to show support for Palestinians who suffer under Israeli Occupation, and against the importation of produce from settlements in the occupied West Bank.

On 21 June 2008 activists occupied and shut down Carmel Agrexco's HQ and UK freight warehouse for over six hours, in protest of Carmel Agrexco being Israel's largest agricultural exporter from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.