Etsy profiting from businesses in illegal Israeli settlements, says new report

The US e-commerce company Etsy is profiting from businesses located in illegal Israeli settlements, a new report has revealed. Published jointly by the Institute for Journalism and Social Change (IJSC), Global Justice Now and War on Want, the report identified at least 44 Etsy stores operating in Israeli settlements — all of which are illegal under international law — as of July 2024. Etsy makes money when stores list and sell their items, leading to increased profits for the company.

With at least hundreds more sellers listed simply under “Israel” without specific locations provided, the report warns that there is also a possibility of there being “many more” Etsy stores operating from illegal settlements.

The report’s findings include the fact that the company has 14 stores located in Ariel, one of the largest illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank with over 20,000 residents as of 2024. People in the neighbouring Palestinian city of Salfit face violence from Israeli settlers, and Ariel’s mayor recently blocked their access to the city. Moreover, there are nine stores located in Maale Adumim, another massive Israeli settlement in the West Bank. The settlement earlier this year was in the news over controversial plans by the Israeli government to continue its expansion, with thousands of new homes to be built on the illegal site, further displacing Palestinians violently.

Another four stores are located in Tekoa. This settlement has been named in recent major media reports about settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“Western complicity in Israeli war crimes is so pervasive that even Etsy, the popular platform for ‘feel good’ shopping, is connected to businesses in the settlements,” explained Claire Provost, report author and co-founder and co-director of the IJSC. “So far, these ties have gone under-the-radar and unchallenged. That, at least, ends now.”

In July, the International Court of Justice stated that not only Israel’s settlement policies, but also its entire presence in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) break international law and must cease as rapidly as possible. Furthermore, the ICJ called upon states not to aid or abet the illegal occupation. They must “abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the OPT” and “take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the OPT.”

The report also highlights that Etsy has contracts with shops outside the Americas through its subsidiary Etsy Ireland UC. Ireland has strict anti-money laundering legislation. If proceeds from illegal settlement businesses are being brought into the Irish financial system, the report says, this could leave the company exposed to questions and allegations that it is in violation of such laws.

Dutch prosecutors are currently studying a complaint brought against Netherlands-based Booking.com by human rights groups under anti-money laundering legislation. The complaint argues that Booking.com is a blatant example of money laundering, with the proceeds from businesses with illegal settlements entering the Dutch financial system.

“Etsy isn’t simply turning a blind eye to stores listed on its site operating in illegal Israeli settlements, it is directly profiting from and even, in certain cases, promoting them,” said Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now. “Doing so risks complicity in war crimes, and the reality is, they’re not the only company profiting from the human misery inflicted on Palestinians day in, day out. It’s time to bring an end to this shameless corporate profiteering.”

The issue of complicity in war crimes was emphasised by Neil Sammonds, senior campaigner on Palestine at War on Want. “By promoting business in Israel’s illegal settlements, Etsy is aiding and abetting the war crimes of both forced displacement of the indigenous people and the transfer of civilians of the occupying force into occupied territory,” said Sammonds. “Etsy’s complicity extends to the crime of apartheid. It must cease these heinous, unlawful activities immediately.”

Major human rights organisations B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have all said that Israel has passed the legal threshold for classification as an apartheid state. Apartheid is akin to a crime against humanity.

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