Amazon criticised for offering free shipping to settlements but not Palestinians
Online retail giant accused of bias for shipping to addresses listed as being in Israel, but not to non-Jewish West Bank communities
Amazon has been accused of bias for offering free shipping to Jewish settlements in the West Bank and not to Palestinian villages.
The online retail giant began selling its international products in Israel late last year and offers free shipping on orders of £37 ($49) or more. But the address has to be listed as Israel.
Residents of Palestinian communities who list their addresses as being in the “Palestinian Territories” pay shipping and handling fees of as much as £18 ($24), the Financial Times reported.
An Amazon spokesman, Nick Caplin, told the Financial Times that “if a customer within the Palestinian Territories enters their address and selects Israel as the country, they can receive free shipping through the same promotion.”
Amazon was not included on the United Nations blacklist of companies doing business in West Bank Jewish settlements that was released last week.
Peace Now told the Financial Times that the difference in Amazon’s services between Israelis and Palestinians “adds to the overall picture of one group of people enjoying the privileges of citizenship while another people living in the same territory do not.”
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