Palestine asks Mexico to review companies tied to Israeli settlements

Photo: Senado de la República via La Jornada.

Palestine’s ambassador to Mexico, Nadya Rasheed, has asked Mexican lawmakers to examine whether companies based in the country are doing business connected to Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, moving a long-running diplomatic issue into the realm of trade, investment and corporate accountability.

Rasheed made the request during a meeting with Senate President Higinio Martínez. According to La Jornada, she urged Mexico to review the value chains of national corporations linked to settlement-related business activity so Mexican trade and investment do not benefit those operations.

A Mexican company is on the UN list

Her appeal came days after the UN Human Rights Office updated its database of companies involved in specified settlement-related business activities. Reuters reported that the September 25 update expanded the database to 214 companies from 11 countries, adding 61 firms.

EFE reported that Mexican conglomerate Orbia Advance was among the new additions and was the only Mexican company included in the updated database. The UN database is not a criminal judgment or a sanctions list; it is intended to identify companies involved in specified categories of business activity associated with the settlements and to support corporate human-rights due diligence.

Israel rejects the UN database and says it is politically motivated. The broader question of corporate activity in occupied territory sits within a long-running dispute over occupation, settlement expansion and international legal obligations. Pamphlets has separately examined the political economy of cross-border corporate power in Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism.

Rasheed ties the request to international law

Rasheed also pointed lawmakers to the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 advisory opinion, which concluded that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and said states have obligations not to recognize or assist the maintenance of that situation. The court also said states must distinguish in their dealings between Israel and the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.

The ambassador argued that Mexico’s diplomatic support for Palestinian rights should be reflected in concrete economic choices, including scrutiny of trade and investment linked to settlements. Her request places corporate due diligence and supply-chain oversight alongside the diplomatic positions Mexico has already taken on Palestine.

What Mexico does next

Martínez said the Senate would pass the ambassador’s message to lawmakers and continue working for peace in Gaza and the wider region. No specific Mexican sanctions, procurement restrictions or trade measures were announced at the meeting.

The immediate question is therefore whether Mexico’s diplomatic position will begin to shape corporate due diligence, government procurement and trade policy when settlement-linked business activity is involved. Rasheed’s intervention has put that question directly before the Mexican Senate.