American e-commerce company Amazon has been slammed for offering free shipping to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank but not to Palestinians.
According to the Financial Times customers living in the Palestinian Territories can receive free shipping only when they select Israel as their address.
The Financial Times said in findings released following an investigation it conducted in the West Bank Amazon offers free shipping if your address is in Israel and your total order exceeds $49.
However Palestinian customers who list their address as “the Palestinian Territories” are forced to pay fees starting from $24.
Amazon spokesman Nick Caplin said “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.”
Many human rights organizations criticized Amazon’s policy. An international human rights lawyer accused Amazon of “blatant discrimination between potential customers on the basis of their nationality”.
