Has Anna Baltzer built a career on falsehoods? Born as Anna J. Piller, some reports indicate she changed her name to avoid having her anti-Israel activism embarrass her family. Now going by Anna Nardie in some circles, she still enjoys stretching the truth to its breaking point. Her latest claim: Veolia's decision to give up its transportation related services worldwide to focus on energy, water and environmental was somehow a victory of the BDS movement.
But it wasn't.
From Marc Goldberg at the Times of Israel: The Phantom BDS Victory
The Boycott Divestment and
Sanctions (BDS) movement has a curious history of claiming phantom
victories. The latest article written by the BDS site in the US; ’Stop
the Occupation’, joyfully claimed a victory in the war against Israel
when Anna Baltzer, sporting the title National Organizer wrote;
“Big
news! We just received confirmation that Veolia Transdev — a
long-standing target of boycott and divestment Palestine solidarity
campaigns worldwide along with its partial owner Veolia Environment – has sold off all bus services in Israel/Palestine! Until
last week, Veolia Transdev, through its Israeli subsidiary Connex,
operated bus lines for settlers on segregated roads in the Palestinian
West Bank, and other lines throughout Israel. Today it operates none.”
Indeed this is absolutely true, but then Anna Baltzer walked off the cliff into fantasy land when she wrote;
“This marks one of the most significant, tangible victories to
date for the international boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS)
movement. Veolia represents the global flagship BDS target, having lost
more than $16 billion in contracts following campaigns across continents
citing Veolia’s complicity in Israel’s gross violations of Palestinian
human rights.”
As early as December, 2011, Veolia announced its intention to shift its focus.
From the
Railway Gazette, not particularly known as a politically slanted, highly biased organ of the World Wide Zionist conspiracy,
Veolia Environnement has confirmed its intention to sell
its share of Veolia Transdev as part of a programme to reduce its debts,
which will see the sale of €5bn of assets over the next two years.
At an Investor Day held in Paris on December 6, Veolia Environnement
Chairman & CEO Antoine Frérot announced that the company would
concentrate on its water, environmental services and energy services
divisions. The utility firm would now seek buyers for its 50% stake in
Veolia Transdev.
In May 2010 Veolia Environnement concluded an agreement with state
bank Caisse des Dépôts to merge Transdev and Veolia Transport. This
included a long-term intention to float Veolia Transdev through an IPO,
probably in 2012.
BDS fail has become a vibrant meme throughout social media. BDS fraud should stand right along side it. Anna Baltzer again has shown us, yet again- the only appropriate response to BDS claims of "victory" is to meticulously check their facts. Heaven knows- they aren't going to do it.
UPDATE from the
Israel Action network
Transdev’s Group Communication Director, Bruno Negro, came
forth to publicly confirm this fact stating, in an email to IAN, “In
August of 2013, Transdev sold its entire bus operation in Israel to an
Israeli bus company. The sale is final and has been approved by the
Israeli Transportation Ministry. The sale was in the works for some time
as part of Transdev’s global strategy to consolidate operations,
decrease debt, and fund further growth in the U.S. and other selected
countries. It was not due to any additional factors, political or
otherwise.” It should also be noted that the company continues to
proudly operate the Jerusalem Light Rail that serves all residents of
the city.
