A UN official on Friday called for solidarity with Palestinians though boycott and divestment from companies that benefit from settlements.

In a report published in Arabic on the UN’s website, Richard Falk, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, urged organizations and companies around the world to join the “increasingly international solidarity movement against Israeli occupation.”

“Now is the best opportunity for the Palestinians to achieve self-determination through pressures at the grassroots level” and “nonviolent resistance,” Falk said.

He expressed disappointment over Israel’s continued settlement expansion throughout the US-brokered peace negotiations that lasted from July 2013 to April 2014.

“The last round of talks created false hopes once again and fed frustration,” Falk said in the report, which was not translated into English.

Additionally, the official warned UN member states against complicity in Israeli human rights violations in occupied Palestine.

Falk, a Princeton University international law professor who has labelled Israel’s 2008 offensive against Gaza as “war crimes” has been met with harsh US and Israeli criticism for supporting the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, especially targeting Israel’s settlement enterprise.

(Ma’an – www.maannews.net)