SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Falling Short of Boycott, EU Moves to Label Products Made in Illegal Israeli Settlements
Growing Palestinian rights movement credited with pushing world powers to acknowledge ongoing Israeli violations
Nov 11, 2015
Though falling substantially short of the boycott campaigners have been calling for, the European Union on Wednesday adopted new measures (pdf) to label products made in Israeli settlements.
"Since the Golan Heights and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are not part of the Israeli territory according to international law, the indication 'product from Israel' is considered to be incorrect and misleading in the sense of the referenced legislation," said the EU Commission.
Instead, products made in territories illegally occupied by Israel will now include the term "Israeli settlement," while Palestinian products could be labelled "product from the West Bank (Palestinian product)," "product from Gaza," or "product from Palestine." The labeling will be mandatory for fruit and vegetables, wine, honey, olive oil, eggs, poultry, organic products, and cosmetics, and voluntary for industrial products and processed foods.
Though the distinction stirred the ire of the Israeli government, which has threatened to boycott a series of upcoming meetings with the EU, campaigners for Palestinian rights say the action is "insufficient" given the gross violation of international law.
"If the EU is serious in implementing its own policy of non-recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the occupied Arab territories of 1967, why doesn't it implement a ban on the import of products of Israeli companies that illegally operate in the occupied territories?" asked Dr. Rafeef Ziadah, a member of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), which lead the international BDS movement.
"Merely labeling, rather than banning, illegal settlement goods indicates political hypocrisy par excellence," Ziadah added in a recent press statement about the pending policy.
Similarly, Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah quipped online in response to Wednesday's news and the resulting outcry, "Price of actually opposing Israeli policies is same as meekly, gingerly criticizing it and fake-supporting Palestinians. So go all the way."
A number of companies, including SodaStream and Ahava cosmetics, have already been targeted by protests due to their locations in occupied Palestinian territory.
Despite the tepid response from campaigners, the growing BDS movement is being credited with pushing world powers to acknowledge the ongoing violations by the Israeli state.
According to BNC, the new labeling measures adopted by all 28 EU member states reflect "mounting public pressure in Europe on policymakers to end the profound European complicity in Israel's violations international law and Palestinian human rights."
Commenting on the new guidelines ahead of their publication, U.S. State Department Deputy spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday that Israel should not be "surprised" by the move.
"Israel continues to expand settlement activity. It should not come as a surprise that some in the international community seek to limit commercial ties to the settlements," he said. "This underscores the urgent need for Israel to change its policies with regard to settlements," Toner added, though he refused to say whether the U.S. would adopt similar measures--only that they were "under consideration."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Though falling substantially short of the boycott campaigners have been calling for, the European Union on Wednesday adopted new measures (pdf) to label products made in Israeli settlements.
"Since the Golan Heights and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are not part of the Israeli territory according to international law, the indication 'product from Israel' is considered to be incorrect and misleading in the sense of the referenced legislation," said the EU Commission.
Instead, products made in territories illegally occupied by Israel will now include the term "Israeli settlement," while Palestinian products could be labelled "product from the West Bank (Palestinian product)," "product from Gaza," or "product from Palestine." The labeling will be mandatory for fruit and vegetables, wine, honey, olive oil, eggs, poultry, organic products, and cosmetics, and voluntary for industrial products and processed foods.
Though the distinction stirred the ire of the Israeli government, which has threatened to boycott a series of upcoming meetings with the EU, campaigners for Palestinian rights say the action is "insufficient" given the gross violation of international law.
"If the EU is serious in implementing its own policy of non-recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the occupied Arab territories of 1967, why doesn't it implement a ban on the import of products of Israeli companies that illegally operate in the occupied territories?" asked Dr. Rafeef Ziadah, a member of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), which lead the international BDS movement.
"Merely labeling, rather than banning, illegal settlement goods indicates political hypocrisy par excellence," Ziadah added in a recent press statement about the pending policy.
Similarly, Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah quipped online in response to Wednesday's news and the resulting outcry, "Price of actually opposing Israeli policies is same as meekly, gingerly criticizing it and fake-supporting Palestinians. So go all the way."
A number of companies, including SodaStream and Ahava cosmetics, have already been targeted by protests due to their locations in occupied Palestinian territory.
Despite the tepid response from campaigners, the growing BDS movement is being credited with pushing world powers to acknowledge the ongoing violations by the Israeli state.
According to BNC, the new labeling measures adopted by all 28 EU member states reflect "mounting public pressure in Europe on policymakers to end the profound European complicity in Israel's violations international law and Palestinian human rights."
Commenting on the new guidelines ahead of their publication, U.S. State Department Deputy spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday that Israel should not be "surprised" by the move.
"Israel continues to expand settlement activity. It should not come as a surprise that some in the international community seek to limit commercial ties to the settlements," he said. "This underscores the urgent need for Israel to change its policies with regard to settlements," Toner added, though he refused to say whether the U.S. would adopt similar measures--only that they were "under consideration."
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Though falling substantially short of the boycott campaigners have been calling for, the European Union on Wednesday adopted new measures (pdf) to label products made in Israeli settlements.
"Since the Golan Heights and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are not part of the Israeli territory according to international law, the indication 'product from Israel' is considered to be incorrect and misleading in the sense of the referenced legislation," said the EU Commission.
Instead, products made in territories illegally occupied by Israel will now include the term "Israeli settlement," while Palestinian products could be labelled "product from the West Bank (Palestinian product)," "product from Gaza," or "product from Palestine." The labeling will be mandatory for fruit and vegetables, wine, honey, olive oil, eggs, poultry, organic products, and cosmetics, and voluntary for industrial products and processed foods.
Though the distinction stirred the ire of the Israeli government, which has threatened to boycott a series of upcoming meetings with the EU, campaigners for Palestinian rights say the action is "insufficient" given the gross violation of international law.
"If the EU is serious in implementing its own policy of non-recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the occupied Arab territories of 1967, why doesn't it implement a ban on the import of products of Israeli companies that illegally operate in the occupied territories?" asked Dr. Rafeef Ziadah, a member of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), which lead the international BDS movement.
"Merely labeling, rather than banning, illegal settlement goods indicates political hypocrisy par excellence," Ziadah added in a recent press statement about the pending policy.
Similarly, Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah quipped online in response to Wednesday's news and the resulting outcry, "Price of actually opposing Israeli policies is same as meekly, gingerly criticizing it and fake-supporting Palestinians. So go all the way."
A number of companies, including SodaStream and Ahava cosmetics, have already been targeted by protests due to their locations in occupied Palestinian territory.
Despite the tepid response from campaigners, the growing BDS movement is being credited with pushing world powers to acknowledge the ongoing violations by the Israeli state.
According to BNC, the new labeling measures adopted by all 28 EU member states reflect "mounting public pressure in Europe on policymakers to end the profound European complicity in Israel's violations international law and Palestinian human rights."
Commenting on the new guidelines ahead of their publication, U.S. State Department Deputy spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday that Israel should not be "surprised" by the move.
"Israel continues to expand settlement activity. It should not come as a surprise that some in the international community seek to limit commercial ties to the settlements," he said. "This underscores the urgent need for Israel to change its policies with regard to settlements," Toner added, though he refused to say whether the U.S. would adopt similar measures--only that they were "under consideration."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.