Falling Short of Boycott, EU Moves to Label Products Made in Illegal Israeli Settlements

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.

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