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EU labeling goods from Israeli "settlements,"
A small step in the wrong direction
The European Union recently began enforcing a new law that requires Israeli products that originate in settlements in the West Bank and the Golan Heights to be labeled as such and include the word “Settlement” on the label. An article in the Israeli daily Ha’artez mentioned that there is concern among Israeli farmers who do not live in those territories that this will hurt them as well because shoppers might not know the difference and end up boycotting all products that are made in Israel.
The EU attempt to punish Israel by labeling products made in “Occupied Territories” is a good thing, but typical of the EU – it is going in the wrong direction. It is in fact only giving legitimacy to the claim that occupied Palestine is limited to the West Bank and the Gaza strip. That somehow the occupied territories are limited to these areas. One has to wonder then, what about the rest of Palestine?
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Tensions between Europe and Israel
University of Montreal professor of history Yakov Rabkin joins us to discuss the growing tension between Israel and Europe after the EU decided to label goods made in Israeli settlements [1].
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#1: 11.11.2015 Europäische Kommission:

• Interpretative Notice on indication of origin of goods from the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967
• Fact Sheet

Israel Will Never Hand Over Parts of the West Bank, Says Deputy FM Hotovely
Deputy foreign minister also says EU labeling of produce from the West Bank would be tantamount to a boycott of Israel.
[ vollständiger Bericht ]