Government recommends new labelling for ‘settlement’ products
Labelling allows choice
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, illegal under international humanitarian law, cause harm and poverty to Palestinians and they are an obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Ever since they first appeared, the international community has condemned them. Yet, settlements have grown and prospered and we are trading with them. EU countries, including Britain, import goods produced in settlements and we find these on the shelves of major supermarkets. They are labelled as coming from the ‘West Bank’ and consumers do not know whether they originate from settlements or from Palestinian producers. Consumers have a right to know the origin of what they buy. British retailers with ethical standards have a responsibility not to support illegal entities economically. By allowing settlement products into their countries, governments too help the economies of Israeli settlements. The British government is now taking measures to help consumers in future to distinguish between Israeli settlement and Palestinian imports from the West Bank. This is good, but such a measure will have little impact on the ground. Since the government maintains the position that settlements are illegal and an obstacle to peace, then it should not allow trade with them at all. A ban on trade with Israeli settlements is not a ban on trade with Israel. The EU already has a way of identifying which goods come from Israel proper and which come from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, so a ban on settlements need not affect trade with Israel. Settlements undermine the chances for peace and to achieve security for both Israelis and Palestinians. What you can do: • Write to your MP stating that you do not want to see Israeli settlement goods on sale in the UK. If imports continue, then settlement goods should be labelled in such a way so that consumers know that settlements are illegal. Need help? Go to the website. • Avoid ‘West Bank’ products when shopping, because most probably they come from the settlements. • Write to your supermarket saying that you do not want to buy produce from Israeli settlements and ask them how they can be sure that goods come from Israel and not from a settlement. Explain that by selling such products, they undermine the chances for peace in Israel-Palestine and they support the economies of illegal entities. • Support the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). For more information on the background see: http:/www.quaker.org.uk/help-end-trade-israeli-settlements To see a farmer hoping a teenaged soldier will let him through a gate to his land is to witness humiliation. The barrier which separates the Palestinian from his orchards is illegal according to the International Court of Justice. Yet there it still is and Israel still makes legitimate owners jump through hoops to till their plots – which will be expropriated if they don’t. I am delighted that Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has recommended that the labelling of goods coming from the West Bank will be clearer. Now shoppers will be able to tell if the goods come from an Israeli settlement – all of which are illegal – or from a bona fide Palestinian farm. Do I think Palestinian farmers will benefit directly? No. The reality is that very few of their goods get to markets abroad at all. What doesn’t rot is sold – cheaply and in competition with subsidised-Israeli goods – in Palestinian markets. So why am I pleased? Because it will help educate our own shoppers who have shown that they care about trade justice – check out the fairtrade movement which is now mainstream. Now all we have to do is persuade supermarkets not to stock settlement goods at all, then we have an occupation to end. Way to go! Sharen Green is a former Ecumenical Accompanier and an attender at Poole Meeting.
