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| Photo by: AP* |
This story is by: Anshel Pfeffer
One of the largest supermarket chains in Britain has
announced that it intends to boycott Israeli agricultural exporters that
market also produce from the West Bank settlements.
While British food retailers have
for some years now been labeling products that are grown or
manufactured in settlements and in some cases boycotting them entirely,
this is the first move by a major company to end all dealings with
companies that export products from within the Green Line and from the
settlements. The main companies that will be impacted by this decision
are Agrexco, Mehadrin and Arava.
The announcement came this weekend following years of campaigning by
pro-Palestinian organizations in Britain that have been lobbying for
boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) of Israel. Co-op, the fifth
biggest supermarket chain in Britain has emphasized that this is not a
boycott of Israel and that it will continue doing business with
companies that can guarantee none of their products originate from
outside the Green Line.
The attempts to limit the export
of settlement produce to Europe were led in the past by the European
Union and the British government. In 2009, the British government, at
the express instructions of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, issued
guidelines to retailers on clear labeling of produce made in
settlements, differentiating it from Palestinian produce and products
that were made within the Green Line. These guidelines followed Israeli
refusals to label settlement products before being exported to the EU.
The issue of labeling settlement produce was a major bone of contention
between the British and Israeli governments at the time.
In recent years, the BDS movement
has targeted companies such as Agrexco, an export cooperative that
serves thousands of farmers, kibbutzim and small agricultural companies
in Israel that has continued to export settlement produce.
Hilary Smith, of the Boycott
Israel Network welcomed the the Co-op's decision saying that the chain
"has taken the lead internationally in this historic decision to hold
corporations to account for complicity in Israel’s violations of
Palestinian human rights. We strongly urge other retailers to follow
suit and take similar action."
The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem
responded saying that "it is a pity to see some, who ostensibly pretend
to contribute to peace and reconciliation, advance a negative agenda of
boycotts, inject an atmosphere of confrontation and widen the distance
between the parties involved. It would be prudent to seek a more
positive approach to conflict resolution."
*Photo : A Palestinian man throw a product from Jewish settlements in a fire in the West Bank village of Salfit, Tuesday, May 18, 2010.
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Denmark boycotts Israeli bank over settlements....
ReplyDeleteDanske Bank will pull out all its investment in Bank Hapoalim, citing its involvement in funding construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank
COPENHAGEN. Denmark. --Denmark's largest bank, Danske Bank added in January an Israeli bank to a list of companies it boycotts for legal and ethical reasons, according to a statement from Danske Bank.
Danske Bank announced it will withdraw all investments from Bank Hapoalim on January 14, accusing it of operating in contradiction to international humanitarian laws because of its branches in the Palestinian territories, namely the West Bank, and its reported funding of the construction of Jewish settlements in the region.
The list included 33 companies which fell short of meeting its responsibility criteria, which includes: the production of mines, which is banned by international treaties; mine exploration activities; and involvement in nuclear weapons production.
In 2010, the Danish bank imposed a ban and a similar funding exclusion upon two Israeli construction firms, Africa Israel and Denya Cebus, due to their involvement in Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria...........http://www.aa.com.tr/en/headline/282572--denmark-boycotts-israeli-bank-over-settlements
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