Supermarkets Urged To Label West Bank Products
Palestinian worker labelling produce
Jewish leaders this week condemned guidelines issued by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) advising British supermarkets to clearly label the origins of produce from the West Bank.
Defra said the new recommendations were in response to consumer requests about whether products labelled "Produce of the West Bank" referred to food or drink from Palestinian or Israelis producers. Though the guidelines are not mandatory, in its advice literature Defra suggested that retailers or importers label products as "Produce of the West Bank (Israeli settlement produce)" or "Produce of the West Bank (Palestinian produce)" depending on their origin.
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In a joint statement the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Fair Play Campaign Group said: "The government's opposition to boycotts of Israel is inconsistent with these guidelines which appear to have been published at the behest of the very same groups that promote the wider boycott campaign. There is certainly no call for guidelines from retailers or consumers."
The statement added that a boycott would negatively impact Palestinian workers "whose livelihoods are inextricably linked with their Israeli counterparts, and they do nothing to advance the peace process".
The ZF said it was "appalled" at the new guidelines. Andrew Balcombe, ZF chairman, said Oxfam and War on Want were behind the calls for "labelling transparency".
He linked the new guidelines to the Israel boycott and said that a boycott would be detrimental to the Palestinian economy and therefore "bad for peace".
Israel also voiced its condemnation. Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that the advice was "catering to the demands of those whose ultimate aim is the boycott of Israeli products".
He added: "We see this move as a politicised yielding to anti-Israeli and pro Palestinian groups who want to promote a boycott."
Although Israeli officials and Jewish leaders view the labelling guidelines as helping to provoke a boycott of goods from the Jewish state, in a statement Environment Secretary Hilary Benn voiced his disapproval of such as boycott.
He said that the government believed Israeli settlements were an "obstacle to peace in the Middle East" but added "At the same time, the clear position of the Government is that we are opposed to boycotts of Israel or Israeli goods.
"We do not believe that boycotts help engage or influence Israel, or lead to progress in the Middle East Peace process."
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