Posted tagged ‘Boycot’

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PA: Benefits to Palestinian Businesses that Boycott Israel

August 15, 2014

PA: Benefits to Palestinian Businesses that Boycott Israel

Israel supplies the Palestinian Authority with electricity, and this is nothing new.

But this electricity has recently become a weapon against Israel.

The PA decided to boycott Israeli goods sold in the West Bank and granted numerous benefits to businessmen, including discounts on electric bills, in order to encourage them to stop selling blue and white.

Aug 15, 2014, 02:45PM | James McIntosh

via Israel News – PA: Benefits to Palestinian Businesses that Boycott Israel – JerusalemOnline.

 

Poster Channel 2 News

First publication: the trend of boycotting Israeli products has really made its way to us, over the fence. The Palestinian Authority has called on Palestinian businessmen to boycott all goods made in Israel in exchange for economic incentives.

“Shops free of Israeli goods will be eligible for a full exemption from the business license fee for a year, as well as a 10% discount on their electric bill for six months,” said an official letter from the PA Ministry of Local Government to West Bank businessmen. It must be noted that Israel provides the PA with the electricity serving as an incentive for the shop-owners.

In another poster making the rounds on social media and the Palestinian street, the logos of Israeli companies can be seen adorning missiles with an Israeli Star of David. The poster includes a call to buy only Palestinian products.

“Objective: promote the boycott among the entire Palestinian people”

The PA used to have a law prohibiting the purchase of goods made in the settlements. Former PA prime minister Salam Fayyad was filmed burning goods produced beyond the Green Line. But this time it seems that they really have taken a step up.

Exports from Israel to the PA are valued at approximately NIS 5 billion. Food exports are estimated to be more than a fifth of this sum, which would be a difficult blow to Israeli food companies.

In the meanwhile, the Palestinian street has seen considerable cooperation with the boycott by citizens, and even private initiatives to label Israeli goods have emerged. “Our objective is to promote the principles of the boycott among the entire Palestinian people, which could economically influence the occupation’s products and factories,” said Ammar al-Zatari, one of the leaders of the boycott.

It seems that the battle over the land has become the battle over the wallet, and when the PA boycott merges with the world boycott, it seems that it will be very difficult for Israel to win this war as well.

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Europe ‘losing patience’ over settlements, says envoy

June 27, 2014

Europe ‘losing patience’ over settlements, says envoy

Spain and Italy issue warnings against commercial ties with West Bank, while EU ambassador warns more will follow

By Times of Israel staff June 27, 2014, 1:58 pm

via Europe ‘losing patience’ over settlements, says envoy | The Times of Israel.

 

EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen (photo credit: Yossi Zwecker)
 

he European Union’s ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, has warned once again that European states were “losing patience” with the continued growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

The comment came Friday, after Spain and Italy joined France, Germany and the UK in warning its citizens against engaging in commercial ties with West Bank settlements. France had issued a similar declaration last week, while the foreign offices of Germany and Britain did so several months ago.

“These warnings don’t surprise us,” Faaborg-Andersen told journalists at a Geneva Initiative event on Friday. “The states [of the EU] are losing patience when it comes to continued construction in the settlements, and if the trend continues, more countries will join these warnings against businesses operating over the Green Line,” he warned, according to the Israeli Hebrew-language media.

According to a Friday report in the Italian La Stampa daily, Italy’s Foreign Minister Federico Mogherini cautioned Italians “not to get involved in financial activity and investments” in settlements. The warning is given “in accord with other European countries” and reflects Italy’s implementation of “a political decision taken earlier,” Mogherini said, according to the paper.

The Italian statements, issued on behalf of the EU, the presidency of which it takes over next week, said financial transactions, investments, purchases, contracts and tourism in Israeli settlements only benefit the settlements.

It said companies who do so should consider possible human rights violations and “the potential negative implications of such activities on their reputation or image.”

The international community regards most Israeli building over the Green Line as contrary to international law, though most rounds of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians centered on negotiating a new, agree-upon boundary that would keep most Israeli settlers within Israel, as most settlers live adjacent to the Green Line that divides Israel and the West Bank.

Israel has annexed East Jerusalem, the part of the city over the Green Line that includes the Western Wall and Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, but the move has not been recognized internationally.

The warnings call the settlements “obstacles to peace” which “threaten to make the two-state solution impossible.”

An Israeli diplomatic official shrugged off the warnings Friday, calling them “a political statement disguised as a legal one, and as such one that merely reiterates old and well-known European positions,” according to the Hebrew-language NRG news site.

The “vague wording of the statements points to the weak legal foundations of the warning,” the official said.

AFP and AP contributed to this report.

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France warns citizens over doing business in settlements

June 25, 2014

France warns citizens over doing business in settlementsForeign ministry declares economic activity in the territories a ‘legal risk’;
Israel: Warning indicates ‘deep confusion’

By Aron Dónzis and Raphael Ahren June 25, 2014, 4:23 pm

via France warns citizens over doing business in settlements | The Times of Israel.

 

A view of the settlement of Kiryat Arba, in the southern West Bank, adjoining the city of Hebron. (photo credit: Michal Fattal/Flash90)
 

The French government released a public message to its citizens Tuesday warning against conducting business or investing in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights.

The French Foreign Ministry wrote in the statement that under international law the settlements are illegal, and therefore doing business with them is taking a legal risk, according to a report in Haaretz.

A French diplomat noted to the daily that the announcement is part of a coordinated effort by the European Union’s five largest countries — Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain — to curb economic cooperation with Israeli settlements.

Britain and Germany issued similar warnings several months ago.

Italy and Spain are expected to publish similar messages in the coming days, in the wake of failed Israeli-Palestinians negotiations and new settlement construction tenders.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told The Times of Israel that the warning was nothing new.

“This is a well known EU position on this particular issue. Here we can see again the deep confusion of the EU policy on this as they appear to be warning their citizens of legal consequences without hinting at the slightest relevant legal reference,” he said.

The warning was posted on the website of the French Foreign Ministry as part of broader recommendations for those traveling to Israel. “Due to the fact that the settlements are illegal under international law, conducting economic activity in the settlements, such as financial transfers, investments, acquisition of assets, provision of supplies or performing other economic activities by which the settlements benefit is taking a legal risk,” the warning read in French.

The statement further said that the settlements are built on occupied territory and that the international community does not recognize them as part of Israel.

“This will likely lead to land disputes or to disagreements over water, minerals or other natural resources,” the statement said. “and this risks the reputation of those carrying out economic activity… We call on citizens and business people considering engaging in economic activity in the settlements to seek out legal advice before making a decision.”

The French notification and the coordination between the EU’s five biggest members comes against the backdrop of discussions that have taken place in various EU institutions over the last few weeks in Brussels regarding a general warning from the European Commission to all EU businesses that carry out economic activities in the settlements.

In anticipation of the move, Israel’s Foreign Ministry instructed Israeli embassies across the EU last week to contact the local foreign ministries and request they not publish the warnings, according to Haaretz.

An Israeli diplomat told the paper that the ambassadors were instructed to say that at present, especially in light of the abduction of the three teens from Gush Etzion, publishing such a warning could further increase tensions between Israel and Europe and cause real damage to the relationship. The French did not respond to this request.

With the French publication, Jerusalem fears a landslide of similar warnings from other EU countries could ensue.

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