SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Yaakov Berg, the Israeli CEO of the Psagot Winery--located on stolen Palestinian land in the illegal Israeli settler colony of Psagot--with a bottle of his red blend that he named after Mr. Pompeo. (Photo: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)
Palestinians, Advocates Blast New U.S. Rule Requiring 'Made in Israel' Label on Settlement Goods
"Such a decision attempts to legitimize settlement-manufactured goods as well as the theft of Palestinian land and products," said Palestine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dec 25, 2020
Palestinian officials and international peace activists condemned a Trump administration order that went into effect earlier this week requiring goods produced in a large portion of the illegally occupied West Bank of Palestine to be labeled "Made in Israel."
"The outgoing U.S. administration [is lying] to the American citizens to make them complicit in the theft of the natural resources and capabilities of the Palestinian people."
--Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Wednesday announced that "for country of origin marking purposes, imported goods produced in the West Bank, specifically in Area C under the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement... must be marked to indicate their origin as 'Israel,' 'Product of Israel,' or 'Made in Israel.'"
Area C, which is administered by Israeli occupation forces, comprises over 60% of the West Bank's territory. Under the new U.S. policy, goods produced in areas under Palestinian administration will be labeled "Made in the West Bank," and if manufactured in the besieged coastal enclave of Gaza, "Made in Gaza."
According to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, between 180,000 and 300,000 Palestinians live in Area C, alongside at least 325,000 Israeli settlers in more than 225 colonies and outposts.
The new guidelines were announced by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following an unprecedented visit by the top American diplomat to one of Israel's settler colonies in the occupied West Bank.
"For a long time, the State Department took the wrong view of settlements," Pompeo said at the press conference. "Today the United States Department of State stands strongly to the recognition that settlements can be done in a way that are lawful and appropriate and proper."
Pompeo was referring to the 1978 State Department legal opinion (pdf)--which held until the Trump administration officially repudiated it last year--that as a "belligerent occupant," Israel had no right to establish such settlements. Under international law including the Fourth Geneva Convention, both Israel's occupation and settlements are illegal.
During the same news conference, Pompeo officially declared that the United States would regard the peaceful Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian human rights as "anti-Semitic."
Palestinian officials led international condemnation of the new "Made in Israel" policy, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on Thursday calling it a "war crime and a violation of all international laws and conventions."
"Such a decision attempts to legitimize settlement-manufactured goods as well as the theft of Palestinian land and products," the ministry said in a statement. "The outgoing U.S. administration [is lying] to the American citizens to make them complicit in the theft of the natural resources and capabilities of the Palestinian people."
The new U.S. rule allows 90 days for importers to implement the policy. The pro-Israel U.S. lobby group J Street said the transition period means that the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden could still reverse it, a move the group favors.
"J Street believes the next administration should quickly reverse moves like this that upend decades of bipartisan American policy and return to the view, held by the rest of the world, that the West Bank is occupied territory and not part of Israel proper for legal purposes," J Street said in a statement.
The U.S. stance on settlements stands in stark contrast to that of the European Union, where a November 2019 European Court of Justice ruling requires products made in Israeli settlements to be clearly labeled as such.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Palestinian officials and international peace activists condemned a Trump administration order that went into effect earlier this week requiring goods produced in a large portion of the illegally occupied West Bank of Palestine to be labeled "Made in Israel."
"The outgoing U.S. administration [is lying] to the American citizens to make them complicit in the theft of the natural resources and capabilities of the Palestinian people."
--Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Wednesday announced that "for country of origin marking purposes, imported goods produced in the West Bank, specifically in Area C under the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement... must be marked to indicate their origin as 'Israel,' 'Product of Israel,' or 'Made in Israel.'"
Area C, which is administered by Israeli occupation forces, comprises over 60% of the West Bank's territory. Under the new U.S. policy, goods produced in areas under Palestinian administration will be labeled "Made in the West Bank," and if manufactured in the besieged coastal enclave of Gaza, "Made in Gaza."
According to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, between 180,000 and 300,000 Palestinians live in Area C, alongside at least 325,000 Israeli settlers in more than 225 colonies and outposts.
The new guidelines were announced by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following an unprecedented visit by the top American diplomat to one of Israel's settler colonies in the occupied West Bank.
"For a long time, the State Department took the wrong view of settlements," Pompeo said at the press conference. "Today the United States Department of State stands strongly to the recognition that settlements can be done in a way that are lawful and appropriate and proper."
Pompeo was referring to the 1978 State Department legal opinion (pdf)--which held until the Trump administration officially repudiated it last year--that as a "belligerent occupant," Israel had no right to establish such settlements. Under international law including the Fourth Geneva Convention, both Israel's occupation and settlements are illegal.
During the same news conference, Pompeo officially declared that the United States would regard the peaceful Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian human rights as "anti-Semitic."
Palestinian officials led international condemnation of the new "Made in Israel" policy, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on Thursday calling it a "war crime and a violation of all international laws and conventions."
"Such a decision attempts to legitimize settlement-manufactured goods as well as the theft of Palestinian land and products," the ministry said in a statement. "The outgoing U.S. administration [is lying] to the American citizens to make them complicit in the theft of the natural resources and capabilities of the Palestinian people."
The new U.S. rule allows 90 days for importers to implement the policy. The pro-Israel U.S. lobby group J Street said the transition period means that the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden could still reverse it, a move the group favors.
"J Street believes the next administration should quickly reverse moves like this that upend decades of bipartisan American policy and return to the view, held by the rest of the world, that the West Bank is occupied territory and not part of Israel proper for legal purposes," J Street said in a statement.
The U.S. stance on settlements stands in stark contrast to that of the European Union, where a November 2019 European Court of Justice ruling requires products made in Israeli settlements to be clearly labeled as such.
Palestinian officials and international peace activists condemned a Trump administration order that went into effect earlier this week requiring goods produced in a large portion of the illegally occupied West Bank of Palestine to be labeled "Made in Israel."
"The outgoing U.S. administration [is lying] to the American citizens to make them complicit in the theft of the natural resources and capabilities of the Palestinian people."
--Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Wednesday announced that "for country of origin marking purposes, imported goods produced in the West Bank, specifically in Area C under the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement... must be marked to indicate their origin as 'Israel,' 'Product of Israel,' or 'Made in Israel.'"
Area C, which is administered by Israeli occupation forces, comprises over 60% of the West Bank's territory. Under the new U.S. policy, goods produced in areas under Palestinian administration will be labeled "Made in the West Bank," and if manufactured in the besieged coastal enclave of Gaza, "Made in Gaza."
According to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, between 180,000 and 300,000 Palestinians live in Area C, alongside at least 325,000 Israeli settlers in more than 225 colonies and outposts.
The new guidelines were announced by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following an unprecedented visit by the top American diplomat to one of Israel's settler colonies in the occupied West Bank.
"For a long time, the State Department took the wrong view of settlements," Pompeo said at the press conference. "Today the United States Department of State stands strongly to the recognition that settlements can be done in a way that are lawful and appropriate and proper."
Pompeo was referring to the 1978 State Department legal opinion (pdf)--which held until the Trump administration officially repudiated it last year--that as a "belligerent occupant," Israel had no right to establish such settlements. Under international law including the Fourth Geneva Convention, both Israel's occupation and settlements are illegal.
During the same news conference, Pompeo officially declared that the United States would regard the peaceful Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian human rights as "anti-Semitic."
Palestinian officials led international condemnation of the new "Made in Israel" policy, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates on Thursday calling it a "war crime and a violation of all international laws and conventions."
"Such a decision attempts to legitimize settlement-manufactured goods as well as the theft of Palestinian land and products," the ministry said in a statement. "The outgoing U.S. administration [is lying] to the American citizens to make them complicit in the theft of the natural resources and capabilities of the Palestinian people."
The new U.S. rule allows 90 days for importers to implement the policy. The pro-Israel U.S. lobby group J Street said the transition period means that the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden could still reverse it, a move the group favors.
"J Street believes the next administration should quickly reverse moves like this that upend decades of bipartisan American policy and return to the view, held by the rest of the world, that the West Bank is occupied territory and not part of Israel proper for legal purposes," J Street said in a statement.
The U.S. stance on settlements stands in stark contrast to that of the European Union, where a November 2019 European Court of Justice ruling requires products made in Israeli settlements to be clearly labeled as such.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.