Ex-Israeli diplomat urges boycott on settlement goods

Former Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Liel has called for a boycott on Israeli goods produced in the occupied West Bank.

In an article published in the South African newspaper Business Day on Monday, Liel writes, "I buy Israeli products every day and do my best not to buy Israeli products from the occupied territories. I don’t see why you, living outside Israel, shouldn’t have the same choice".

The article follows a notice issued by South Africa in May saying it wants to require merchants "not to incorrectly label products that originate from the Occupied Palestinian Territory as products of Israel." It said consumers should not be "misled" that the products originated in Israel.

The notice did not specify what the label should say, saying "the burden for proving where the products originate will lie with traders." The proposal has not taken effect, pending a 60-day period for public objections that can be submitted by the end of June.

In his article published Monday, Liel explains that "I can understand the desire, by people of conscience, to reassert an agenda of justice, to remind Israelis that Palestinians exist. I can understand small but symbolic acts of protest that hold a mirror up to Israeli society. As such, I cannot condemn the move to prevent goods made in the occupied Palestinian territory from being falsely classified as 'Made in Israel.'"

"I support the South African government’s insistence on this distinction between Israel and its occupation," Liel says.

The former Foreign Ministry director-general argues that his reasons for supporting a boycott of products manufactured in West Bank stem from his belief that "Israelis have now come to the conclusion that they don’t need peace."

Liel says those who want to advance the rights of Palestinians "must begin by stopping the Israeli settlement enterprise. Every day, Palestine is being gobbled up by settlement expansion. Vagueness over borders strengthens the opposition to the two-state solution. And this is the strength of the act of marking a product as either 'Made in Israel' or 'Made in Occupied Palestinian Territory.' Although this doesn’t create the reality of independence, it defines the principle in clear terms."