Palestine hails EU move to label settlement made goods

11/12/2015 12:19:54 PM

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Palestinian National Economy Minister Abeer Odeh on Wednesday welcomed a decision by the European Commission that will see a special label put on products manufactured in Jewish-only settlements and sold in European markets.

"This decision is a step in the right direction and will go towards delegitimizing products made on Israeli settlements built on [stolen] Palestinian land" Odeh told Anadolu Agency.

He called on the European Union to expedite implementation of the decision which will allow European consumers to know whether they are buying products made on Israeli settlements.

According to Odeh Israeli settlements currently produce more than 146 different brands of goods.

The European Commission the executive arm of the European Union approved the decision -- which will see specialstickers put on all settlement-made products none of which will bear the phrase "Made in Israel" -- on Wednesday.

The decision was adopted at a meeting in Belgian capital Brussels after weeks of internal deliberations and Israeli efforts to block the move.

According to Israeli public radio the decision will apply to all fruit vegetables honey olive oil wine and beauty products made on the settlements.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his part blasted the move describing it as "hypocritical".

"The European Union should be ashamed of this hypocritical decision which creates a double standard that only addresses Israel" he said.

In 2010 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas passed a law prohibiting the sale in the West Bank of products and services produced on Israeli settlements.

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