South Africa is planning to require “Made in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories” labels on products from the region in place of
“Made in Israel” labels, the trade ministry said.
“For now, there is no decision but people should know that South
Africa recognizes Israel inside the 1948 UN borders,” Macdonald
Netshitenzhe, the trade ministry’s director for trade policies and
legislations, said.
“Now coming to the issue of Palestine and Israel, a product from
Israel has to be manufactured or produced within the borders of 1948.
Under the 1948 boundaries, territories occupied after 1967 such as the Gaza Strip are not included.
“Therefore for the goods or vegetables which are grown in the area
where Israel invaded other Arab countries, South Africa says, you better
say these products are grown in Palestine or Occupied Palestinian
Territories,” Netshitenzhe added.
Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said the move was aimed at
helping “South Africans who do not support Israel, but who in fact do
support the Palestinians, to identify those products.”
“This doesn’t, however, mean any kind of boycott of Israeli
products,” he said, in remarks quoted by South African news agency SAPA.
Israel’s
foreign ministry reacted angrily to the news, with spokesperson Yigal
Palmor telling AFP that South Africa’s ambassador to Israel would be
summoned for an explanation in the coming days.
“This is not a political objection to settlements, rather the act of
singling out a state by a special marking system based on
national-political criteria. Therefore, it is by essence a racist move,”
Palmor said.
“It is shocking to think that South Africa, of all countries, would
display such callousness, and is blindly marching down the slippery
slope of racism.”
Source: News24.com
ACT NOW for ISRAEL:
We urge you to contact South Africa’s Trade Minister Macdonald Netshitenzhe at:
MNetshitenzhe@thedti.gov.za
to protest “Made in Palestine” labels on Israeli food.
You may copy and paste the following text or write your own message:
Dear Mr. Netshitenzhe,
I am absolutely outraged by your decision not to recognize
Israel’s rightful borders and to mark Israeli products as “Made in
Palestine.” This is clearly an act of outright racism that will not be
tolerated.
We demand that you respect the sovereignty of the State of Israel and its borders. The State of Palestine does not exist.
Please ‘SHARE’ this very important article with all of your friends.
Ask them to email the minister.
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