West Bank isn't in Israel, but its factories, somehow, are

[Lars77]

Due disclosure: For a long time, my palate, which I'd believed had acquired a sensitivity to food produced in the occupied territories, eagerly consumed large amounts of halva produced at the Achva plant in northern Samaria. How did I, who carefully checks every item on the supermarket shelves to avoid buying products made in the settlements, miss this? Probably because the halva packages state in large letters, "Established in 1929 in Tel Aviv." Eventually, though, I noticed "Barkan industrial zone" on the side of the package.

South Africa's minister of trade and industry, Rob Davies, has recently decided to label all products coming from the settlements as made in the occupied territories. The minister explained that South African consumers should not be misled and made to believe that products from the occupied Palestinian territories are made in Israel. Then again, how many halva aficionados in Cape Town know which side of the Green Line the Barkan industrial zone is on? Achva's English website makes no mention of this. It notes that the company was established in Tel Aviv and there are phone and fax numbers with an 03 area code.

The decision to note the well-known fact that no government of Israel has ever annexed the West Bank to Israel infuriated West Bank resident Avigdor Lieberman. It has been some time since the foreign minister has attacked a country that refused to buy his ministry's information bulletins.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/west-bank-isn-t-in-israel-but-its-factories-somehow-are-1.431824

[Scurrilous]

1. Swiss chain to label settlement products

Migros supermarket chain says it doesn't support boycott calls by pro-Palestinian groups, but wants to let customers decide which products they want to buy

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4235720,00.html

<snip>

"One of Switzerland's biggest supermarket chains says it plans to tell its customers if products have come from Jewish settlement areas in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Migros says it wants to offer customers greater transparency because the Swiss government and the United Nations consider the settlements to be illegal under international law.

Spokeswoman Monika Weibel said Tuesday that Migros doesn't support boycott calls by pro-Palestinian groups but does want to let customers decide which products they want to buy.

She says the chain previously identified the products only as coming from Israel.

The move comes after the South African government recently announced that it intends to ban local importers from selling products from West Bank settlements with a label indicating that they were made in Israel."

[Scurrilous]

2. Made in Israel? Not a simple question

<snip>

"For decades, Israel has marketed an array of cosmetics and food products manufactured in the occupied West Bank as "Made in Israel," blurring their true origins in Jewish settlements opposed by virtually the entire international community.

Now that practice is being challenged with demands that products made in the settlements be labeled accordingly.

Recent criticism, coming most prominently from South Africa, is putting Israel in a bind over the muddle it has created in the West Bank: Despite 45 years of control and a massive and costly effort to settle it with Jews, Israel has never annexed the territory - and the Palestinians claim it for a future state.

The limbo yields some bewildering results, such as Jewish settlers casting ballots in home communities not in Israel proper despite there being no provision for absentee voting.

Asked to explain the "Made in Israel" label for products made outside Israeli territory, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor reached for an unorthodox defense, arguing that it is not intended as a geographical indication.

"My point is not the sovereignty over the West Bank, but who is the authority that has supervised the product," Palmor told The Associated Press. "Since the products of the settlements are made under Israeli regulations and standards, they are 'made in Israel."

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/31/3635493/made-in-israel-not-a-simple-question.html#storylink=cpy

[pelsar]

3. grand idea....unemployed Palestenians..

so much for an intelligent idea.... have those factories closed down, so that there will be increased unemployment amongst the Palestinians..including that energetic 18-25 year olds.

with no work, just guess what they'll be doing with their spare time? i doubt it will be "sit ins" or seminars on the beauty of loving thy neighbor.

another brilliant idea... that if it would succeed would have the negative consequences for the area....

[shaayecanaan]

4. or perhaps they could buy Palestinian helva instead...

the supermarket I go to sells Palestinian olive oil. I dont think Palestinian halva would be too much of a stretch.