(Al Jazeera) Nigel Wilson - A year after the European Union issued labelling guidelines for products imported from Israeli settlements, the economic effect on settlement businesses appears to be minimal, according to analysts. "What's actually happened, and I think part of it is due to ferocious Israeli pushback, is that there's very little follow up on the guidelines," said Hugh Lovatt, Israel/Palestine project coordinator at the European Council on Foreign Relations. The Israeli government drew comparisons between the labelling guidelines and anti-Jewish sentiment in Europe around the time of the Second World War. Implementation seems to have been limited throughout Europe. When a German department store removed settlement products in order to re-label them, the store was targeted in an online campaign and accused of "anti-Semitism," forcing it to apologize and re-stock the products within days. At the Psagot Winery in the West Bank, owner Yaakov Berg has not changed a single label on his wine bottles and said his winery has actually increased the amount of wine it sells internationally. "We are selling much more. To Europe and to the States, we increased exports by almost 80%," said Berg, noting that a number of buyers came to him specifically to show solidarity against the EU labelling decision.
2016-12-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive