(JNS) Melanie Phillips - Last week, the European Court of Justice ruled in the Psagot winery case that the origin of any foodstuffs made in an Israeli settlement in the "occupied territories" must be described as such to enable consumers to make "ethical considerations and considerations relating to the observance of international law." What's unethical here is not the behavior of Israel but the ECJ. Singling out Israel like this creates a discriminatory double standard. No other country with a territorial dispute or whose behavior is subject to criticism has its products labeled in this way. As Eugene Kontorovich, a scholar of international law, tweeted: "Products around the world are made in many situations that raise 'ethical' and legal questions, from Chinese prison labor factories to Moroccan drilling Sahrawi oil. Only such concern that requires labeling in EU is Jews living in neighborhoods where they are not 'supposed' to be." The only legal right to any of what is now Israel, the "West Bank" and Gaza was given by the international community in the 1920s to the Jews alone, in recognition of their unique historical claim to the land as the only people for whom it had ever been their national kingdom. The Hague Initiative for International Co-operation has written: "International law requires that the right to self-determination cannot infringe the territorial integrity or security of neighboring states." It is those firing the rockets from Gaza who are in violation of international and human-rights law by committing the war crimes of deliberately targeting Israeli civilians and using their own people as human shields. The writer is a columnist for The Times (UK).
2019-11-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive