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Why Is EU Product Labeling a Big Deal?

(Times of Israel) Gerald M. Steinberg - The EU Ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, asked why labeling Israeli goods from beyond the Green Line is such a big problem. The marking of products from beyond the 1949 armistice lines goes far beyond another awkward EU attempt to impose its ideas on Israeli democracy. Product labeling is the embodiment of a strategy to delegitimize Israel and the right of the Jewish people to sovereign equality. It is central to the political war embodied in the BDS - boycott, divestment and sanctions - campaign, whose stated objective is not peace, but rather "the complete international isolation of Israel." This campaign is conducted through false-flag human rights and humanitarian groups, many of which are funded generously by the EU and its member states. In other words, while invoking the rhetoric of peace, the EU and its spokesperson in Israel continue to promote policies and organizations that reinforce the conflict. Product labeling, which promotes boycotts and other actions that single-out and demonize Israel, is the facade for this process. In the midst of another wave of brutal terror, this is certainly not the time for European political posturing. At the same time, a full and independent investigation of the EU's relationships with fringe groups that fuel the conflict is long overdue. The writer is professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University and president of NGO Monitor.
2015-10-28 00:00:00
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