Settlement campaign
Our overall aim is to secure a total ban on settlement produce in Ireland. That however requires action and a coordinated campaign at an EU level and is therefore a more medium term aim.
In the meantime – we are striving to ensure that settlement goods are correctly labeled (at present, they are labeled ‘Made in Israel’ or ‘Produce of the West Bank’, the latter can falsely lead consumers to believe that they are buying Palestinian produce).
Our campaign is focusing on four areas;
- The labelling of goods from Jewish settlements, so that customers in Ireland can identify them and, if they wish, choose not to buy them,
- The collection by Ireland of the appropriate customs duties on settlement goods imported into Ireland (as they are not eligible for the special tax exemptions afforded to Israeli produce under the Euro-Med Agreement),
- The use of non-renewable resources, contrary to Article 55 of the Hague Convention*, for example, by Ahava in the manufacture of Dead Sea products
- The legality of importing settlement goods given the illegal status of the settlements.
*
Article 55 of the Hague Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land, which states:
“The occupying State shall be regarded only as administrator and usufructuary of public buildings, real estate, forests, and agricultural estates belonging to the hostile State, and situated in the occupied country. It must safeguard the capital of these properties, and administer them in accordance with the rules of usufruct.” [3]
More information on this Sadaka campaign is contained in the following Sadaka articles:
EU Importation of Settlement Goods
(February 2010, PDF file 83Kb)
Settlement Products: A Briefing Document
(March 2010, PDF file 146Kb)
Some of the issues and questions which need to be addressed are also discussed in this paper developed by Quaker Peace and Social Witness UK
(2010, PDF file 29Kb)
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