In light of the boycott of the goods of the occupation and its supporters, the national product is the Palestinians’ first choice

A shop in Nablus promoting the Palestinian national product (Al Jazeera)

Nablus

- Directly and without the need to search or think, the young Palestinian woman, Safaa Abu Rizq, chose what she wanted to buy from the merchandise accumulated on the shelves of the store she went to for the purpose of shopping, and from among the many types of detergents and food supplies on display, she chose Palestinian products, which became her top priority in light of their boycott. For Israeli and foreign goods supporting Israel.

The option of boycotting Israel and its goods has actually become the support of the Palestinians, and it is their decision that they took a long time ago, and they strengthened it even more after its war on the Gaza Strip on the seventh of last October. This is confirmed by their significant demand for their national product, which now does not compete with the occupation’s goods, but rather surpasses them as well. According to observers and specialists, this increased the Palestinian consumer’s enthusiasm and desire for it even more.

Years ago, Safaa was keen to boycott the occupation’s products to a large extent, but today she has become a complete boycott, and she convinced her family of that. Safaa tells Al Jazeera Net that she did not know most of the products of Palestinian companies, due to their dependence on foreign products or the lack of the presence of the Palestinian product in the market.

She added, "After my need and increased demand for Palestinian products in the markets, I began to find them everywhere. The most important thing is that the Palestinian alternative is available and of high quality, and I began to exclude those for which there is no Palestinian alternative and are not necessary."

One of the shops in Nablus displays the Palestinian national product (Al Jazeera)

The need and demand for the Palestinian product to appear has increased in a larger, more sophisticated and better quality way, and Safaa says that many Palestinian products have spread more under the shadow of the war on Gaza and due to the need for them, to the point that she and her family have dispensed with the occupation’s goods.

Like Safaa, the young man Khaled Al-Atrash did not think twice about his decision to boycott the products of the occupation. He says that he found a “wonderful” Palestinian alternative that he did not think was such before. He adds that his thinking about boycotting the occupation is not new, but it was more serious after the war on Gaza, and most importantly, he found it. A good Palestinian alternative that meets its needs.”

Al-Atrash told Al-Jazeera Net that the Palestinian product is no longer only competitive, but has become distinguished by its quality and form of presentation for most goods, especially the dairy sector.

These “quality and appearance” specifications are real, according to Manal Farhan, Undersecretary of the Palestinian Ministry of Economy, and have significantly increased Palestinian demand for them despite the decline in the purchasing power of citizens in general. Indeed, the share of some Palestinian products in the market has become high, and the Israeli product “almost” no longer It exists opposite it, such as the dairy and cheese sector, which covers 85%.

Farhan tells Al Jazeera Net that although it is difficult to assess the extent of the increase in demand for the Palestinian product, field surveys have confirmed this.

She added, "There are certain products that outperform their Israeli and imported counterparts in demand and quality, such as cleaning materials, dairy products, and juices, and that many factories are now thinking about producing new products to meet market demand."

From a previous event organized by the Medical Relief Society to boycott occupation products in Nablus (Al Jazeera)

Farhan points out that their supervisory role in conducting examinations and granting the required quality certificates has enhanced the improvement of production and its quality, and that they are now preparing a program and electronic platform that encourages and identifies the national product, and promotes it further. They also have a project to support export by reducing the cost of shipping.

Regarding how Palestinian products benefit from the boycott, Farhan says that many Palestinian goods were not known to the consumer, and that this prompted him to try them and be amazed by their quality. She adds, indicating some percentages, that the dairy sector, for example, meets 85% of the market, and the same and higher is the furniture sector, and plastic takes over 75%, while medications exceed 55%.

In addition to the state of public awareness generated among Palestinians about the boycott, the boycott campaigns launched by various institutions increased this, while commercial stores resorted, through various methods, to encourage citizens to support the national product, and the shape and quality of the Palestinian product helped in its rapid spread and greater acceptance.

Many stores resorted to getting rid of Israeli goods after they had accumulated by reducing their prices.

Mashhour Al-Junaidi, General Manager of Al-Junaidi Dairy Company, says that, after Israeli companies controlled 85% of the dairy sector in the Palestinian market, the picture has now reversed, and the national product now controls about 90% of the market. He adds, “This is due to the quality of our products and their meeting the taste and desires of consumers.” And the lowest prices.”

Al-Junaidi points out that they were able to reverse the equation some time ago, and they benefited from the last boycott by more than 5%, despite the difficult economic conditions that Palestine is experiencing, and the halt of their export quota to Gaza, estimated at 20% of production, and the local market was affected by a decrease in sales by about 25% in light of the layoff of tens of thousands. Workers and irregular salaries.

In a previous interview with Al Jazeera Net, Mahmoud Nawajaa, coordinator of the Boycott Israel Movement (BDS) in the West Bank, said that they have already felt the impact of this boycott at the local Palestinian level, and he added, "Palestinian demand and consumption of the Israeli product decreased by more than 50%."

Source: Al Jazeera