Activities of the Solidarity Campaign with Palestine to urge a boycott of Israeli settlement goods (Al Jazeera)

The Belgian Metropolitan Council of Brussels approved a proposal banning public purchases of products manufactured in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Following a vote on Monday evening, the Council unanimously adopted the proposal presented by member Benoit Hellings.

The decision called on the city's local authority to ensure that its purchases do not benefit companies that operate in conditions that do not respect international law, human rights, or environmental law.

Brussels is not the first

In April last year, the Norwegian capital, Oslo, announced a ban on the import of goods and services of companies that contribute directly or indirectly to settlements. The Norwegian government said that the measure would be applied to the occupied territories in the Golan Heights and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

A group of settlement products, including wine, liquor, and olive oil (Al Jazeera)

Oslo stated that “food items coming from the occupied territories must be labeled with the region from which the product comes, and must indicate that they are from an Israeli settlement if that is their source.”

In 2022, the Norwegian government announced that the “Made in Israel” label is only permitted on products made inside Israel and not from territories occupied by Israeli forces after June 4, 1967. During the Six-Day War that began on that day, Israeli forces occupied the West Bank, Including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in addition to the Golan Heights.

Decisions to boycott Israeli settlement products extended to include several European cities. In 2018, the Irish Senate ratified a law prohibiting the import or sale of goods or services produced in the occupied territories around the world, including Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.

The Council approved the proposed law by a majority of 25 to 20, deeming trade in such goods and services a legal violation.

Although Ireland is not the first country to ban the import of Israeli settlement products, it was the first to impose a penalty for doing so.

The law considers the process of importing or selling goods from Israeli settlements a crime punishable by 5 years in prison or a fine of 250,000 euros.

Other European cities have introduced draft laws to impose a ban on the import of settlement products.

Constant calls for a ban

The movements were not limited to European cities only. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) decided earlier last year to boycott Israeli settlement goods, and also decided to support the right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent, viable, geographically contiguous state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. At a time when 11 members of the US Congress called on PayPal to end the ban imposed on dealing with Palestinians, while allowing settlers to use the digital payment platform.

The European Union approved placing labels on Israeli goods produced in settlements inside the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights (Al Jazeera)

The European Federation of Trade Unions took this decision during the 15th session of the Federation’s conference, which was organized in the German capital, Berlin, on the occasion of the celebration of the golden jubilee of the founding of the most prominent labor union on the European continent.

Lighter decisions

In 2015, the European Union issued new guidelines regarding products from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Commission approved placing labels on Israeli goods produced in settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, which angered Israel at the time.

The decision requires placing special labels on products manufactured in Israeli settlements and exported to European markets, so that the consumer is aware of their source, and they do not carry the phrase “Made in Israel.”

The Economist magazine said in a previous issue that the Europeans - like the rest of the world - do not recognize Israel's sovereignty over the lands it seized from the Arabs during the Six-Day War in 1967, and they also consider the Israeli settlements illegal.

The confiscation of Palestinian lands and the restrictions imposed by Israel on Palestinians lead to the empowerment of businesses in the settlements (Al Jazeera)

Although Israel enjoys, as the magazine confirms, preferential treatment that allows its products to reach European markets, and also receives donations for its research programs within what is known as the Green Line, it has always refused to comply with previous European regulations requiring labels to be placed on the products of its settlements within the Palestinian territories.

Why ban settlement goods?

European human rights and labor organizations are constantly calling on the European Commission to ban trade between the European Union and settlements in the occupied territories around the world after it signed the “European Citizens Initiative.”

The organizations assert that the confiscation of Palestinian lands and the restrictions imposed by Israel on Palestinians lead to the empowerment of businesses in the settlements, as companies depend on illegally seized Palestinian lands for their operations.

Companies participate in residential and industrial development in settlements, perpetuating land confiscation and contributing to forced displacement. Companies also support settlement infrastructure, provide services and job opportunities for settlers, while contributing to tax revenues for settlement municipalities. This maintains the continuity and expansion of settlements.

The international community agrees that the settlements are illegal and constitute an obstacle to implementing the two-state solution, which stipulates the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies