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Last update - 18:53 18/11/2008
Palestinian Authority asks EU to limit import of settlement goods
By The Associated Press
Tags: David Miliband, israel news 

The Palestinian government has made contact with European Union countries to ask them to restrict imports of goods made in Israeli West Bank settlements, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in an interview Monday.

Fayyad said he has told the EU that Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts are collapsing under the settlement expansion. He spoke to The Associated Press ahead of talks with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

The Palestinians have proposed various options to the Europeans, from a total ban on imports from settlements, to raising customs or labeling them, Fayyad said. He said Britain has expressed interest in the latter two.
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Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the Palestinian campaign is not constructive.

Riding the boycott trail will lead the Palestinians nowhere, he said. It would be much better for them to concentrate on what can be constructive and invest in their own territory than seeking divestment in their neighbor's turf.

The Fayyad government is also targeting Israel's effort to upgrade its economic ties with the European Union. We have no objection to that (an upgrade), but we are reminding the EU that Israel should abide by EU laws and international laws, Fayyad said.

Israel is breaking the law by expanding settlements, and the EU should ask Israel not to do that as a condition for upgrading, Fayyad said.

He said he's been discussing the issue with EU officials, adding that he's had positive feedback.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday told her visiting British counterpart, David Miliband, that the U.K. was taking an "exaggerated" stance in its initiative to distinctly label produce imported from the West Bank.

Miliband arrived in Israel on Sunday, where he met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Livni, for a two-day visit aimed at advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Miliband was expected during his visit to express strong opposition to settlement in the West Bank and to press European partners for tighter control of imports to the European Union from the settlements.

Some of these imports are admitted at European ports as the produce of Israel and therefore enjoy tariff benefits under an Israel-EU treaty, British officials said.

Miliband was also to urge Syria, where he was also to visit on this trip, to tie up peace talks with Jerusalem.

The British foreign minster also has meetings scheduled in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, his office said.

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