EU: West Bank goods aren't Israeli

It's too easy to simply assume the nonsense that Europeans "hate Jews" as claimed by your correspondant. ("hate Europe have against the Jews") Why adopt this victim attitude? We do not hate Jews nor do we hate Israel. We do hate persecution by a powerful country of the inhabitants of a weaker, weakened one. The occupation of Palestine and the illegal settlement, as well as being illegal, is clearly, massively counter-productive. Practice Shalom and justice in the true Judaic tradition! Get real!!

The forbears of the Palestinians occupied Canaan (also known at the time as Palestine) before the Israelite tribes entered the land. That is not the end of the story. This is. On 14 May 1948, under UN resolution 181, Israel declared statehood, with sovereignty within precisely, meticulously detailed borders dictated by the resolution. The remainder of the territory in Palestine was Palestinian. In 1967, Israel occupied the remainder of Palestine. UN resolution 242 then demanded Israel withdraw from the occupied territories. Israel has refused and is in violation of that resolution, and thus international law. Therefore, the West Bank and Gaza, and Jerusalem for that matter, are not legally part of Israel. Israeli built settlements on the occupied lands, the blockade of Gaza, collective punishment of a civilian population, and the annexation of Jerusalem are violations of articles of the 4th Geneva Convention. Breaches of the Convention are considered war crimes.

If the West Bank WAS part of Israel, then Israel would be a state that was denying the franchise to nearly half its population. Since Israel is a democracy, that couldn't possibly be the case. Therefore, the West Bank is not part of Israel.

There is no such thing as "Palestinians" - their existence as a label is essentially propaganda; which unfortunately millions of people have come to believe and even label themselves as. They are simply Arab people from Israeli land - the technical semantics of "annexed" or "occupied territory" are essentially irrelevant since all of Israel is land won by the effort and arms of the Israeli people. The West Bank is such conquered land, and the goods there are Israeli. End of story.


Why do you and your friends refer to Europe as Isamland? What do you call Israel? 5% of the population of Europe is Muslim. Over 20% of the population of Israel is Muslim. What racist EU edict, and Arab lies? The EU Supreme Court decision had nothing to do with race nor Arabs. It dealt only with a tariff free trade agreement. It reads: "Duty free trade agreement applies to the territory of the State of Israel." The WB is not Israel. What is the court to do? Ignore the wording of the trade agreement? 
You had better hope that Israel ignores your imploring to boycott everything Europe. Foreign trade comprises 80 percent of Israels GDP.
 Some 49 percent of its imports and 33 percent of its exports are with Europe. Do you want to destroy the economy of Israel? Your zionist fervor seems to function at a higher level than your I.Q., Bobby.

what a ludicrous line of crap! the west bank is NOT israel, the settlements DON'T belong there, and NEITHER does israeli industry; unless its in partnership with palestinian industry. considering that the eu, and the rest of the world for that matter, doesn't recognize the legitimacy of israel's presence in the west bank, it should consider itself lucky that those products aren't banned from import altogether!

Did you know that the majority of Israelis and Jews of the Diaspora are for two states ? Did you hear Netanyahu say publicly he would be happy for a two state solution. The big snags are many : -Fatah's W.B. and Hamas' Gaza are fighting each other; so who would Israel agree with for a Palestinian state ? -the W.B. has many 'liberated' Palestinian controlled areas. Now with all the billions they're getting from EU and USA, what are they waiting for ? Why dont' they build like everybody else, like the Chinese in the East ,and like all the Western world ? Perhaps they're still hoping to just take over that once desert (Israel) transformed into a vibrant modern litle state ? -Why dont' they say clearly, finally, "lets discuss frontiers seriously". And if they insist on 'returning refugees', these should settle with their brothers in the W.B., just like the Jews from Arab countries did in Israel a few decades ago. -and the list goes on , beyond the space in this talkback.

Very interesting development. If the Supreme Court says those goods are not Israeli, then it means it is recognizing a sovereign country on the eastern border of Israel. This is a good first step towards recognition. I wonder why Palestinians still did not go out to the streets to celebrate the implicit act of recognition by denial... Something starts making sense in the Israeli government these days.

"I wish EU opened its eyes and discovered who is its true enemy. Will stupid America do the same?" Many of us have been hoping so for a long time now... Still, it's excellent news from the EU...

To all you lot pointing to how the pals will be the real losers due to loss of jobs, ask any african wether they would be prepered to go back to colonial rule were they were probably better off, they will say better a hungry free man then a full man in chains. You dont seem to get it, the world has had enough of your occupation and subjugation of the pals for a 3000yr story you want us to swallow. You can not polish that occupation turd anymore, we now smell it.

....just to spite Israel. No wonder Zapatero is the revolving EU President or representative at the moment. How does imposing import duty on goods made by Palestinians help the Pals ? This is the kind of logic that will eventually sink Europe , unless they wake up before it's too late. In my logic, if I wanted to help the Pals, not only I would not impose import duties but I might even offer export bonuses ! What Europe is doing is like the vindictive divorced mother or father pushing their children against the other spouse: it relieves one vindictive partner to spite the other , at the expense of their common children. I wonder, what is the import duty these days on Iranian carpets entering Europe ?

"Israel regrets a decision which authorizes the persecution of Israeli products made in Judea and Samaria and a constitution of the European political campaign against the settlements." This is about as pathetic as it gets. Come on people, why not just call it "Anti-Semitic" or some other over used bull crap.

Basque people are Spanish citizens. If you want it to be the same way, then grant every Palestinian in the West Bank an Israeli citizenship. It's that simple. Stop comparing those cases.

The decision should have been to NOT import any of these products not just levy a duty...they should make them illegal ..PERIOD

Always breaking agreements with the expectation that they will get away with it because they are a persecuted people. That was then and this is now - the world knows who the real persecuted people are and they are Palestinian. Let's hope that computer factory is not Intel.

This "Euroarabic" court cannot have it both ways. If these are "disputed territories" then the so-called-since-the-seventies "Palestinians" have to be treated as the Israelis, having to pay EU import duties. This is why Israel should have annexed these territories after winning them in a war caused by Jordan, Syria, Egypt, etc. in 1967.

.. is nothing but a state of mind.

This hurts not only settlers but Pals as well, making their goods less competitive on the international market. Given there are many more Palestinians in the WB than settlers, this is more an anti-Palestine ruling than anything. Sad on many accounts.

As a supposed descendant of the Levi tribe, provided my ancestors did not come from the Khazar empire, I do not consider the west bank no more than any monument therein as my heritage. The only borders of Israël are those established by international law.

please tell me how the islamic world is backwards? because I have been to many countries in teh ME, and i found them to be very modern. so please tell us about your claims of backwardness in the ME.

Well, if we're really going to see everything made in settlements labelled as coming from the West Bank, that will be very good news for Israel. I know lots of people who refuse to buy produce labelled as coming from Israel, in case it actually comes from the settlements. Now they'll be able to buy those excellent Israeli avocados.

....like a million ants on a bread crumb...

May the duties charged be exobitant.

we provide aid to millions of Palestinians already through UNWRA. What difference is a couple of thousand more.

Good question!!!! Unfortunatlly the answer is not very simple. According to israeli law, as enshrined in its Declaration of Independence, and this, BTW is the ONLY place that israel has EVER officially claimed its borders are those of the UN partition plan. In practice however, israel has defined its borders as those of the so called "green line",but as mentioned, this is ONLY in practice, not in israeli law. On the other hand, israeli law SPECIFICALLY exludes the territories occupied in '67 (save East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan Heights, which it illeagally annexed) from israel. Hence the term "israel proper" israel has repetedlly confirmed to the UN that it "continues to be the occupying power in both the West Bank AND the Gaza Strip. This was confirmed by israel recently (after israel's "disengagement" from the Strip) in response to a formal UN request to clarify the status of the Gaza.

forging EU passports wasn't such a good idea Just the beginning. Current trade rules for Israel proper is dependent on certain human rights been upheld. A nice little investigation might not go amiss. I mean running around using forged passports murdering people is so far outside International law that it is in orbit. Diplomatic ties and intelligence sharing won't be affected, and it would fob off those who want real and sevre punishment for this violation. AND we won't have to prove it was Israel that done it. This is a completely seperate issue pertaining to The Goldstone Report. Should have investigated in a transparent manner.

for 2 thousand years when we were their 'guests' they taught us nice Christian values like "hospitality," turning the other cheek, and tolerance of others. It seems like they will continue to 'educate' us even after we have returned to our homeland.

Then we can organise a boycott in retaliation. The Anti Defamation League has told Israelis and their supporters not to mount boycotts, just for that reason. Guess you haven't heard?

theived will not prosper

Its really time. A pity that many hundreds of Palestinians will lose their jobs. You cannot expect the EU to sit idly by. Tough decisions for Israels Government of the moment. Good night.

It means that the high court is ruling according to the international law even on Israeli matters. EU goes from word to action.

"West Bank goods can't be considered Israeli" The court did not rule on the attribute "Israeli". It rules that the EU-Israel trade agreement is applicable to goods produced inside Israel. The Westbank is not inside Israel ...

EU has gone a long way to define Israel's borders. This ruling is very significant.

Palestinians who work in the israeli factories will be the ones who suffer what happens when these places shutdown as it is no longer competitive to produce goods there?

The official position of the US, all of Western Europe, all of our allies, etc., and generally Israeli law acknowledges the WB settlements are distinct from Israel proper...

Nothing new about the hate Europe have against the Jews, the colateral repercution is that the Palestinians that work on this factories beyond the Green Line will have no more work.

Gershon, I along with many many people I know have boycotted everything Europe (Islamland) for years. I encourage others to counter this racist EU edict, succumbing to Arab lies. They should not benefit from Israeli technology, medicine, innovation. Let the EU be overrun by these Islamists who will continue to bring Europe back by decades. We in the US prefer going to the Paris in Vegas to the Paris in France. California wines are cheaper and taste as good as European wines. The list goes on and on. Every week there are fabulous travel packages to Europe, highlighting their desperation. My friends and I will never support their bias.

But taxfree imports from Hamas controlled Gaza is fine !? We are all Settlers in our promised Land.

Israeli economy depends on EU + America.

I am surprised to hear this good news! I wish EU opened its eyes and discovered who is its true enemy. Will stupid America do the same?

Strange language coming from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. How can one persecute products? A deal is a deal, a contract is a contract and this decision is fair and square under the rule of trade law and has nothing to do with a supposedly existing political campaign. Grow up!

"What does Israel claim as its eastern borders?..." We are not interested in varying Israeli claims ... from a legal point of view, east of the Green Line is occupied territory, therefore not Israel (a state cannot occupy its own territory, right?)

Doesn't this move just hurt Palestinians? The companies this article is talking about aren't owned by settlers (Soda Club is owned by a guy who lives in Jerusalem, West Jerusalem), but having the factories in the West Bank gives Palestinians jobs. I'm all for a two state solution, but the EU needs to figure out if it's pro-Palestian or anti-Israeli.

Thank you European Union high court. justice prevails!

We should retaliate in kind. Basque goods aren't Spainish. Buy non-EU !!.

What does Israel claim as its eastern borders?...The Jordan river?...The Barrier?....The Green line?...the 1948 state border?