Dr. Saeb Erekat on EU Guidelines for Labeling Products from Israeli Settlements in Occupied State of Palestine

Dr. Saeb Erekat today welcomed the European Commission’s adoption of guidelines for labeling products made in illegal Israel settlements in the Occupied State of Palestine.  The move requires the correct and proper indication of origin of products produced in illegal settlements in the West Bank.

“We welcome this decision and consider it a significant move toward a total boycott of Israeli settlements, which are built illegally on occupied Palestinian lands,” Dr. Erekat said. “The EU has once again moved from the level of statements to taking concrete policy decisions. We believe that more actions are necessary to hold Israel accountable for the crimes it continues to commit against the land and people of Palestine.”

He added that “[c]oncrete actions are needed and are in the right direction toward achieving the two-state solution on the 1967 borders.”

This comes at a crucial time when Israeli incitement and brutality against Palestinian civilians has reached a peak.  According to UNOCHA, October alone has seen the highest recorded casualties of Palestinians in the West Bank (69 deaths and 7,392 injuries) since 2005, and the highest casualties in Gaza since Israel’s 2014 attack on Gaza last summer.

“The extra-judicial killings of innocent Palestinian civilians at the hands of the Israeli occupying forces and illegal Israeli settlers must stop.  The meaningful step taken by the EU today is one of many necessary steps to put a stop to these illegal settlements and violent settlers wreaking havoc on the Palestinian population,” Dr. Erekat concluded.