Israel, 2016–01–30
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The labeling of Israeli products manufactured in Judaea and Samaria (the west bank) is common in European countries. In most cases the argument for labeling those products is that people have the right to know were where the goods they purchase manufactured. That is of course a legitimate argument. The problem is that it isn't just clever consumerism, meaning that a costumer can compare the quality and coast of a product he desires and then make his decision whether he\she want to purchase the item. For many, It is foremost a political choice. Political choices are also legitimate as long as they are not done selectively. Anybody that truly cares about human rights should not purchase anything that is manufactured in countries that are known to be violating human rights. It does not make sense to buy patrol from Saudi Arabia knowing well that the money the regime is making will be dedicated to more oppression of the Saudi people. Israel is allowing Palestinian farmers from Gaza to export their products via Israel to other markets. Anybody who buys cucumbers that grew in the Gaza strip should know that part of the money he just spent will finance the terror activities of Hamas. Europeans are consuming oil that comes from sources that are not always known. Some of it is coming from areas occupied by ISIS. Anything coming out from Crimea, (Occupied illegally by Russia) should be labeled Crimea and not Russia. Is that indeed the case? Following the same logic, anything manufactured in Tibet should not be presented as "made in China". Turkey occupies illegally part of the isle of Cyprus. Are products exported from that part of Cyprus labeled as "made in Turkey? If so, they should be labeled appropriately: "made in occupied Cyprus". The whole world knows very well that lifting the sanctions of Iran will allow the regime in Iran to dedicate more money to support terror around the world. (Secretary of State John Kerry admitted publically that would be the case)Europe is one of the main targets for such terror. Would any European country hesitate to resume its commercial connections with Iran?
So, by adhering to the standards set by "Human rights organizations", they should have boycotted many countries around the world. However, you don't hear their voice when it comes to any other injustice done on earth. You hear them very laud when it comes to Israel. They don't send monitors to Russia, China, Iran Syria, and Libya or anywhere on earth where the real violations of human rights occur. They only target Israel. The through meaning behind their work as they admitted constantly is not human rights but the destruction of Israel. Israel is housing a countless number of founds, organizations and all kinds of groups that are financed mostly by the EU. All they do is travelling around the west bank filming, recording, and interviewing anybody that has something negative to say about Israel. They do that openly and Israel as a true liberal democracy allows it. You don't hear that European resources are dedicated to boycott the most brutal regimes on our planet. (In the words of an Irish shopkeeper, broadcasted on T.V. several weeks ago, he does not have a problem to sell in his shop North Korean or Iranian products but he will never sell Israeli made products). But they will do whatever they can to boycott Israel. Fortunately Israel's products are of the best quality there is and if the European consumers want the best quality of products, the Israeli ones are the best they can get. We can all say that criticizing Israel is not anti Semitism. That is correct. However, if you only criticize Israel and ignore much worse situations around the world and pay no attention to them or condemn them, that is the purest form of anti-Semitism.
The articles in this section are reflecting the Israeli point of view regarding local and regional events.
I'm not a state official and I have no access to inside information. The articles and the opinions I'm expressing are mine alone and are based on observing and knowing the region and country for many years.
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