Settlement Boycott

Jewish settlers clean the newly harvested grapes at a winery in the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion, September 8, 2014. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

Irish senate passes sanctions on Israeli settlements

The law, which still needs to go through the lower house and be signed by the president, would criminalize the import and sale of goods and services that originate in settlements in occupied territories, targeting Israeli settlements but also other occupations worldwide. The vote had been shelved earlier this year after objections by Israel. The…

By Edo Konrad July 11, 2018

Jewish settlers clean the newly harvested grapes at a winery in the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion, September 8, 2014. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

Ireland to vote on settlement trade sanctions bill

The law would prohibit the import and sale of goods and services that originate in settlements in occupied territories, targeting Israeli settlements but also other occupations worldwide. Previous European laws made do with ‘differentiation’ measures. Ireland’s parliament is set to vote on a bill Tuesday to prohibit trade with illegal settlements in occupied territories, including those…

By Edo Konrad January 30, 2018

Construction workers begin work on the new settlement called Amichai, meant to resettle the evacuees of Amona, in Shilo Valley, West Bank, on June 20, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Hundreds of Israelis urge the UN to release ‘settlement blacklist’

The petition, by a group of prominent Israelis, is a cry for help to the international community, asking it to insist on seeing the Green Line no matter how hard the Netanyahu government works to erase it. Over 400 Israelis, including a former attorney general, retired diplomats, ex-members of Knesset, and prominent intellectuals, sent a…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man December 3, 2017

Latest

Protesters hold signs calling for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) during a Washington, D.C., protest against Israel's offensive on Gaza, August 2, 2014. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

Why settlement boycotters shouldn’t join the BDS movement

Although the Israeli government’s crackdown on the BDS movement will doubtless boost sympathy for its cause, progressive settlement boycotters should think twice before getting onboard. By Abe Silberstein When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared settlement evacuation to ethnic cleansing last September, it became clear that the Israeli government was redoubling its efforts to improve the reputation…

By +972 Magazine April 4, 2017

An El Al plane is seen through a barbed wire fence at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

Israel’s travel ban strikes Liberal Zionism at its core

Israel’s new anti-BDS law is antagonizing some of the state’s most loyal supporters, rewriting a decades-old relationship. Israel ramped up its fight against the global boycott movement last week, when the Knesset passed its own travel ban: a new law barring entry to any non-citizen or non–permanent resident who has publicly called for or pledged to support a…

By Mairav Zonszein March 14, 2017

Participants in the Open Hillel Conference, Harvard University. (photo: Gili Getz)

Israel passes ‘dissenter ban’ barring entry to boycott advocates

It’s impossible to predict how and against whom the new law will be applied, but the message it sends is clear: if your politics don’t toe the Israeli government line, you won’t be allowed in. Even if your opposition is entirely non-violent. As Donald Trump signed a revised travel ban against nationals of six Muslim countries…

By Mairav Zonszein March 7, 2017

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks with EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini,September 26, 2014. (State Dept Photo)

After the UN, the EU must lead the way on Israeli settlements

Resolution 2334 should be seen as a belated step towards mobilizing the international consensus. But to give it any real effect, states will need to build on the resolution with a view to making it operational. The EU is best positioned to do so. By Hugh Lovatt Much of the discussion about the UN Security…

By +972 Magazine December 28, 2016

Jewish settlers clean the newly harvested grapes at a winery in the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion, September 8, 2014. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

I’m Israeli, and I want to be blacklisted for boycotting settlement products

I don’t know what sanctions the Israeli government can impose on me for boycotting products made in the settlements, but I’ll accept them proudly. By Eitan Kalinski Israel’s Minister for Strategic Affairs, Gilad Erdan, this week recommended to Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon that a special committee be set up to put together a blacklist of companies,…

By +972 Magazine December 7, 2016

Palestinians wave flags during a protest against the expansion of the Ma'ale Adumim Israeli settlement, Al Eizariya, West Bank, February 13, 2014. The protest took place hours before thousands of Israeli settlers held a march in the E1 area. Israel had planned construction in the East-1 area, but kept back implementation due to international pressure in 2009. Further settlement construction in the area would effectively separate Palestinians in East Jerusalem from the West Bank. All Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law. (photo: Tali Mayer/Activestills.org)

Why a settlement boycott is so scary for Israel

The Israeli government sees the idea of a settlement boycott as a farce because it knows how impossible it would be to stop even a targeted boycott from bleeding right through the Green Line it’s been working so hard to erase. A year after the European Union published guidelines for labeling Israeli settlement products, France…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man November 28, 2016

A gift basket containing wine produced in the West Bank settlement Mishor Adumim, sent by the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to anti-settlement organizations.

U.S. embassy sends settlement wine to anti-settlement groups

The diplomatic faux pas is indicative of just how impossible it is to distinguish between Israel and its illegal settlements these days. Human rights organizations in Israel were in for a surprise on Monday when they opened Rosh Hashanah gift baskets sent by the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. Among the various goodies delivered in honor of the upcoming…

By Edo Konrad September 19, 2016

Solidarity activists hold a banner reading "Boycott Israel" during a protest in front of the Norwegian Parliament building, Stortinget, Oslo, March 30, 2015. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

Israel targets boycotters as EU moves against settlements

On the same day the EU adopts guidelines for labeling settlement goods, the Knesset passes a preliminary reading of a bill to prevent entry to individuals who support a boycott of Israel. The European Union approved a plan Wednesday to begin labeling goods produced in West Bank settlements, raising the ire of the Israeli government, even…

By Edo Konrad November 11, 2015

Illustrative photo of a man reading the labels of two products. (Shutterstock.com)

Are European settlement labels a double standard?

Israeli government allegations of an EU double standard are largely grounded on misguided or incomplete information. By Lorenzo Kamel In 2005 the European Union clarified that products originating in areas beyond Israel’s pre-1967 lines do not benefit from preferential tariff treatment under the EU-Israel Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Ten years later, on September 10, 2015,…

By +972 Magazine October 1, 2015

Israel's Supreme Court sits as the High Court of Justice, April 1, 2014. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills)

You can boycott anything in Israel — except the occupation

The ‘boycott law’ won’t put an end to the BDS movement — its real importance lies in the criminalization of all opposition to the occupation. A few months ago, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman called for a boycott of businesses owned by Arab citizens of Israel. Such remarks — blunt racism directed at 20 percent…

By Noam Sheizaf April 16, 2015