By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
South Africa’s decision to label products from Judea and Samaria (Shomron) as “Palestinian” will boomerang and cause a rise in the Arab jobless rate, a Jewish factory owner says.
South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies warned merchants last week “not to incorrectly label products that originate from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) as products of Israel,” bowing to pressure from the international Boycott Israel movement.
Approximately 15,000 Arabs work for Jewish manufacturers and exporters in Judea and Samaria, and they will be the first to feel the effects of any drop in sales. “They won’t find better jobs in Ramallah or Shechem,” notes one Jewish factory owner.
He also said that if he has no choice other than to relocate in an area of Israel that is not part of Judea and Samaria, all of his Palestinian Authority employees will be without work.
Denmark may duplicate the policy announced by South Africa, and pro-Palestinian Authority groups are pressuring other countries to join the movement to mark Judea and Samaria as “Palestinian.”
The government is not taking the South African decision quietly, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor Saturday night called the decision “racist.”
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Reference to Israel's National Bird Sparks Outrage
Source: Arutz Sheva
By Rachel Hirshfeld
Anti-Israel activists harshly criticized the British publication the Morning Star for publishing a quiz in which one of the questions referred to Israel’s national bird, the Hoopoe.
In a letter to the newspaper, George Abendstern Chairman of the Manchester Palestine Solidarity Campaign (MPSC) expressed his dismay by stating, “I often wonder why so many of its readers find the Morning Star so exasperating. Despite its condemnation of zionists (sic) it yet finds space to include an item in its daily quiz about Israel’s national bird.”
“Is the Star not aware there’s a cultural boycott going on? And then, despite it’s (sic) condemnation of the Bahrain Grand Prix and rightly so, it then goes on to tell us who won. For goodness sake comrades, get your act together,” he continued.
Linda Clair, chairwoman of MPSC, wrote a letter to the publication, as well stating,
“The Morning Star has always been the newspaper you could rely on to support the cause of the Palestinians, so why of all the birds in the world did you choose the Israeli national bird to include in your quiz?”
“Maybe you don’t support the methods chosen by the International Solidarity Movement of BDS to assist the Palestinians in their struggle for freedom and justice,” Clair wrote, adding that this includes any reference to Israel’s wildlife.
They continued to state that, “It was not the bird we object to but what this bird represents – the racist and apartheid State of Israel.”
