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France Should Be Ashamed of Labeling Products Made by Jews

(Newsweek) Michael Oren - To its credit, France is one of the first countries in Europe to ban economic boycotts of Israel. To its shame, France is the first European country to implement a 2015 EU decision to label Israeli products from Judea and Samaria - the West Bank - and the Golan Heights as "Made in an Israeli Settlement." Who is the French government fooling when it says that it is against any boycott of Israel and then acts to facilitate one? Such a policy is viewed by the vast majority of Israelis as highly prejudicial, if not anti-Semitic. There are 200 territorial disputes in the world today, and France has singled out one of them for special treatment. Moreover, France's labeling decision seriously harms the many thousands of Palestinians and Golan Druze who work in Israeli companies. Labeling Israeli products may satisfy certain parts of public opinion, but they will only prevent France from playing any serious role in Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy. Israel is also a sovereign state. We have the right and the duty to defend ourselves from unjust practices, even when adopted by our friends. Israelis should not boycott French products, but we should certainly think twice before buying them. Or perhaps we should just label them with a sticker stating: "Made in a country that singles out Jewish goods"? The writer, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., is Israel's deputy minister for diplomacy in the Prime Minister's Office.
2016-12-02 00:00:00
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