The United States’ House of Representatives has passed a bill designating products from illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories as being from “Israel”, in the latest move that could further sideline Palestinians and their efforts for self-determination.
On Thursday, the ‘Anti-BDS Labeling Act’ was passed at US Congress’s House of Representatives with a vote of 231 to 189, receiving support from Congress’s most pro-Israel members including 16 Democrats.
Sponsored by Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney of New York, the bill is a revival of the policy originating from the administration of former president Donald Trump. If enforced, it would mandate that products from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip be labelled separately rather than together.
Instead of being written as products of the “West Bank and Gaza”, they would be labelled either “West Bank” or “Gaza”, which essentially removes any unified identity between the Palestinian territories. Products from the majority of the occupied West Bank will also be branded as “Product of Israel” or “Made in Israel”.
The move is seen as a direct attempt to further undermine Palestinians’ efforts for self-determination and to establish an independent state, while at the same time enforcing and greenlighting Israel’s ongoing illegal annexation of the occupied territories. It also seeks to intensify the targeting of and crackdown on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)movement in an effort to force individuals and companies not to boycott products made in Israel or the illegal settlements.
Source: Middle East Monitor
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