Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Coop vs. Israel

Lo spettro di Pesenti si aggira per l'Europa
Namib
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http://www.nena-news.com/?p=1730
MADE IN ISRAEL? CARMEL-AGREXCO UNDER ACCUSATION
BY ELENA HOGAN
Jerusalem, the 18th of June 2010, Nena News - "The Coalition of Women for
Peace [CWP ndr] declares its support for Italian supermarket chains COOP and
Nordiconad's decision to suspend sales of Agrexco produce in their stores,
and hopes that more supermarket chains will follow in their footsteps."
 So begins the declaration of the prominent Israeli coalition of 11 feminist
organizations, released in support of the Italian Stop Agrexco campaign (a
coalition of over 60 Italian groups) after the Italian supermarket chains
COOP and Nordiconad announced in late May that they would be suspending the
largest Israeli agricultural export company's products from their shelves
due to issues regarding the difficulty of tracing product origin.
 The legality of Carmel-Agrexco exports to European markets is indeed being
strongly called into question in the UK, France, Italy, due to the company's
operation within Israeli settlements built on lands confiscated from
Palestinian farmers in the fertile Jordan Valley area of the West Bank.
 The fourth Geneva convention, of which the State of Israel is a signatory,
deems settlement on occupied lands illegal, as well as the agricultural
production taking place in such settlements, because of the exploitation of
occupied resources it implies.
 The Hague Court's 2004 advisory ruling on the Israeli Separation Wall
affirmed this illegality, condemning as a breach of international law
Israeli settlements constructed beyond the Green Line, the
internationally-recognized boundary between Israel and the Palestinian West
Bank.
 Nevertheless, a United Nations report of March 2009 documents no less than
249 expanding Israeli settlements and outposts currently fragmenting the
West Bank and housing over 450,000 Israeli settlers on Palestinian territory
beyond the Green Line.
 "As Israeli peace activists, Jewish and Palestinian," the CWP declaration
punctuates, " we see it as our duty to support the international community
in taking measures against Israeli companies that are involved in sustaining
the occupation of Palestine. This international pressure is crucial in
changing corporate policies and public opinions, both locally and
internationally."
 Broad campaigns have, in fact, been waged against Agrexco in Europe
following the Palestinian call for global Boycott Divestment and Sanctions
of Israel (BDS) launched one year after the 2004 Hague Court ruling, "until
Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people's
inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with
international law."
 This same call for BDS is under heavy attack by the Knesset, which is
debating a bill at present that would allow the State of Israel to heavily
fine Israeli and Palestinian groups that actively support any sort of
Israeli product boycott.
 The Palestinian Authority itself, currently enforcing a major boycott of
Israeli settlement goods throughout the West Bank, would not be immune to
this law if issued by its occupier, and could see Palestinian VAT tax
revenues and customs duties withheld by the Israeli government and handed
over to settlements as compensation for the income lost due to this
campaign, regardless of the edicts of international law.
 Despite this sort of political pressure, Israeli groups such as the CWP
continue to support foreign campaigns for the boycott of settlement goods.
Gush Shalom, another prominent Israeli peace organization, also issued an
open letter in support of the Italian Stop Agrexco campaign at the end of
May, addressed to the management of Agrexco and published in the Israeli
press.
"Dear Sir/Madam," the letter begins, "Already for many years your company is
in the habit of internationally marketing products which come from
settlements in the Occupied Territories."
Urging Agrexco to cease mixing Israeli products with settlement goods from
the West Bank, the statement continues, "As you are no doubt aware.this
practice is arousing strong opposition all over the world, particularly in
Europe, in the form of demonstrations, protest petitions and the like."
Upon its publication in Israel, the letter caused the story to break in the
Italian press, and severe accusations (including those of antisemitism) were
made by Italian political leaders to COOP and Nordiconad.
The two supermarkets quickly denied there had been any talk of a boycott,
while COOP confirmed the suspension of sales of settlement products until
clear labeling of product origins could be guaranteed by Carmel-Agrexco.
But product origin labeling is often not straight-forward.
 "Labeling of product origin is done in various locations," explains Dalit
Baum of the CWP.
"Customs officials in Israeli ports mark the origin of products based on the
zip code which pertains to the location where the product is completely
assembled and registered," she continues, "But if all or part of the
contents of a packaged product, such as produce, for example, has been grown
in places other than where it is packaged, this can be misrepresented.
Customs markings may not be visible to the consumer either, and the 'Made in
Israel' label is added by the European distributor. There is therefore very
little regulation concerning origin, especially since Israeli law does not
distinguish in any way between goods produced inside or outside of the Green
Line."
When not properly labeled, settlement products violate European customs laws
as well, since Israeli settlement goods produced beyond the Green Line do
not benefit from the preferential trade terms for Israel defined by the
European Union-Israel Association Agreement (EU-IAA) in effect since 2000,
confirmed by the European Court of Justice's February 2010 ruling.
Baum emphasizes, however, that it is not just a question of clear labeling:
"Even if supermarkets were to mark such products as 'Illegal settlement
product', these foreign supermarkets are still profiting from settlement
produce, and are therefore complicit in the Israeli settlement economy."
A significant part of Carmel-Agrexco's activities on Palestinian lands in
the West Bank, including production, packing, and administration, has been
identified by the "Who Profits from the Occupation" research project
conducted by the CWP. Signs bearing the Carmel logo at the entrances of
Israeli settlements scattered throughout  the Jordan Vally, such as Mehola,
Roi, Theko'a, Mitzpe Shalem, Kalia, Thomer, and Na'ama, have also been
photographed and archived as evidence.
During a trial (November 2006) in the United Kingdom, in which protesters
who had blockaded Agrexco's UK distribution center in Middlesex were
acquitted, Agrexco UK's then General Manager, Amor Or, admitted under oath
that Agrexco single handedly markets 60-70% of the agricultural produce
grown in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Given this situation, more and more European consumers are demanding to know
where-and why-products exported by a company violating international law
continue to appear on European supermarket shelves 

 and hopes that more supermarket chains will follow in their footsteps."
Sono interdetto...
Se delle persone di chiamarsi donne per la pace, significa che non hanno 
capito un granch� di come funziona la guerra e di come questa avvantaggi i 
potenti a danno di tutti gli altri che, tra parentesi, sono sia femmine che 
maschi e che, guarda caso, sono proprio questi ultimi a dover combattere le 
guerre senza possibilit� di scelta....
E se queste persone decidono di aggregarsi previa selezione basata su 
criteri sessuali, in un mondo che privilegia proprio le donne a danno degli 
uomini, come la guerra avvantaggia i potenti ai danni dei popoli...
Beh... signori... sta gente non deve essere troppo centrata e non pu� aver 
ragione.
A meno che, come sembra, non ci si trovi di fronte all'eccezione che 
conferma la regola....
Deve essere sicuramente cos�. 

 > Nordiconad's
WOW... qui si muovono le masse.
Aspettiamo con tremore la presa di posizione del FPLPCP(C).
Tb  (bieco illuminista)

 WOW... qui si muovono le masse.
detto da uno che parla di isolamento turco per 5 pirla di yankee....


Quando rodi sei buffo, Bombacci.
E lo sei quasi sempre.
Tb (bieco illuminista)


per 5 pirla si ride di chi ne parla, non si rode