EU to approve new measures against Israeli settlements: Envoy
The European Union’s outgoing envoy to Palestine says the 28-nation bloc is continuing its efforts to pass more measures against illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
John Gatt-Rutter, the envoy to the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories, said on Thursday that “there is support within the union to go on” with anti-settlement measures.
Among debated proposals is labeling of products made in settlements. These goods have already been barred from receiving customs exemptions.
Gatt-Rutter also emphasized that there were “more tools” the EU can use against Israel over its illegal settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.
Diplomatic sources earlier said that the EU was looking into the possibility of blacklisting “violent settlers.” The sanctions are expected to affect up to 200 individuals.
The recent remarks by the senior EU diplomat are another sign of European discontent with the Tel Aviv regime’s continued land grab in the occupied Palestinian territories.
However, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki earlier this week expressed dissatisfaction with the European Union’s failure to implement the decision to label settlement products.
“If the EU argues that settlement products should be ‘discriminated against,’ settlers are among those products and should be viewed the same way,” Maliki added.
Much of the international community has frequently condemned Tel Aviv over the construction of settler homes, which are illegal under international law.
The developments come as a grassroots movement promoting boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel (BDS) is gaining steam.
The movement seeks to end the Israeli occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands, urging the global community to respect the right of Palestinian refugees to return home.
The BDS boycott campaign against Israel began in July 2005 by 171 Palestinian organizations and calls for “various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets its obligations under international law.”
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