[ePalestine] The Observer: ‘Illicit’ [Israeli] settler food sold in UK stores

‘Illicit’ settler food sold in UK stores

Supermarkets accused of duping customers with ‘West Bank’ produce grown in Israeli settlements

Paul Gallagher

The Observer,

Sunday July 6, 2008

Food grown on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories is being sold in Britain, often to customers who assume they are buying goods from Palestinian-owned farms. 

Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Somerfield have all admitted sourcing produce from Israeli-owned farms on Palestinian territory but claimed that labelling the goods ‘origin: West Bank’ gave enough information for the customer to make an informed choice. 

All the leading supermarkets claim they are complying with EU law, which states that the origin of a product on a food label can be given as a geographical region rather than a country – providing the meaning is clear to the consumer. Campaigners say customers are being duped into believing they are buying goods from Palestinian-owned farms, when in reality they are contributing to the economies of the illegal settlements. 

Foreign Secretary David Miliband was concerned enough about the issue to raise it with British officials in Jerusalem during his visit there last November. 

EU officials in Jerusalem are now checking whether any loopholes are being exploited by British companies. 

British policy is clear, with the government’s website stating the UN Security Council resolution that ‘settlements are illegal under international law and settlement construction is an obstacle to peace’. 

According to the UN Office for the Co-ordinator of Humanitarian Affairs, an extra 149 illegal settlements plus 96 ‘outposts’ have been built this year alone. Despite this, British supermarkets appear to have discounted ethical considerations when selling produce grown on illegally occupied land. 

Tesco said it sourced ‘a number of products’ from illegal settlements in the occupied territories, including avocados, herbs, grapes and stonefruit from farms in the West Bank and Golan Heights. 

A spokesman said: ‘All of these are clearly labelled as far as their origin is concerned. I think we have been working with farmers in the West Bank for some time. Without our business there would, in some areas, be little or no employment at all. 

‘The farms in the occupied territories will be a mixture of Israeli-owned and Palestinian- owned. We don’t particularly look at the nationality of the farm owner, only the ethical standards under which it operates.’ 

Waitrose sells organic cut herbs from the West Bank, an area it refers to as ‘disputed territory’. In a letter to one concerned customer, Waitrose said: ‘Whatever our own views may be about Israeli products, we do not think it is right to ask our buyers to base their choice of products on any other criteria than the commercial ones of quality and value for money.’ 

Waitrose said it labelled these products ‘West Bank, as per the guidelines from the EU’. The farms Waitrose uses are near the villages of Mehola, Argaman and Roi, all in the West Bank. 

Waitrose tells its customers ‘the farms are located in disputed territories in the West Bank. As there is no international agreement as to who actually owns the land, West Bank gives the customer a bit more information.’. 

Somerfield also sells herbs from the West Bank. A spokesperson said: ‘On occasion our herb suppliers will supplement produce grown in Israel with product from the West Bank to maintain good availability. This represents a small proportion of the herbs we sell. We share the same suppliers with other large UK supermarkets and take a similar stance to identify the product as country of origin West Bank at these times. We have not taken a political stance on this issue.’ 

Sainsbury’s sells dried dates from the occupied territories which are labelled as grown in the West Bank. A spokeswoman said: ‘We don’t give out the level of detail whether the farm owners are Israeli or Palestinian.’ She said Sainsbury’s complied with EU law by labelling produce either Gaza, Israel or West Bank whenever it sourced from those areas. 

‘In ensuring that we follow these regulations, we try to offer an informed choice to our customers and will continue to do so. We do not feel it is right for us to tell our customers what they should or should not buy.’ 

Another concerned customer was told by Sainsbury’s that ‘there will always be some products that we source from the West Bank as they are either only grown in the region, there are supplier shortages from other countries or because of quality’. 

The EU states that the control of correct labelling is the task of member states’ national control authorities such as food inspection bodies or market surveillance authorities. An EU official said: ‘For most agricultural goods, the EU does not require any obligatory labelling of the country of origin, except where failure to give such particulars might mislead the consumer to a material degree as to the true origin or provenance of the foodstuff.’ 

Ruth Tenne, an Israeli peace activist and member of Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods, said: ‘Ethical consumers of all faiths ought to boycott Israeli goods, especially those produced by the Jewish illegal settlements in the West Bank as well as campaigning for divestment from companies which profit from Israel’s illegal occupation and for suspending the EU Association Agreement which grants Israel a privileged access to the European market.’ 

None of the supermarkets approached by The Observer said they would be reviewing their policy. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/06/israelandthepalestinians.supermarkets

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