Pompeo's Visit to Israel Dealing with BDS and Products from Judea-Samaria

Nadene Goldfoot                                             

Amidst all the 2nd counting of votes   of the presidential election, President Donald Trump and his contingent of Jared Kushner did not forget Israel.                            

 "During his visit to the Psagot winery and settlement in the West Bank, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that all imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank will now be labeled "Made in Israel" or "Product of Israel". 

"Sodastream Closing Judea-Samaria Factory

Boycott backlash or business decision? Israeli drinks company closing landmark factory in Judea-Samaria after sales fall 9%. This was from Arutz Sheva news.  

The manufacturer's factory in Mishor Adumim in Judea is a "model of integration" employing 500 Palestinians, 450 Arab Israelis and 350 Israeli Jews on the same salaries and with the same social security benefits.  Palestinian employees "receive salaries four or five times that of the average wage in the territories controlled by Palestinian authorities", it has said.

SodaStream employs more than 2,000 people at more than 20 sites in Australia, China, Germany and South Africa, as well as in Israel.

The group announced in 2012 it was to build a new factory in the Negev desert, in southern Israel."

   Imports from West Bank in the United States decreased to 0.24 USD Million in September from 0.43 USD Million in August of 2020. source: U.s. Census Bureau

Though Palestine has been recently talked about by the Palestinians, there has been not such state declared as yet.  The West Bank is the ancient land of Judea-Samaria, right smack next to today's Israel.  I was surprised to find they have a website and are doing trading with other countries.  "                

Pompeo also said the US would immediately withdraw support from any organization engaged in anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions). He said, "We will regard the global anti-Israel BDS campaign as anti-Semitic," and, "We will immediately take steps to identify the organizations that engage in hateful BDS conduct and withdraw U.S. government support from such groups."

The predominant drive of the BDS campaign and its leadership is not criticism of policies, but the demonization and delegitimization of Israel.  BDS campaigns promote a biased and simplistic approach to the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and present this dispute over territorial and nationalist claims as the fault of only one party – Israel. The BDS campaign does not support Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, and rejects a two-state solution to the conflict. 

" The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement promoting boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel." Its objective, they say,  is to pressure Israel to meet what it describes as Israel's obligations under international law, which is being disputed. "They punish businesses that do business in Israel by boycotting them, along with boycotting Israeli businesses. What they are trying to do is to cut off all business and educational connections with Israel, making it very hard on Israel to survive economically.   

"The BDS objective " according to their write-ups" is to pressure Israel to meet what it describes as Israel's obligations under international law, defined as withdrawal from the occupied territories (Judea and Samaria) , removal of the separation barrier in the West Bank, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel (they already have had it since 1948), and "respecting, protecting, and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties" (If this happened there would be no more Israel)  Israel is already populated by 20% Arab Muslims). The movement is organized and coordinated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee.

Critics say BDS is antisemitic, delegitimizes Israel, and resembles historical discrimination against Jews.  Countering BDS is a top priority for the Israel lobby; it has successfully lobbied for laws targeting BDS supporters in many U.S. states.  Now we have support according to Pompeo's visit.  

 Resource: 

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott,_Divestment_and_Sanctions

https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/bds-the-global-campaign-to-delegitimize-israel?gclid=CjwKCAiA7939BRBMEiwA-hX5J3GGSwgFtCsRRXOvMbCH8fevxQcIFV4UPmKAa2IQCQNI3IL3flOX7hoCE9MQAvD_BwE