House Passes Bill to Label Products From West Bank Settlements "Made in Israel"

https://truthout.org/articles/house-passes-bill-to-label-products-from-west-bank-settlements-made-in-israel/

House Passes Bill to Label Products From West Bank Settlements “Made in Israel”

“Let’s be clear. A vote for this bill would further support the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” said Rashida Tlaib.

By Sharon Zhang , TRUTHOUT
Published September 19, 2024

The House passed a bill on Wednesday to label products from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as originating from “Israel,” essentially recognizing Israel’s annexation and ethnic cleansing of the region in what opponents of the bill say is a “hateful” attempt to erase the very existence of Palestinians in Palestine.

The bill would make permanent an extremist Donald Trump-era policy to mislabel products from Palestine. Under the proposal, products from areas encompassing the majority of the West Bank would be labeled as a “Product of Israel” or “Made in Israel.”

Meanwhile, the bill would also mandate that products from the occupied West Bank and Gaza no longer be labeled in conjunction as being from “West Bank/Gaza” or “West Bank and Gaza” — a labeling scheme recognizing their unity as Palestine — but rather, be labeled only as being from the “West Bank” or “Gaza.”

The bill is a way to advance the U.S.’s recognition of Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, even as the occupation and states’ recognition of it has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice; even the bill’s title, the Anti-BDS Labeling Act, referring to the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, takes a swat at advocates for Palestinian rights.

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