Israel Slams S.Africa's ‘Made in Palestinian Territory’ Rule

RIA Novosti

14:56 23/08/2012 TEL AVIV, August 23 (RIA Novosti) - Israel's Foreign Ministry condemned a decision by South Africa to label goods produced in the occupied Palestinian territories and summoned the South African ambassador for clarification.

Under the new rules, the South African government announced that goods of Jewish settlements in the West Bank can no longer be sold in the country under the label "Made in Israel."

The Israeli Foreign Ministry called the measure discrimination based on national and political criteria provoking a boycott of Israeli products.

“Such exclusion and discrimination bring to mind ideas of a racist nature which the government of South Africa, more than any other, should have wholly rejected,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The South African government said that they have done this “in line with South Africa's stance that recognizes the 1948 borders delineated by the United Nations and does not recognize occupied territories beyond these borders as being part of the state of Israel.”

The EU uses similar measures and says that goods produced in Jewish settlements in the West Bank are no longer eligible for preferential trade terms.