Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH — The Palestinian Authority (PA) has so far confiscated and destroyed settlement products worth millions of US dollars, a senior Palestinian official has said. Jawad Naji, Palestinian Minister of National Economy, said in a press statement that his ministry's teams has destroyed more than $10.5 million worth of settlement products since the launching of the national campaign to boycott the products in 2010. Naji added that the confiscated products included food, tobacco, beverages, crude oil and related materials, vegetable oils and animal fats and waxes, chemical products and manufactured goods. The minister said that the PA will go ahead with the campaign “as a way of resisting the occupation.” According to Naji, “the lowering of the consumption rate of Israeli products by 10 percent will allow Palestinians to create 150,000 job opportunities to unemployed Palestinians and will protect Palestinian industries.” He also called on the international community to boycott products originating in Jewish settlements. “Blocking the settlements' goods emphasizes the international resolution about the illegitimacy and illegality of the settlements that were built on occupied Palestinian land,” Naji said. The minister warned that Israel may hide the real information on the settlements' products and promote them as goods made in Israel, not in the settlements. He said that the boycott will encourage the international community to adopt a stronger stance against the settlements while helping end the Palestinian economy's dependence on Israel. “The boycott will bring pressure on the Israeli government to stop expansion of the settlements and end the occupation,” the minister said. The campaign against settlements products is backed by a law signed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The new law states that anyone who deals in products produced in settlements will be imprisoned for two to five years and pay a fine of up to $14,000. Those who import settlement products into the Palestinian territories are threatened with three to six years, fines of up to $3,000, and the confiscation of their licenses and vehicles. The PA hopes that the boycott will encourage the international community to adopt a stronger stance against settlements while helping end the Palestinian economy's dependence on Israel. In addition to forcing Israeli factories in West Bank settlements to shut down or relocate inside Israel, the campaign is deterring other Israeli businesses from moving to the West Bank industrial zones, which were originally set up to be closer to Palestinian laborers, many of whom are denied permits to work inside Israel. The development comes days after Palestinian Minister Shukri Bishara and his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid met in occupied Jerusalem to discuss only economic affairs. Palestinian and Israeli media reports said that the two ministers have agreed on a series of economic cooperation projects, relaunch regular meetings on technical issues such as crossing points; fuel, power and water supplies to the Palestinians; and payment for treatment of Palestinians in Israeli hospitals.
