South Africa Adopts ‘Made in Palestine’ labels

A new law passed in South Africa on Thursday, approving the placement of “Occupied Territories” labels on all products imported from West Bank settlements. Shortly after adopting the resolution, the cabinet released a statement saying, “This is 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.” This has caused an outrage in among Jewish communities in South Africa and has been criticized by Israel’s foreign ministry, who called the decision “discriminatory,” and that it “smacked of racism.” Rob Davies, South Africa’s Trade and Industry Minister, said the move wasn’t a boycott of Israeli products, but more to help “South Africans who do not support Israel, but who in fact do support the Palestinians, to identify those products."