In a document published on Tuesday, the European Union revealed that they are seeking to establish guidelines for the labeling of products manufactured in Judea and Samaria by the end of 2013.
According to a Haaretz report, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton sent a letter to other high-ranking EU officials calling for standardized guidelines and regulations for labeling settlement products.
The letter called for a “commitment toward ensuring the effective implementation of existing EU legislation relevant for the correct labeling of settlement products by adopting EU guidelines and other implementing acts where necessary” and noted that “an overwhelming majority of Member States have recently supported or openly demanded the preparation of EU-wide guidelines on this issue in order to implement EU law in a coherent manner,” the report said.
Although the guidelines would not be officially binding, many fear that, due to the rabid anti-Zionist sentiments throughout Europe, any EU-wide standardization will lead to universal adoption.
Two of the largest supermarket chains in the Netherlands recently removed from their shelves all products manufactured in Israeli settlements and another asked its suppliers to verify the origin of items marked “Made in Israel,” according to a Monday report in the Dutch daily Trouw newspaper, which noted that the moves came in response to renewed public debate around the Israeli “occupied territories.”
Last week the EU adopted a new directive to take effect in 2014 that would require EU member-states to cease any economic or join-activity programs with Israeli companies operating in Judea and Samaria.
Many in the Jewish world fear this labeling as another step backwards towards 1930’s and 1940’s European policies against Jews, when Jews were increasingly forced to identify themselves and their property. The slippery-slope of those ‘Nuremberg Laws’ eventually led to the Holocaust and the slaughter of 6 million Jews with most of Europe either turning a blind eye or actively aiding the Nazis.
