Second Opinion: The crops stolen from Palestine

There is no such thing in international law or treaty as palestinian land. All the land west of the Jordan river is the Jewish Homeland. The Arabs/Moslems tell lies as a religeous duty. Do not appease or capitualte to them.

If the pharmacutical companies are running their companies in the West Bank thanks to government subsidies then we should boycott them. There are plenty of other countries we could source pharmacuticals from. Im really glad that Israel sees fit to cure the Pacific Islands of Diabetes, prehaps you could explain how this effects the Israel/Palestine conflict? If you are so against boycotts then prehaps you can explain the complete blockade of Gaza? Oh right, its to stop weapons getting in. Lets look at some of those weapons parts Israel is stopping. Avacado Pears (obviously used in the warhead), bandages (maybe a propellant), window panes (bunkers protection). Yup, that makes sense. Children had to have phosphorous burns treated with cotton wool becuase there were no real bandages in Gaza. Cotton wool sticks to wounds and has to be changed daily. Thanks Israel, shinning light of the world, treating diabetes in the Pacific Islands!

I just came across this article. Let's compare Blythman's miserable screed with Israel's efforts providing healthy nutrition programs in the 3rd world. I am am sure she just sees it as a Zionist plot to sell more oranges.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3763498,00.html
 

Why stop at produce? Stand by your convictions and boycott Israeli pharmacuticals, medical technology, surgical protocals and laboratory analyticals. Why, you could even carry a card in your wallet demanding that treatment be withheld in case of emergency. Her boycott  idea is as pointless as suggesting to avoid getting the Swine flu immunization...oh wait, she's already done that.

242:

‘Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security,...’

446:

1. Determines that the policy and practices of Israel in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East;

You are arguing semantics now.

Neither 242 nor 446 refers to 'illegality'

Like Blythman, you lose all credibility when you fail to be truthful

Surely International law is international law and cannot be dismissed through wishing it didn’t exist. UN Security Council Resolution’s 242 (1967) and 446 (1979) clearly refer to the illegality of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The latter resolution includes: ‘The policy and practice of Israel in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.’

The British Prime Minister has always regarded the settlements as ‘illegal settlements’ as do many other states worldwide. This is not being anti-Israel in any shape or form, just stating what is an established legal fact.  If goods are being sold to Europe as being produced in Israel or the West Bank, yet is actually being grown on land that that by international law is deemed illegal, then the public and those in the food industry have a right to know.  So thank you to The Grocer for highlighting this to us. 

Thank you Joanna for writing such an honest and researched piece. I agree that everyone should do their own research on this matter and try to understand the complexity of the situation. However, there are all things we can do to make sure we aren't supporting an economy that makes money off land that is appropriated with force. I have now stopped buying food marked West Bank also as I cannot be sure it is not 'Israeli' produce. I will simply go without if I can't be sure of the source, I feel this 'sacrifice' pales in comparison with the problems Palestinians are facing. 
Good work Joanna and I hope to see alot more from you on this one!

Bravo Joanna for writing such an important commentary. We need more courageous people such as yourself to speak out about the situation in Palestine. Particularly important are the more insidious issues like exporting Israeli products made in illegal settlements on confiscated Palestinian land and often labelled as if they are coming from Palestinians. Since moving to London I have become much more aware of the products that I buy and have noticed that in most of the grocery stores, I often have no choice between a product from Israel and one that comes from another country. I find this extremely disappointing and have in fact raised this issue with both Waitrose and Tesco. We of course need more people to make similar complaints, but ultimately it is the buyers for these stores who should stop buying Israeli products or to at least provide consumers with alternatives.

I fully agree with the previous comment that readers ought to do their own research. As is usual with any topic that involves Israel, those who come to its defence do so by listing facts that are totally unfounded. And this is perhaps understandable because it is difficult to justify Israel’s continuing military occupation of Palestinian land and the theft of that land by Israeli settlers.

Many thanks to the editors at The Grocer for publishing this comment.
 

And finally the purely Ad hominem attack, we have reached the gamut of Israeli defense for the land theft. Firstly we were told that the Arabs destroyed the infrastructure required for farming. Then we are told that before Israelis moved in Arabs were not producing anything on the land, they somehow magically survived on the air itself. That is followed with what can only be described as the dumbest interpretation of the Fourth Geneva Convention to date. Then we are reminded that other regimes are more evil, so evil in fact that any criticism of Israel is just 'hatred'. I sincerely plead any readers not to trust mine, or any of the previous posters 'facts'. Do your own research, find out what is happening in the occupied terrotories today. Read about Giyus.org, the Hasbarra and then ask yourself abouth the validity of the previous arguments.