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Boycott Enforcers Pressure Palestinian Store Owners to Dispose of Israeli Products

Palestinian activists, including officials of the Fatah party, have given store owners 48 hours to remove Israeli products from their shelves in an effort to enforce a boycott imposed on Israeli products by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas two weeks ago, Ynet reported yesterday.

The group moved in and out of different stores in Ramallah, embarrassing store owners who had yet to get rid of Israeli made products. Within seconds all products ranging from Tnuva’s diary produce, Straus’s sweets and goods from Osem and Elite were pulled from the shelves and hidden at the back of shops, as were Prigat and Jafora-Tabori juices. …

Two weeks after first announcing the boycott of products by the five large Israeli corporations, the group has now shifted to field work – enforcing the ban. For the past two weeks, activists have prevented such products from crossing over from Israel.

During the tour on Tuesday, Abdallah Kamyl, one of the campaign’s leaders, told Ynet that the move came in response to Israel’s decision to freeze tax funds it collects for the PA following the Palestinian decision to turn to the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court to pursue war crimes charges against Israel.

The group, also described as a “mob,” went store to store. If the owner had not already removed the Israeli products from his store, the group intimidated the owner, in one case saying, “We do not want to clash with you. What do you prefer: that we talk or confiscate all these products? Don’t force us to come back here in 48 hours to confiscate these goods.” The enforcers did not offer compensation to the store owners, calling the boycott a “national duty.”

The Times of Israel reported yesterday that many stores in Ramallah still had Israeli products in stock, despite continued threats to enforce the boycott.

A few days ago, Palestinian youth belonging to [Fatah committee head Mahmoud Al-]Alul’s High Committee handed Fawzi a sheet of paper demanding him to rid the shop’s inventory of Israeli products by February 25 or face confiscation. That demand was reiterated on Wednesday by Salah Haniyeh, head of the Palestinian consumer protection association, who told the media that enforcement of the regulations would be stringent across the West Bank.

“The danger lies in the existence of these products in merchants’ storage rooms,” he was quoted by Al-Quds as saying. “But we will not allow their continued sale; we will confiscate them by force. The expiry date of dairy products is short, so the merchants have no excuse for not disposing of them within days.”

The Palestinian Authority last year applied to the International Criminal Court in an attempt to bring war crimes prosecutions against Israeli officials. The use of international institutions to pressure Israel violates bilateral conflict resolution efforts to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

[Photo: i24News / YouTube ]