UK group raps Israeli dates mislabeling

Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has called for an investigation into a British supermarket chainâ„¢s complicity in the sale of dates illegaly produced in the occupied territories.

The UK-based independent organization said it is concerned that Morrisonâ„¢s, the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the UK, may have imported dates produced in the illegal settlements but mislabeled as Israeli products to bypass agricultural boycott on the regime.

In 2009, the British government introduced voluntary labeling guidelines to give consumers information about whether goods were grown in the occupied Palestinian lands.

Major supermarket chains, including Morrisonâ„¢s, signed up to the labeling policy.

However, in January 2013, Corporate Watch researchers obtained labels for Morrisonâ„¢s own brand Medjoul dates from the illegal Israeli settlement of Tomer.

In July last year, British solidarity movements with Palestine called for a boycott of Israeli dates produced in the illegal settlements after an increase in the regimesâ„¢ exports to European countries in the holy month of Ramadan.

Earlier this month, British Pro-Palestine activists also gathered outside the High Street Kensington branches of Whole Foods and John Lewis supermarket chains in protest at the sale of Israeli settlement-made product SodaStream.

Moves to tighten a boycott grip on the Israeli regime gained momentum in the UK since April 2012, when Britainâ„¢s fifth-largest food retailer, the Co-operative Group, extended a boycott of goods from illegal settlements that have been produced in the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.

SSM/PR/HE

This article originally appeared on: Press TV