PLO protests UK ban on Israeli settlement products boycott

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Wednesday protested the United Kingdom (UK) government to ban the boycott of Israeli settlement products.

PLO secretary general Saeb Erekat said in an emailed press statement that he met with Tobias Ellwood, the British Minister for the Middle East and "strongly protested" making the boycott of Israel a criminal offence, especially for public British bodies.

Erekat said the decision contradicts the international law and international legitimacy. It would be a "reward to Israel, the occupying power, for its destructive approach towards the two-state solution and its continuation of settlement activity, imposing new realities on the ground and war crimes against the unarmed Palestinian people," said the statement.

The UK Government declared Monday that it will legally ban local councils, public bodies, student unions and all publicly funded institutions from boycotting Israeli products.

The UK Cabinet office said "boycotts undermine good community relations, poisoning and polarizing debate, weakening integration and feeling anti-Semitism."

The rule was welcomed by the Israeli government.

European Union guidelines issued in November 2014 said Israeli settlement products must be labelled as such, rather than "made in Israel," as it considers settlements illegal under international law. Endit