Palestinians to step up settlement boycott efforts

PA economic minister: “We'll fight [boycott] law by making settlements a big burden on the occupation, not comfort areas for settlers.”

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Hassan Abu Libdeh 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Hassan Abu Libdeh 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Palestinian Authority Minister of Economy Hassan Abu Libdeh said on Wednesday that the PA would respond to the new law banning political boycotts of Israel by increasing its boycott of settlements and their products.
He added that the PA would boycott Israeli companies that heed the Law for Prevention of Damage to the State of Israel through Boycott.
“We will fight this law by making the settlements a big burden on Israeli occupation, and not comfort areas for settlers,” Abu Libdeh said in a press conference in Ramallah.
He called on Israeli companies working in the Palestinian territories, and which have agreed to abide by the PA’s decision to boycott settlement goods, to challenge the new law and refrain from working in the settlements.
“The best response to this racist law would be to expand the boycott of settlement products,” the PA minister said, calling on Palestinians to take part in the anti-settlement campaign.
The PA, Abu Libdeh added, would do its utmost “to expose this racist law by the occupation.”
He said that the law was in violation of international laws, which consider the settlements illegal.
The new law also contradicts the two-state solution and paves the way for a one-state solution – for which Israel would pay a heavy price, Abu Libdeh said.
“Through this law, Israel is seeking to consolidate settlements and legitimize them,” he said. “We will make the world acquainted with this unprecedented, racist law.”