A modern-day yellow star
An overwhelming majority in the European Parliament on Thursday endorsed a resolution calling for the labeling of products from Israeli settlements, setting them apart from those manufactured on the other side of the 1967 Green Line.
That resolution heralds a new era in the violent diplomacy waged against Israel. The resolution is nonbinding for now, until the European Commission -- and the many anti-Semites serving on it -- make executive decisions on the matter. Nevertheless, the resolution provides a tailwind to this unwelcome effort, which will only hurt the chances of jump-starting the peace talks with the Palestinians.
For the EU, this matter ranks higher than dealing with the onslaught of Muslim migrants and the rising number of anti-Semitic incidents in European cities. The EU has gone out of its way to distract itself from its woes by putting the mark of Cain on settlement industries that provide livelihoods to many Palestinians.
The product labeling effort is a disgraceful form of boycott. The naive among us believe it is just a way of differentiating between what is produced within the Green Line and what is manufactured beyond that line. They are wrong on the merits, as well as on how things will unfold, because supermarket managers in Oslo will have no patience for this matter. Rather than figuring out the difference between Tel Aviv and Ariel, they will just forgo Israeli products altogether and order similar products from other countries. This will adversely affect all Israeli exports.
The European Parliament's resolution also makes no distinction between settlement blocs and other communities in Judea and Samaria (which are usually remote and lie beyond the security fence). In doing so, the EU essentially decided that it would no longer act in good faith when it comes to Israel.
The EU labeling effort is a blatantly anti-Israeli initiative, although the Israeli government has complicated this matter even further when it refused to act pre-emptively and heed the advice of others. A great number of people, from every part of the Jewish world and every segment of Israeli society -- including yours truly -- have advocated a temporary or permanent freeze on construction outside the settlement blocs. but the government refused to do so. Looking back at how things unfolded, it appears that this intransigence only helped Israel's enemies wage their attacks. Perhaps Israel will now agree to pursue a more moderate policy. But this ship has sailed, without Israel.
The government would be well served if it decides to take swift action along two avenues: sitting down with EU representatives and agreeing on specific steps Israel will take regarding the settlement enterprise to avoid a European boycott; and marshaling support within the Jewish world to undermine such a boycott, should it materialize.
Europe has decided to march along a hostile path, once again singling out Jews through a disgraceful form of boycott. Even though I would like to see settlement construction limited to the blocs, I believe the proper response for me and like-minded individuals is to go out of our way and make a conscious effort to buy settlement products.
The labeling efforts led by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini are the 2015 version of the yellow Star of David. When the original yellow star was introduced in Nazi Germany, famed Haaretz correspondent Robert Weltsch said Jews should wear it with pride. We should adopt the same approach when it comes to labeling settlement products.
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