Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
The British government says produce from the West Bank that’s sold in British supermarkets may now be labeled as “Palestinian produce” because the land is not within the internationally recognized boundaries of Israel. That move has prompted an angry outcry from Israeli officials.

Read the Transcript
This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

MARCO WERMAN: Israel is annoyed at the British government in particular for another reason. Britain has just issued new food labeling guidelines. They allow retailers to make a distinction between produce from Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and produce grown in Israeli West Bank settlements. The British government says it’s just responding to consumer demand. But Israel isn’t buying it. The World Carol Hills has more.

CAROL HILLS: Currently in Britain the label on West bank produce says just that – produce of the West Bank. The new guidelines give British retailers the option of labeling their West Bank fruits and vegetables Palestinian produce or Israeli settlement produce. This is not sitting well with many Israelis. Yigal Palmor is an Israeli government spokesman.

YIGAL PALMOR: We have expressed our concern and our disappointment to the British government. We think that this really means caving in to pro-Palestine and anti-Israel groups who have demanded that just that.

HILLS: Britain’s department for the environment, food, and rural affairs released the new guidelines. No one from the department was available for comment today. But in a statement released yesterday Minister Hilary Benn said importers, retailers, NGOs, and consumers have asked the government for clarity over the precise origin of products from the occupied Palestinian territories. She went on to say the label West bank does not allow consumers to distinguish between goods originating from Palestinian producers and goods originating from illegal Israeli settlements. But she did add that Britain opposes boycotts of Israeli goods. Ben Moxham supports the government move. He’s with Britain’s Trades Union Congress, a labor union umbrella group.

BEN MOXHAM: Firstly, under the Geneva Convention it is illegal to profit from occupied land where you are the occupier so there’s a sound legal argument to actually ban these goods. The British government is not going that far. What it is is providing clarity for consumers.

HILLS: But Israeli government spokesman Yigal Palmor says the optional labeling could lead to a boycott of Israeli goods and that Britain is singling out Israel.

PALMOR: Why doesn’t the British government advice to label all products from around the world according to their exact region of origin because I’m sure I’m not revealing anything new here, there are scores of conflictive areas and regions around the world about which the consumers may be concerned. This measure is singling out Israel so it’s definitely political and not just a concern about the information that consumers may want to have.

HILLS: But not everyone in Israel is concerned. The proposed new labels don’t worry [PH] Israel Medit at all. He’s a spokesman for the Yesha Council which represents Israeli settlers. He believes Israel is known for quality and that British consumers are discerning.

ISRAEL MEDIT: It definitely is a political decision and is also a consumer decision. If in anything the advancements made by indigenous Arabs in this area in the field of agriculture is probably only due to the fact that Israel is administering the territories and is giving them much know how and technical advancement. However I would presume that if indeed consumers in Britain are forced to know from where the goods are coming from I’m willing to take a gamble that they will be buying our products because I think that they have a better chance of getting more for their pound sterling in all sorts of ways.

HILLS: Those West Bank products range from fruits and vegetables to metals and plastics. For The World I’m Carol Hills.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.