Abbas orders ban on settler goods

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday banned trade in goods made by Israelis living in West Bank settlements, stepping up a campaign to build support for an international ban.

"President Abbas today issued a law banning trade in goods made in settlements," Abbas's legal adviser Hassan al-Awri told Reuters.

Offenders will face jail sentences and fines that vary according to the amount of settlement goods found in their possession, he said.

The move is part of a campaign launched in January to "cleanse" Palestinian markets of settlement goods.

It is also aimed at encouraging European Union member states to ban trade with enterprises in the settlements.

"There's an international consensus that the settlements are illegal and therefore it is unacceptable to support them," al-Awri said.

"The law is based on the belief that settlements are a cancer in the Palestinian body, which seeks to harm the people, the land and the Palestinian destiny; therefore, we must struggle against them with all the means we have at our disposal," he added.

Revenues help expand settlements

Al-Awri noted that the settlement products are bought by the Palestinian consumer and that revenues help expand the settlements and even gives them legitimization.

According to Abbas' legal adviser, the law is put in place to harm the settlements financially and help weaken their presence as well as protect the Palestinian consumer. There is no logic in encouraging competition between the products of "illegal" settlements and Palestinian products.

"We trust the Palestinian consumer's awareness not to buy Settlement products that aid the occupation, but at the same time a punishment must be put in place to deter anyone seeking to violate this national consensus," he added.

The campaign does not include products manufactured on the Israeli side of the Green Line, which Palestinians rely on. Campaigns by some local groups to boycott all trade with Israel have had very little success.

Palestinian officials estimate that Israeli-run companies in the settlements sell goods worth $500 million (about NIS1.8 billion) per year into the West Bank market, from construction materials to nuts.

Campaigners believe that cutting off this trade will undermine settler viability in the territories that the Palestinians want for a state.