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TRAVEL IN ISRAEL: The visit to Mike Pompeo is considered one of the last times the Trump administration has time to complete. Photo: MENAHEM KAHANA / PISCINA
Chancellor Mike Pompeo has visited the occupied Golan Heights, the West Bank and a winery.
The visit comes after US President Donald Trump has made several controversial advances in his foreign policy in recent days.
Pompeo is scheduled to visit the Golan Heights this afternoon, a Syrian territory that has been occupied by Israel since 1967. The visit is a break with the practice of US governments so far and is considered highly controversial.
The Golan Heights have never been internationally recognized as part of Israel, but in 2019 US President Donald Trump recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the area after it was annexed by Israel. It received criticism from, among others, the EU.
THE SIX DAY WAR: During the 1967 war, Syria lost control of the Golan Heights and Israel has occupied the area ever since. Photo: AP
– Today I have the opportunity to visit the Golan Heights. The simple recognition of this as part of Israel was a decision made by President Trump, which is historically important and simply an acknowledgment of reality, Pompeo says.
Syrian authorities are provoked and condemn US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to the occupied Golan Heights, Syrian state media report.
Worth criticizing
– It is reprehensible that the Secretary of State of the United States helps to legitimize the occupation of the Golan Heights, says spokesman Nikos Tavridis-Hansen in BDS-Norway to VG.
The BDS calls for a boycott of Israeli assets, companies and institutions, divestment from Israeli businesses, and international sanctions to force Israel out of the occupied territories.
HISTORICAL: Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo (left) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference on Thursday. Photo: Maya Alleruzzo / AP
Calling group cancer
On Thursday, the Foreign Minister was critical of the BDS movement.
“We want to support other nations that recognize the BDS movement for the force that it is,” Pompeo said.
“We will take immediate action to identify organizations involved in hateful behavior towards BDS and we will withdraw US government support for such groups,” Pompeo said.
Tavridis-Hansen in BDS-Norge reacts to this.
– If a long-term solution to the conflict is to be contemplated, the rights of the Palestinians must of course be respected, and that is exactly what the BDS movement is fighting for, says Tavridis-Hansen.
POMPEO WINE: Israeli winemaker Yaakov Berg displays a bottle of wine that he has named after Pompeo. Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
Content-rich visit
Earlier today, he visited a vineyard in an Israeli-occupied area in the West Bank. Now he warns that the United States is changing its practice and demands that products from the occupied West Bank sold in the United States be marked as Israeli.
“All manufacturers in areas where Israel acts as the relevant authority will have to mark their products with” Israel “,” Israeli product “or” Made in Israel “when exported to the United States, Pompeo says.
On Thursday, he will be the first top US diplomat to visit a settlement in the West Bank. The Palestinians and most of the world community regard the settlements as a violation of international law and an obstacle to peace.
Do you remember this? Here, Pompeo breaks the “diplomatic label.”
