Pompeo is the first top US diplomat to visit an Israeli settlement

JERUSALEM: On Thursday (November 19) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the first top US diplomat to visit an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank when the State Department announced that products from the settlements may be labeled “Made in Israel “policy change.

The two moves reflected the Trump administration’s acceptance of Israeli settlements, which the Palestinians and the majority of the international community see as a violation of international law and a major obstacle to peace.

Pompeo also announced that the US marks the Palestinian-led international boycott movement as “anti-Semitic” and prevent those groups participating in it from receiving government funding. It was not immediately clear which groups would be affected by the measure.

A State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed Pompeo’s visit to the Psagot winery, in a settlement near Jerusalem, to reporters who were traveling with him and who were unable to accompany him on that leg of the visit.

Pompeo had previously said that he would pay a visit to the Golan Heights. Israel seized the West Bank and the Golan Heights in the 1967 war and later annexed the Golan in a measure not recognized internationally.

Pompeo had previously announced that the United States will consider the Palestinian-led boycott movement “anti-Semitic” and cut off government support for any organization participating in it, a step that could deny funding to Palestinian and international human rights groups.

“We will consider the anti-Israeli global campaign, BDS as anti-Semitic,” Pompeo said, referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

“We will immediately take steps to identify organizations that engage in hateful BDS behavior and withdraw US government support for such groups,” he said, adding that all nations should “recognize the BDS cancer movement that it is”.

SDE organizers broadcast their movement as a non-violent form of protest at Israel’s policies towards Palestinians modeled after the campaign that helped end apartheid in South Africa. The move has had limited success over the years, but no impact on the Israeli economy.

Israel views BDS as an assault on its own existence, and has used statements by some supporters to accuse it of anti-Semitism, accusations denied by the organizers.

In a statement, the BDS movement reiterated its rejection of “all forms of racism, including anti-Jewish racism,” and accused the US and Israel of trying to silence the defense of Palestinian rights.

“The BDS movement for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality supports all those who fight for a more dignified, just and beautiful world,” he said. “With our many partners, we will resist these McCarthyite attempts to intimidate and intimidate Palestinians, Israelis and international human rights defenders into accepting Israeli apartheid and settler colonialism as their destiny.”

Pompeo did not provide additional details on the initiative and it was unclear which organizations would be at risk of losing funds. The Israelis have accused international groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International of supporting BDS, accusations they deny.

Human Rights Watch, whose investigator was deported from Israel last year for past statements allegedly in support of BDS, does not call for a boycott of Israel, but urges companies to avoid doing business in West Bank settlements, saying it makes them complicit in human rights abuses. Amnesty does not comment on the boycott movement.

“The Trump administration is undermining the common fight against the scourge of anti-Semitism by equating it with the peaceful defense of boycotts,” Eric Goldstein, Human Rights Watch acting director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.

Israel passed a 2017 law prohibiting entry to foreigners who have called for economic boycotts of Israel or its settlements. The US House of Representatives passed a resolution opposing the boycott movement last year, and several US states have enacted anti-BDS laws.

Virtually all Palestinian organizations support the boycott movement, but under President Donald Trump, the United States has already cut off almost all forms of aid to the Palestinians. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to restore aid as part of efforts to revive the peace process.

Pompeo spoke at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that the alliance between Israel and the United States had reached “unprecedented heights” under the Trump administration.

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Netanyahu thanked the administration for moving its embassy to disputed Jerusalem, abandoning the US position that Israeli settlements are contrary to international law, acknowledging Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, and taking a hard line against Iran. .

Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 war. The Palestinians want both territories to be part of their future state and see the settlements as a violation of international law and an obstacle to peace, a position supported by most of the international community.

Trump’s plan for the Middle East, which overwhelmingly favored Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians, would allow Israel to annex up to a third of the West Bank, including all of its settlements there, which are home to nearly 500,000 Israelis.

“For a long time, the State Department had a wrong view of settlements,” Pompeo said, but now recognizes that “settlements can be done in a way that (is) legal, appropriate and appropriate.”

Neither Netanyahu nor Pompeo said anything about the US elections. Pompeo, like Trump, has yet to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Netanyahu congratulated Biden and referred to him as the president-elect in an official statement earlier this week.