Belgium to try and convince EU countries to ban imports of produce from the occupied territories
Belgium is campaigning within the European Union to introduce a ban on imports of products from the Israeli occupied Territories. Dates, olive oil and wine are among the produce currently exported to Europe from colonists’ settlements on the West Bank.
In interviews with both the daily ‘Het Laatste Nieuws and VRT Radio 1’s morning news and current affairs programme ‘De ochtend’ the Federal Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Flemish liberal) stressed that action by Belgium alone would not have enough impact. This is why the Federal Government is seeking support for sanctions from other EU countries. Mr De Croo added that he doesn’t want to look back at some point in the future and say that he hadn’t made every effort to ensure that sanctions are imposed.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been going on for 7 months now and it has already claimed 35,000 lives, Mr De Croo points out that the violence is intensifying not only in the Gaza Strip, but also in the occupied West Bank. The Federal Prime Minister says that given the circumstances it is "difficult for European countries to say that we will carry on as if nothing had happened".
In early November, the Flemish Greens, the Flemish socialists and the Flemish Christian democrats proposed an embargo on products from the occupied territories. However, the Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib (Francophone liberal) said at the time that "sanctions only make sense if they are decided at a European or higher level".
Although it is currently the fourth largest importer of Israeli products in the EU, Mr De Croo believes that if Belgium were to impose sanctions on its own, they would have no impact. Consequently, during the past few weeks the Federal PM has been taking steps "to see how we can at least get a large group of countries ready to take this step towards sanctions”.
He also points out that Belgium has been a driving force in recent months. "Several months ago, we said that Belgium wanted to refuse entry to violent settlers. In the meantime, the United States has also taken similar measures".
In the same interviews the Federal Prime Minister once again warned Israel against an invasion of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. "This would have dramatic consequences for the population", The Prime Minister notes that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also very much on the agenda here in Belgium. He cited the example of the protest by university students. "If I were a student today, there's a good chance I would be protesting too."