Israeli research center Who Profits have released new report about Israeli agricultural export companies.
MADE IN ISRAEL: AGRICULTURAL EXPORT FROM OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Agricultural export is one of the most profitable sectors in the Israeli market, with most of the produce bound for European countries. Much of the agricultural produce exported from Israel is grown within Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, while making use of water and other natural resources from occupied Palestinian land. The extensive development of Israeli agriculture in the occupied Palestinian territories has contributed to the profits made by settlements and settlers from the establishment of water facilities, crops, and agricultural export companies.
Who Profits’ report concerns the major Israeli agricultural export companies presently operating in occupied territories. The report demonstrates the severe implications of an Israeli-only agriculture in occupied Palestinian and Syrian lands.
The following points are the key issues elaborated in Who Profits’ report:
– Agricultural Export of Palestinian Produce: The Paris Protocol, the economic annex to the Oslo Accords, enables Israeli companies to market and export Palestinian products, which are virtually barred from being exported independently. These products are sometimes also labeled as produce of Israel and exported around the world with only negligible profits for the Palestinian growers.
– Israeli Agricultural Production in Occupied Territories, mainly the occupied part of the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea Area: In this fertile zone, the Israeli agriculture flourishes at the expense of the Palestinian farmers, through land grab and inequitable water allocation.
– The Dates Market: Dates constitute one of the largest agricultural fields in Israel; most of the Israeli exported dates are grown in the occupied Jordan Valley.
– Mislabeling of Agricultural Produce: Israeli settlers and export companies operating in the occupied Palestinian Territories often misleadingly label their products as “Made in Israel”.
Israeli and international agriculture export companies exploit the occupation of Palestinian and Syrian lands for their own benefit/profit, hindering and even preventing the development of an independent Palestinian agriculture in the occupied territories.
Read the full report here
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