U.S. warns E.U. against "warning labels" for Jewish-made products

Leading U.S. lawmakers are warning the European Union that if they issue a mandate requiring Jewish products made in areas of Israel that are contested to carry consumer warning labels, this could trigger American anti-boycott laws and effectively jeopardize our trade with Europe, where anti-Semitism is becoming increasingly more overt.

The European Court of Justice (CJEU), a veritable oxymoron to the tune of 'jumbo shrimp', is expected to issue an opinion this week on a long-running case brought forth by an Israeli winery challenging a requirement that Israeli-made products be labeled as coming from "settlements" and "Israeli colonies."

The decision, according to the Washington Free Beacon, is expected to be issued early Tuesday and follows a recent opinion by the EU court's advocate general stipulating that European law requires these Jewish-made products to be labeled. Critics said the law is reminiscent of Nazi-era boycotts of Jewish products and have viewed such requirements as a win for the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, or BDS. 

Question: If the EU wants to boycott Israeli products, why aren't they also boycotting Turkish, Venezuelan, Iranian and Jordanian products, just for starters?

Answer: Because the BDS movement is an anti-Semitic, Palestinian-led movement co-founded by Omar Baghouti, a man who has  called for a one state solution and the dismantling of Israel, the only Jewish state on the planet. 

Barghouti attended Tel Aviv University but was overtly anti-Semitic. The school wanted to throw him out but it never happened and he ended up receiving a masters degree in philosophy.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) petitioned EU ambassador to the United States Stavros Lambrinidis to raise concerns about a possible ruling in favor of the warning labels. The Senator said that if the mandate succeeded, it could create policy tension with the United States.

Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA) sent a letter to U.S. ambassador to the E.U., Gordon Sondland warning that the ruling would lead to discrimination against Israel, but of course, that's exactly the intention.

Sens. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) sent a similar letter to U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer expressing concerns that the ruling holds Israel to a standard no other country is subjected to, as mentioned above.

The lawmakers also said such a ruling could trigger multiple U.S. anti-boycott laws and damage the nearly $1.3 trillion in trade between America and the E.U.

"The regulation in question is problematic for a number of reasons, including because it targets specific businesses based on the ethnicity and national origin of their owners," Menendez wrote in the letter he sent to Lambrinidis.

"I am deeply concerned that if the CJEU decision empowers the EU to require or allow its Member States to label Israeli and Palestinian products in the manner proposed, it will allow and encourage the politicization of EU rules of origin labeling with potential adverse unintended consequences, including by opening the door to near-unlimited use of ‘ethical considerations' in food labeling which would enable Member State protectionism and nationalism, and be unhelpful for the EU single market," Menendez wrote.

"Additionally, it could facilitate Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) tactics and de facto boycotts and discrimination against Israel, and its products, and potentially lead to discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion and nationality, contrary to existing EU policies and laws against BDS campaigns, Israel boycotts and discrimination," the letter states.

A decision mandating the labeling of Jewish goods also would be seen as an effort by the E.U. to interfere in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

"The U.S. Federal Government and many U.S. states have enacted strong anti-boycott provisions that impose severe penalties and restrictions on companies that participate in boycotts or other economic pressure campaigns against Israel," Menendez wrote. "If the CJEU decision empowers the EU to mandate or allow Member States to implement such labels which target Israeli businesses and exports there will be serious and far-reaching implications and unintended consequences."

So we will find out soon enough about the decision the EU is expected to make, but with the endemic problem of hatred for the Jews, don't bet on a good outcome.



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