FROM ISREAL TODAY

Israel Today Readers Help Break Palestinian Boycott
Counterproductive boycott of Israeli goods is harming Israeli businesses and Palestinian workers alike

Foreign activists demonstrating in Jerusalem hold signs supporting the Palestinian boycott of IsraelAs Washington and the European Union maintain their policy of portraying the Middle East peace process as being on the brink of a breakthrough (a fantasy they have clung to for decades), the growing Palestinian boycott of Israeli goods is starting to take a toll, both on Palestinians and Israelis.

The boycott started to pick up steam in recent months as Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad - the "moderate" whom Western power brokers insist is the key to peace - instigated and supported a number of public burnings of Israeli-made goods.

Fayyad also implemented legislation making it illegal for Palestinian stores to stock Israeli goods, or for average Palestinians to shop at Israeli stores. A team of 66,000 volunteers have been tasked by the Palestinian Authority with inspecting stores across the Palestinian-controlled territories. Those approved by the inspectors are given a large sticker to display declaring to all that their store has no Jewish products.

The boycott is ostensibly aimed only at Israeli factories and stores in Judea and Samaria - the so-called "West Bank" - but has inevitably extended to all Israeli-made goods.

Even if it were confined to Judea and Samaria, the boycott is having a huge impact on the financial well-being of local Palestinians, tens of thousands of whom are employed by the very factories and stores being boycotted. The economy of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, the fastest growing sector of Israeli society, is also taking a major hit.

According to media reports, hundreds of factories have had to cut back production, and many have had to shut down. In the large industrial park outside the Jerusalem suburb of Maaleh Adumim, no fewer than 17 factories have closed their doors.

Israel Today readers have been doing their part to support Israel and combat this boycott by shopping at our Jerusalem Depot, where we stock and sell products from small businesses around the country.

This weekend are are happy to offer discounts on a new t-shirt and other products that by purchasing you can both boost local Israeli businesses and show your support for Israel.