The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has welcomed new regulations by the government which soften previously envisaged language for labeling imported goods from Israeli West Bank settlements. The new rules would be consistent with a compromise reached last month following months of intensive lobbying by the SAJBD. According to a letter received earlier this week by Jewish umbrella body, products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem must be labeled as 'West Bank: Israeli goods'' or 'East Jerusalem: Israeli goods'.
Trade Minister Rob Davies issued a notice last year which demanded that products from the Israeli settlements would be required to be labeled as originating from 'the Occupied Palestinian Territories', something SAJBD opposed as discriminatory.
The new regulation was now approved by the South African Cabinet, and a new binding notice is expected to be issued by the end of the week. Mary Kluk, chairwoman of the Board of Deputies, called the decision ''balanced and sensible." The change the policy on labeling was reached after lengthy deliberations among the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Jewish organizations and representatives of pro-Palestinian lobbies.
The South African Board of Deputies and the South African Zionist Federation issued a statement Wednesday saying that ''this decision fully complies with internationally recognized technical trade requirements pertaining to place of origin. Unlike earlier proposed versions of the legislation, it does not make use of politically charged and biased language, but rather uses terms that are essentially neutral and descriptive … without the addition of politically motivated aspects that can only cause division and alienation within the South African population.''
The original notice had stirred objections from the South African Jewish community, backed by the African Christian Democratic Party, which held a first-of-its-kind demonstration in front of the Ministry of Trade building. The Israeli Embassy in Pretoria conveyed its objection to the South African Foreign Ministry, qualifying the decision as ''singling out Israel.''
