RAMALLAH, Tuesday, July 30, 2019 (WAFA) - Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) welcomed the ruling of Canada‘s federal court on the illegality of labeling wine originating from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as products made in Israel.

“This is an important first step for Canada and beyond, as this landmark ruling is an affirmation of the supremacy of the law and Canada‘s obligation to respect international law, which considers settlements illegal and does not recognize them as part of Israel, said Ashrawi in a statement.

“In light of this important ruling, the Palestinian leadership calls on the Canadian government to act in accordance with Canadian and international laws and amend, without delay, the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Bill C-85), which affords products originating from illegal Israeli settlements tariff free status, in flagrant violation of Canada‘s obligations under international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, and United Nations Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2334 (2016). This ruling now clearly demonstrates that the agreement also violates Canadian law and values,” added the statement.

Ashrawi called on all other states, particularly the European Union, Israel‘s largest trading partner, to apply EU and international laws to its agreements with Israel. “It is long overdue for the EU to take the minimal step of properly labeling products originating from Israel‘s illegal settlements and to ensure that its partnership agreements do not further enable or favor the continued looting of Palestinian natural resources and the profiteering from the commission is a war crime, as defined in the Rome Statute.”

Israel‘s illegal settlement regime is the embodiment of its colonial agenda in Palestine and its determined efforts to deny the Palestinian people their inalienable rights to self-determination and freedom. The obligation of all states to respect international law and the Palestinian people‘s national rights is absolute. Such respect can only be ensured by practical steps that deny Israel and complicit companies the ability to profiteer from the colonial occupation and the flagrant violations of international law. Accountability is the shortest and most assured path to justice, the statement concluded.

T.R.