Abbas' decision to boycott the settlements' products is "an extreme one"

The Israeli government has condemned the decision of the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, to ratify a law which calls for a boycott of Israeli products produced in illegal settlements. The Palestinian parliamentary working group has discussed the law banning the products of the colony-settlements in the occupied West Bank and is looking at sourcing genuine alternatives to Israeli products.

Hebrew Radio reported that the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Zionists state has called the PA decision, “scandalous”. Silvan Shalom added, “The law of boycotting the products from the settlements is a disgrace. Abbas and his Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, are competing to see who can demonstrate the most extremism.” Mr. Shalom pointed out that this decision might harm many of the Palestinians who work inside the Jewish state.

Paradoxically, Netanyahu’s Deputy expects the moribund Palestinian-Israeli peace talks to be resumed soon, “after the United States has made it clear to the Palestinians that it has become tired of their tricks.”

One commentator on Palestinian affairs said that Silvan Shalom’s comments show how twisted Israeli logic is on these issues. “For years, the Israelis have used every trick in the book to delay meaningful peace talks in order to give themselves time to create more facts on the ground,” said Abu Umaymah. “The reality is that recent events have demonstrated that the US administration is tiring of Israeli intransigence and arrogance of the kind represented by Mr. Shalom’s ridiculous comments,” he added.