A group of Belgian organisations yesterday handed a petition to the country’s Minister of Economy, Pierre-Yves Dermagne, calling for a ban on trading with illegal Israeli settlements.
The petition, presented by the National Centre for Development Cooperation (CNCD-11.11.11), included 20,324 signatures.
“While the new Israeli government implements formal annexation of Palestinian lands, and allows settler violence, it is time to cut our financial supply to Israeli settlements by stopping trade with them,” the petition read. “If Belgium does not act now, when will it?” the groups asked.
Describing the Israeli colonisation of the occupied territories as a “war crime and a violation of international humanitarian laws,” the letter stressed that it was the “European Union’s duty to boycott those products.”
“This responsibility rests with the Belgian parliament and government, who must respect international law and cut ties with these settlements,” the organisations said, warning that maintaining relations would allow “illegal settlers to prevail and carry on with annexing more Palestinian lands.”
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