German supermarket bans Israeli goods

The Netherlands branch of the German supermarket chain Aldi banned Israeli settlement products, a fresh bid launched to prevent controversy in its sales. According to a statement released by a spokesman for the Aldi chain, the decision to boycott the settler goods is applied to Syria’s occupied Golan Heights, West Bank and East al-Quds. Earlier this week, a report published by the Amsterdam-based Trouw daily revealed that two major supermarkets in the Netherlands, Hoogvliet and Jumbo, decided to boycott products manufactured in Israeli settlements. In May, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said in a circular that it would be better for retailers to replace "Made in Israel" labels with a label reading as "Product from Israeli settlement." Israel occupied and annexed the Golan Heights in 1967, but the international community and the UN refused to recognize the move. Also, the Tel Aviv regime continues expanding its illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967. The settlements are considered illegal by the international community because the territories were captured by Israel and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied land. The continued expansion of the Israeli settlements has also created a major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the Middle East. The decision was taken after the European Union prohibited to fund Israeli institutions and actions beyond the Green Line.