UN expert calls for ban on Israeli products from settlements

The UN independent expert on human rights in the Palestinian territories is calling for an international ban on all products made in Israeli settlements, as a step to potentially end Israel’s 52-year-old “illegal occupation.”

Michael Lynk tells the General Assembly’s human rights committee that the international community should also issue “a clarion call to the United Nations” to complete and release a database “on businesses engaged in activities related to the illegal settlements.”

Lynk says the international community has a responsibility and a legal obligation to compel Israel to completely end its occupation and remove barriers to self-determination for the Palestinians.

Israel is deeply opposed to a Palestinian-led international boycott movement, which it views as an attack on its very existence. Supporters of the boycotts say they are a non-violent way of protesting Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

— AP