South Africa's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Wednesday gave the go ahead to label products as “Made in Palestine” to provide information about the products' country of origin. The approval was made by the cabinet “in line with South Africa's stance that recognizes the 1948 borders delineated by the United Nations and does not recognize occupied territories beyond these borders as being part of the state of Israel,” said government spokesman Jimmy Manyi. The DTI has earlier issued a notice for public comments regarding labeling of products alleged to be originating in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israeli forces. The DTI insists that its move to label products as “Made in Palestine” should not be seen as a call to boycott Israeli products, “but instead to ensure that South Africa consumers are provided with accurate information on the products' country of origin.” “Our recognition is the 1967 borders of Israel. There is a distinction between products from within borders and products from territories outside, notably the West Bank,” SA Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said. Jewish groups in South Africa called the move “discriminatory” and “divisive.” “At the bottom, they are believed to be motivated not by technical trade concerns but by political bias against the state of Israel. All attempts to discuss these concerns, however, have come to nothing,” the South African Jewish Board of Deputies said. The move has also provoked an angry response from Israel, with Israeli Foreign Ministry saying the labeling “smacked of racism.” The post-apartheid South African government has been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause. The government says it only recognizes the pre-1967 borders of Israel, not the West Bank and Gaza Strip which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East War.
