Nicholas ([info]nwhyte) wrote,
@ 2008-08-21 10:45:00
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Current mood: intrigued
Entry tags:world: holy land

Labelling
I bought some tarragon leaves from the supermarket yesterday; when I got out the packet to start chopping them up, I noticed that the country of origin was marked as "West Bank". Does this mean that it is Palestinian tarragon? Or (as I fear is more likely) that it was grown in one of the Israeli settlements?


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[info]saare_snowqueen
2008-08-21 09:20 am UTC (link)
I'd put my money on an Israeli settlement and a soupcon of obfuscation.

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[info]smhwpf
2008-08-21 09:33 am UTC (link)
Almost certainly settlements. The Palestinians have very little ability to export any agricultural products, the Israelis control the most fertile land of the Jordan Valley, and settlement produce is routinely labelled West Bank. (Or, equally though differently obfuscatorily, Israel).

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[info]minny
2008-08-21 10:54 am UTC (link)
Can't even chop up some food without politics getting involved, ey?

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[info]del_c
2008-08-21 11:18 am UTC (link)
There's not much that's more fraught with politics than food, when you think about it.

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[info]saare_snowqueen
2008-08-21 11:51 am UTC (link)
That's probably the largest UNDERSTATEMENT any of us are likely to read today.
BAH!!!

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[info]sciamanna
2008-08-21 02:49 pm UTC (link)
I know that Israel has refused to label the produce grown in the settlements anything other than "Israel" (with the probably unintended result that I have qualms buying anything labelled "Israel"). Either they have changed their policy, or Belgium has got special treatment, or it is Palestinian tarragon. I genuinely don't know, and in fact now I'm curious.

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[info]geekosaur
2008-08-21 05:48 pm UTC (link)
IIRC the EU demanded as a condition for allowing anything from the settlements to be imported that it be labeled as such.

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[info]andrewsherman
2008-08-21 04:41 pm UTC (link)
This Observer article says that (in the UK at least) this means produce from Israeli-owned farms on Palestinian territory

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[info]sciamanna
2008-08-21 05:27 pm UTC (link)
Very interesting, thank you. The EU rules seem to have changed on this specific point (which makes sense actually). I've never seen produce labelled "West Bank" here (Dublin), but it may just be coincidence (and getting most of my veg from the organic market...) -- I'll have a look next time I'm in a supermarket.

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