The Palestinian Authority is planning a series of steps aimed at causing Jews in Judea and Samaria to lose their source of income by reducing or eliminating foreign sales of Judea and Samaria-made products. The plan was announced by PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Thursday.
Fayyad asked PA officials abroad to pressure foreign governments to ban Israeli goods from Judea and Samaria or tax them at a higher rate. The PA has launched this latest campaign “because condemnations and press conferences are not enough anymore,” he explained.
Fayyad praised Britain, which has already taken steps to discriminate between Israeli goods and produce from west of the 1949 armistice and those from Judea and Samaria. The latter goods are taxed at a higher rate. “We call on other countries in the EU to follow suit with Britain on this issue,” Fayyad said.
In a speech at a Jenin trade fair, Fayyad went further and called on the international community to stop the construction of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. The fair was attended by Quartet envoy Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of Britain.
The trade fair aimed at connecting businessmen in Jenin with their Arab counterparts in the Galilee. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently began allowing Arab businessmen with Israeli citizenship to travel to and from Jenin as a “good-will gesture” to the PA.
The PA is trying to encourage international investment in PA-controlled areas. Foreign businessmen recently promised millions of dollars in investments during a Shechem investment conference. On Thursday, Norway signed an agreement to invest two million dollars in PA classrooms.