PA to continue boycott until ‘our homes are empty of settlement goods,’ Palestinian PM says

Ali Waked and Reuters
Published: 05.27.10, 18:39 / Israel News

The Palestinians will continue to adhere to the anti-settlement boycott until their homes “will be empty of settlement goods,” Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Thursday.

The PM passed out leaflets on Thursday urging consumers to boycott products made by Jewish settlements in the West Bank. He handed out leaflets bearing the names and pictures of 500 items on the black list of his Palestinian Authority, from peanuts to door frames.

Fayyad, dressed in a t-shirt, was wrapping up a week-long drive “to clean” the Palestinian market of settler goods that he says undermine the home economy.

While visiting the home of a Ramallah family along with boycott campaign volunteers and Finance Minister Dr. Hassan Abu-Libdeh, the Palestinian PM personally explained the initiative to his hosts.

“I came today as a volunteer in the home-to-home campaign,” Fayyad told the family. “This campaign depends in the first place on the awareness of the citizen.”

Turning his attention to Israeli threats in response to the boycott, Fayyad said that the Palestinian government “did not receive any official message on the subject” and that all reports on the matter were only conveyed through the media.

The Palestinian leader said that the campaign against settlement goods is part of the overall struggle against settlements in the framework of building the Palestinian state. He stressed that the PA is not boycotting Israeli products, but rather “the goods of settlements located on our land.”

“Our homes should be empty of settlement goods,” Fayyad told the family. “We encourage the campaign and officially endorse it, and we shall continue to do so until our homes are empty of settlement products.”