BOYCOTT ~ ISRAELI FOOD COMPANY FAKES ADDRESS FOR EU MARKETS

HA'ARETZ
March 23, 2010
By Akiva Eldar

Blended with GUSH SHALOM

Many thanks to the young Jewish students who discovered this hoax and reported what you found!

"Salatey Shamir", located in the Barkan settlement on the West Bank, gives incorrect information on products sold in Europe, hiding its true location using a false address west of the Green Line from customers and tax authorities violating an agreement between Israel and the European Union.

Recently Gush Shalom heard from Jewish peace activists in the Netherlands that the "Shamir Salads" company gives false information on the covers of its products sold in Europe. The activists gave the left-wing Gush Shalom movement a label from a Shamir Salads hummus tin they bought in The Hague. The tin has a Kiryat Ata address on it and a Tel Aviv area phone number. The company's Internet site, however, says it can be contacted at Shamir Salads 2006 ltd., P.O.Box 5, Barkan industrial area.

Oh my! A dishonest israeli company! However could such a thing come about!? They must be antisemitic to say such a thing!

The students told Gush Shalom that they support Israel and hope that Israel will achieve a peaceful future, but that they strongly oppose the settlements and would by no means have knowingly bought a product manufactured in one of them.

Actually, Shamir Salads practices a double deception. The company deceives the tax authorities in Europe, which according to the recent ruling of the European Court does not consider settlement products as being "Made in Israel" and therefore will not grant them the tax-exempt status due to Israeli products. The company also deceives customers who do not know that they are buying a product from an illegal settlement in an occupied territory.

The European Court of Justice ruled last month that products manufactured in West Bank settlements are not Israeli and will be taxed. The trade agreements with the EU states exempt most products made in Israel or the Palestinian Authority from tax, while goods made in the settlements are under different customs laws.

Those who charge us this tax are antisemitic!

The ruling was issued after the German tax authorities forbade the German Brita company to import Soda Club products, because they were made in the company's plant in the West Bank.

Remember the Holocaust!

The court ruled that the customs agreement with Israel applies only to territories in full Israeli sovereignty, and not the territories Israel occupied in 1967.

SIX MILLION!

Gush Shalom accused Shamir Salads of deceiving both the European tax authorities and the consumers, who are not aware they are buying a product made in the settlements.
Hey its just leafy greens folks. er.... bars of soap made from my ancestors.....

Gush Shalom approached supporters in other countries to check if also in their countries "Shamir Salads" are marketed with false information on the packaging.

The movement also wrote to the The Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel, pointing out that Ya'akov Ginsburg and Itzik Levy, two executives of the Shamir Salads Company, are registered members of the Institute.

Adam Keller, the Gush Shalom Spokesperson spoke:

"The most basic asset of an accountant should be a spotless character. Being on the management level of a company which presents false information in order to avoid paying customs in Europe is hardly consistent with what is expected of an accountant".

"We call upon the Shamir Salads Company to cease these tactics of deception, which are bound to be uncovered, and to start preparing for departure from the Occupied Territories. If they leave the Barkan Settlement and actually set themselves up in Kiryat Ata, or anywhere else in the sovereign State of Israel, we will gladly take them off the list of products of settlements, and make it known"

"With those who settle in Occupied Territory because of ideology, because God has promised them the land or because our ancestors lived there 3000 years ago, we have no dealing and no basis for dialog. But as far as we know, Shamir Salads ~ like the vast majority of enterprises which established themselves in the settlements ~ went there out of pure business considerations.

We hope to convince them that investing in a settlement located in Occupied Territory is a bad and dangerous investment, an investment which would close and block many doors in their faces, both in Europe and among the Israeli public".

Contact: Adam Keller 054-2340749

The false label

Ha'aretz news item, March 26, 2010