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 said that they had purchased a box of Shamir Salads hummus at the Kosher Food shop in The Hague, on which the label read that the company is located in Kiryat Ata, north of Haifa. But when they checked the list of settlement products on the Gush Shalom website, they discovered that the Shamir Salads factory is in fact at the industrial zone of the Barkan settlement on the West Bank. They 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 practice a double deception. The company deceives the tax authorities in Europe, which according to the recent ruling of the European Court should not consider settlement products as being "Made in Israel" and therefore should 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 Shamir Salads Company casts suspicion on all Israeli products entering the European market, causing them to be suspected of being produced in settlements - thus playing into the hands of the initiators of total boycott of all Israeli products, which is gathering momentum worldwide".

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. "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" says Adam Keller, the Gush Shalom Spokesperson.

"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 dialogue. 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