Tel Aviv, May 23, 2010

Dear Sir/Madam

Already for many years your company is in the habit of internationally marketing products which come from settlements in the Occupied Territories. As you are no doubt aware - though you have not bothered to let the general Israeli public know of it – this practice is arousing strong opposition all over the world, particularly in Europe, in the form of demonstrations, protest petitions and the like.

Specifically, two major supermarket chains in Italy, COOP and Nordiconad, informed public organizations active in their country that they are no longer ready to market products originating from settlements in Occupied Territory which are distributed in Europe by "Agrexo". Mr. Maurizio Zucchi, COOP's Quality Control Director, writes that your company is not prepared to specify the source of the products it sells on the retail packaging available to the supermarket's customers, thus making it impossible for Italian consumers to verify whether the products offered to them originate within the internationally recognized territory of Israel or at a settlement in Occupied Territory – a highly significant issue for many people, in Italy and worldwide.

These developments in Italy should be taken by you as a flashing red alarm. It's high time you understood that settlement agriculture in the Occupied Territories - in particular, the agricultural settlements established in the Jordan Valley as part of the long defunct 'Allon Plan' - has become a millstone on the neck of Israeli agriculture. If you maintain the policy of mixing Israeli products with the settlement products, even while worldwide opposition to the settlements is sharply on the rise, you are putting at risk Israel's agricultural exports in their entirety.

Yours

Adam Keller Gush Shalom spokesperson Tel. 054-2340749

The letter of the COOP's Quality Control Director

Stephanie Westbrook Stop Agrexco Italia +393331103510 stopagrexcoitalia@gmail.com