Settlers plan new website to combat BDS

In order to combat the BDS movement, settlers from the West Bank have taken up the initiative in the form of a website to tackle the globe.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Activists from the BDS movement against Israel [File] (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Activists from the BDS movement against Israel [File]
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Settlers are seeking to create a website to combat the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
The site would allow businesses in Judea and Samaria to sell their wares, such as wine, olive oil, textiles and jewelry, to their supporters throughout the world.
It will also include travel packages to boost tourism to the region.
The initiative comes from the Foreign Desk of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria.
“We want to take the sting out of the boycott movement,” said Oded Revivi, the new head of the Foreign Desk.
Public relations initiatives like this one are an important part of that battle, he said on Friday.
“Hundreds of products will be on the site, which will lead to thousands of transactions,” Revivi said.
“Supporters of Israel living abroad will be able to go on the website, which will be in English, and buy products that will arrive at their doorstep, just like they do with other sites such as Ebay or Amazon,” Revivi added.
Separately, on Thursday, Likud Minister Yuval Steinitz visited the Barkan Industrial Park in Samaria, to highlight his opposition to BDS and his support for settler products.
He made a point of stopping at a halva factory there, in light of the news that Brussels Airlines has dropped that item from its menu, because it was produced in a settlement.
“Boycotting halva produced in Barkan and Ariel is like boycotting the State of Israel and the people of Israel,” he said.
There are other conflict zones in the world and yet Brussels Airlines is not taking a position on those disputes, he said.
Their actions here are discriminatory and anti-Semitic, Steinitz said.