#BDS: Israel — a fruitless lie

"I understand the point of complaining that Jaffa Grapefruit are being sold by Coles Australia under the cover of false labelling.

I realise also that it puts a lie to the claim of ‘Ethical Sourcing’ by Coles (see Coles Ethical Sourcing Supplier Fact Sheet). Especially when its purchase of fruit involves the exploitation of Palestinian people whose land was stolen by deception and by force of arms.

Coles false labelling of Jaffa Grapefruit as a 'Product of Australia'

Boycott Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) groups in Australia request that the fruit be labelled ‘Product of Israel’ so that people can choose not to buy those fruit — fair enough.

But to label Jaffa Grapefruit/oranges as a ‘Product of Israel’ contains an historic lie.

The incorrectly labelled Jaffa (in Arabic: يَافَا‎, Yāfā) oranges/grapefruit were the product of Palestine long before Israel existed as a ‘country of origin’.

For example, the Palestinian people of the village Al-Jammasin in the precinct of Jaffa grew citrus for generations before the Zionist settlers came in 19th and 20th centuries."

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