The Germans are angry with the Greeks for retiring at the age of 50 and counting on Germans to keep working until they are 65 so as to have enough cash to lend to Greece. The French are angry with the Germans for demanding such harsh and humiliating terms from the Greeks in return for a few billion more euros. The Greeks are angry with the Germans for once again in effect telling them how to levy taxes and to organise their economy. Italy is angry with every other EU country for refusing to relieve it of the flood of refugees fleeing Africa. Britain is angry with the entire EU for denying it the right to control its borders and snatching from it large portions of its sovereignty.
On one thing they all, or almost all, agree: products made in “occupied Palestinian land” must be labelled as such. Some 16 foreign ministers have written to Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign policy chief, calling for action before year-end.In ordinary times, product labelling is a good idea. But these are not ordinary times. It is less than a year since the manager of Sainsbury’s in Holborn, central London, removed kosher food, wherever made, from its shelves in fear of an attack for carrying it, and because “We support Gaza”. It is only a few months since a jihadist shot and killed four Jews in a Paris deli after identifying them as Jews. Imagine what will happen to any store that carries goods labelled “made in occupied Palestine”.
An EC spokesman says: “The EU considers settlements in occupied territories illegal under international law.” Not a word about protecting consumers from shoddy or unsafe products. No worry about adding to the resources devoted to tracking postcodes to make certain that no goods from the settlements enjoy dutyfree status under the EU’s freetrade agreement with Israel.
Britain, in the person of its prime minister, is leading the charge, ignoring the potential for mayhem it will create, helped along by France, which has forgotten the deli killings and which history suggests already has much to answer for when it comes to its treatment of Jews. Germany remembers its history: alone among the big five European states, it has refused to sign the prolabelling letter.
How this document will help the 26,000 Palestinians who hold work permits in Israeli settlements — who might be laid off when the goods they make become products non grata on European shelves, or, if stocked, a target for Europe’s homegrown and imported radical Muslims — is a mystery. After all, the EU has no problem welcoming goods made by workers far more oppressed than the Palestinians in Israeli and Palestinian-owned factories.
The final boundaries of Israel should be left to negotiation between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Moves designed to put pressure on Israel will only encourage the Palestinians to hold out until the European cavalry, oops, Commission, arrives. And they will convince the Israelis that they live in a hostile world that is best ignored in favour of tough selfreliance.