Boycott Israeli Dates - Ramadan 2021

Boycott Israeli Dates - Ramadan 2021 (Script of video)

Israel is one of the world’s top five exporters of dates, exporting dates worth around $200,000,000 a year. Some of that money directly funds Israel’s killing machine.

Israeli settlements are built on stolen Palestinian land. Through brutal military force Palestinians have been ethnically cleansed from over 80% of their land. The Israeli committee against house demolitions has reported that Israel has demolished over 120,000 Palestinian homes. Israeli settlements are built over destroyed Palestinian homes and villages. The International Court of Justice in 2004 ruled that the settlements are illegal under international law. 60% of Israel’s dates are grown in these illegal settlements. It's their most profitable crop, contributing significantly to their economic viability.

Picking of dates is hard work. Israeli settlers bring in low paid Palestinian labourers to do this back breaking work. Israelis prefer to employ children as they climb trees faster, work for less, and are easier to cheat and humiliate. Desperate poverty forces Palestinian families to hand their children over to the settlers to work for a pittance.

80% of settlement dates are exported. The UK was Israel’s largest market for dates in 2018, worth $27,000,000.

75% of the world’s Medjool dates are produced in Israel. So if you buy a Medjool date there is a very strong possibility that it’s from an illegal settlement, grown on stolen Palestinian land.

If you oppose the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the building of settlements over their destroyed homes, then boycott Israeli dates.

Israeli dates are sold under these brands. Avoid them!

Studies show that sale of Medjool dates spike during Ramadan by a whopping 57% in 2020. Ramadan is the highest sales period of the year. Israel falsely labels Israeli settlement dates as 'Made in Palestine', to entice Muslims during Ramadan to buy their stolen dates.

In an Al Jazeera documentary from 2012, an Israeli export manager from the illegal Mahola settlement, where Israel's largest dates exporter Hadiklaim sources its Medjool dates, openly showed reporters pallets of falsely labelled dates destined for the UK.

Recently the UK market has been flooded with suspicious 'produced in Palestine' Medjool dates boxes decorated with Palestinian flags, but lacking any company details, making it impossible to verify origin.

It is illegal in the UK to sell food products without the address details of the importer or distributor and correct country of origin. Report them to your local trading standards office.

Sometimes Israeli settlement dates are mixed with Palestinian dates either before export in Israel, or after export in the UK so that the seller can pass off Israeli dates as Palestinian. Often the only clue is the price - genuine Palestinian dates have to go through so many barriers the occupation has placed against it, raising its price to be much higher than Israeli dates.

So checking the label isn't enough. Labels are often purposely wrong, claiming to be Palestinian whilst in reality Israeli.

Choose trusted Palestinian sources, like Zaytoun, or Yaffa, for your Medjool dates. They will happily answer all your questions regarding sourcing and traceability of their dates.

The good news is that your collective effort in boycotting Israeli dates is having an impact. Whilst Israeli date production increased by 14% in 2019, its dates export to the UK plummeted by 32%, knocking the UK from top export market to number 3, behind the Netherlands and France.

In the same period, global Palestinian dates exports jumped by 37%, with the UK being the third largest market for Palestinian dates! Whilst still insignificant compared to Israel dates exports, it’s a good sign.

Clearly the boycott is biting, keep up the good work. This Ramadan lets support the Palestinians by buying Palestinian dates. Say no to the dates of oppression, occupation and apartheid!

Free Palestine!

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