Analysis by the human‑rights legal organisation Global Echo has revealed that millions of dollars worth of organic dates grown in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank have been shipped to Australia, where they were labelled as “produce of Israel”.
The study examined commercial documents and official trade data from the Israeli government and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It found that, over an eight‑year period, 132 shipments of dates were recorded, and 85 of those contained organic produce grown in settlements. The total value of these shipments exceeds US$5 million (A$7.2 million).
Global Echo’s analysis shows that the dates were exported from the West Bank and entered Australia under the generic designation of Israeli produce, without indicating their specific origin in the settlements.
These findings add to concerns about the export of goods from territories considered occupied under international law, and raise questions about the transparency of Australian import labeling practices.
<small>Source: The Guardian — read the original story there.</small>
