Iceland's capital bans all Israeli goods
Iceland's capital bans all Israeli goods
Reykjavik city council has passed a motion to boycott Israeli products in response to the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.
2 min read
Reykjavik city council is boycotting Israel to protest the occupation of the West Bank [Getty].
The Icelandic capital's city council has passed a motion to boycott Israeli goods in response to Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.
The motion approved by Reykjavik's council on Tuesday said that the boycott would not end until the occupation did.
"By doing this, we as a city council, even though we are a small city in the far north, are doing what we can to put pressure on the government of Israel to stop the occupation of Palestinian territory," council president Soley Tomasdottir told Icelandic public broadcaster RUV.
The Reykjavik council has a left-wing majority. Representatives of Iceland's centre-right ruling parties voted against the resolution.
Israel has lashed out at a boycott of its products, describing it as a "volcano of hatred".
"A volcano of hatred is erupting in the Reykjavik city council," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said.
"Without any reason and justification besides pure hatred, calls are being issued to boycott the state of Israel."
Israel is also up in arms against a push by European Union nations to label products from its settlements, a move it considers tantamount to a boycott.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently evoked the Nazi era to criticise an EU parliamentary motion on labelling.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law as well as a threat to the Middle East peace process by eroding the basis for a future Palestinian state.