The import and sale of Israeli wines across Canada is a microcosm of how apartheid maintains “business as usual.”
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has ruled that “Product of Israel” labels affixed to wines produced in Israel’s illegal West Bank settlements violate Canadian consumer protection law.
Activists in British Columbia who have worked for years to have illegal Israeli settlement wines pulled off the shelves of publicly owned liquor stores were shocked when the government pulled Russian liquor products just two days after the invasion of Ukraine.
A new market has opened up for Israeli weapons and settlement products — the United Arab Emirates.
Yesterday, a Canadian Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the Trudeau government’s appeal of a ruling that ‘Product of Israel’ labels on Israeli settlement wines are “false, misleading and deceptive.” The case now goes back to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for “reconsideration and redetermination,” and Israeli war crimes will be on the docket.
The export of wines from the Golan Heights to Dubai marks Trump’s legacy in the region: perceived legitimacy for the occupation and expanded markets for settlement businesses.
Canada’s attorney general has announced he was appealing a recent federal court ruling that banned labeling wines produced in West Banks settlements as products of Israel.