On January 26, the NYT carried an op-ed by Eyal Press that I think went largely unnoticed.
It was calling attention to a provision attached to a larger piece of legislature (known as the Customs Bill), said provision in essence extending the existing anti-boycott law (which makes it illegal for an individual or a company to join in a foreign country’s boycott of Israel products) to include products made in ‘Israel controlled territories’. Controlled, not occupied.
I was puzzled that Richard, Silverstein, in his blog, hailed it as a leap by Obama against the illegal settlements, in that it required the label ‘made in Israel’ to be replaced by ‘made in the West Bank”. What does it matter, I thought, since there are over a thousand Israeli companies operating in the WB? The label doesn’t state the product is made in the settlements, so what’s the difference?
At the time the author of the article mentioned that this provision had already passed the House and was expected to pass the Senate, but he was hoping President Obama would not sign it, as it would in effect conflate products made in Israel proper with products made by Israeli factories operating in the West Bank settlements.
From your article I now learn that Obama has indeed signed it, even if, of course, ‘reluctantly’.
If anybody still thinks this president is going to lift a finger to help the Palestinians and risk antagonizing Israel and the pro-Israel voters in the US, just give it up.
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February 13th, 2016 
Awake Goy 
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