Earlier this month, 27 EU heads of mission to the Palestinian Authority signed a report that recommended strict labeling of settlement products, thereby encouraging a boycott similar to that imposed on South Africa during Apartheid. According to reports, EU officials are urging member states to label goods produced from Israeli settlements in the West Bank as either “Produce of the West Bank (Israeli settlement produce)” or “Israeli produce of the Occupied Palestinian Territories”.

Without going into a further Geo-political argument about whether the Israeli Settlements in the West Bank are legal (under the Original League of Nations Mandate) or illegal (under current UN resolutions) the actions by the EU do little to help a complex problem and may hurt many of the people it was intended to help. For example, Psagot Vineyards and many other West Bank businesses employ thousands of Palestinians. In these business, Palestinians and Jewish settlers work side by side.

Yaakov Berg, founded Psagot Vineyards near Jerusalem almost a decade ago. Psagot now produces around 120,000 bottles of wine each year. Berg stated that “I didn’t kill anyone to take this land, I paid for it, and I provide good jobs for Palestinians that pay three or four times what they could earn elsewhere.” Berg’s wines have won several prizes in competitions abroad, including in France, and the winery has been a financial success. According to Berg, his Palestinian workers would receive NIS 1,000 (about $262) for they same work in Ramallah. At Psagot Vineyards they receive five or six times as much with insurance and social benefits. This is true for many other businesses in the area.

As an entrepreneur and an owner of a company that employs 20+ people of different races, ethnicity’s and religions, it seems to me that paying a decent wage, providing decent benefits, respecting each other and working together does more for the cause of peace and reconciliation than all the labels and boycotts put together. The EU should look to its own problems with the economies of Greece, Spain and Cyprus and the Euro instead of undermining a growing economy that employs Israeli’s and Palestinians alike in a misguided attempt to punish a whole region for the current failure of the Middle east Peace Process.

Here are some photos that I found online that showcase the Israeli wine industry. Enjoy!