Iceland Capital City Will Boycott Israeli Goods
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
In a move described as symbolic, the municipal government of Iceland’s capital city announced a boycott of all Israeli products.
The Reykjavik City Council passed a resolution Tuesday saying that the municipality would not purchase any Israeli goods “as long as the occupation of Palestinian territories continues,” Iceland Magazine reported.
In an explanatory memo, the council said the City of Reykjavik supports the right of Palestinians to independence and condemns “the Israeli policy of apartheid” in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. The resolution does not identify any products or companies it plans to boycott, and it is not clear whether the municipality currently purchases anything manufactured in Israel, according to Ynet.
Bjork Vilhelmsdottir, a councilwoman with the Social Democratic Alliance, introduced the motion.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement in response condemning the move.
“For no reason or justification, except hatred for its own sake, calls of boycotting the state of Israel are heard,” the statement said, according to the Times of Israel. “We hope someone in Iceland will come to their senses and end the one-sided blindness fielded against Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.”
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
