Palestinians recognize right to boycott Israel

The Palestinian leadership said Friday it recognizes the right of civil society groups to boycott Israeli products, although its own embargo is limited to products from settlements. "The Palestine Liberation Organization and the State of Palestine is not opposed to the Palestinian civil society-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel," it said in a statement received by Agence France Presse. "Palestinian officials and leaders respect and uphold the right of Palestinian civil society to initiate and lead local and global BDS campaigns against Israel as a means to achieve the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people." It also urged all countries to end "all trade and relations with companies from or involved in the illegal Israeli settlements." EU guidelines, published in July, will ban funding for and financial dealing with settlements in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem starting from January 2014.