Canadian Court Rules West Bank Wines Are Not A 'Product Of Israel'

A federal judge in Canada has ruled that wines made in Jewish settlements in the West Bank should not carry labels that say "Product of Israel."

Justice Anne Mactavish said that labeling the wines as products of the Israeli state was false and misleading, and prevented Canadian consumers from making informed purchasing decisions.

"Whatever the status of Israeli settlements in the West Bank may be, all of the parties and interveners agree that the settlements in issue in this case are not part of the State of Israel," Mactavish said in the ruling on Monday.

She described the labeling as "false, misleading and deceptive," saying that it "interferes with the ability of Canadian consumers" to make informed decisions "to 'buy conscientiously.'"

The judicial review came after David Kattenburg, a self-described wine lover and descendant of Holocaust survivors who has long protested the plight of Palestinians, complained to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency about the labeling in 2017.

"I found this to be outrageous, because the settlements are illegal under international law," he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that year.