Large Israeli corporations have been profiting from the dates industry through forceful exploitation of Palestinian land and labour, with Israel being the world’s third largest exporter of dates worth $181 million in 2017. Further, these dates are harvested on stolen Palestinian land, mostly on illegal settlements within the West Bank.
Also look out for Israeli dates being masked as supermarket dates including at ASDA, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, M&S — and Aldi who was recently exposed selling Israeli dates produced by Mehadrin, yet hiding the origin on the otherwise deceptive packaging.
Beware also of labels like ‘Made in Israel’ of course — but also ‘Made in the West Bank’ or ‘Made in the Jordan Valley.’
Consumers are instead advised to purchase dates strictly from verified Palestinian brands, including Zaytoun, Holy Land and Yaffa which support Palestinian farmers.
