Veronika Honkasalo, a member of Finland’s parliament, has introduced a legislative motion that seeks to ban the import of goods manufactured in the Israeli settlements illegally built in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territory, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The motion targets all goods imported from “regions where occupying powers practice serious violations of international humanitarian law or human rights agreements.”
A new bill in Finland introduced by Veronika Honkasalo, the Left Alliance lawmaker, would ban the import of goods from Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian territories as she said“We must stop supporting the illegal Israeli settlements” @veronikahonka #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/c137N9ZybT
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) December 23, 2021
An example of such violations includes cases where “homes of people living in the region are demolished and the residents deported or forcibly removed to make way for illegal settlements by the occupying power.”
The motion primarily focuses on the occupied Palestinian Territory and the Israeli settlements in the West Bank which are illegal under international law. “We must stop supporting the illegal Israeli settlements,” Honkasalo stated:
If the motion passes into law, it could prevent business activities and dealings which enable the continuation of Israeli human rights violations and the violation of international law.
Veronika Honkasalo, a member of parliament of Finland, has introduced a legislative motion to ban import of goods manufactured in occupied Palestinian territories, according to media reports. The ban would apply to goods imported from illegal Israeli settlements.#FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/Pg2ynheTnm
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 24, 2021
The statement of the motion that “Finland stands among the defenders of international law, [and] is committed to the universal values of the United Nations and actively upholds international law, democracy and human rights. It is therefore our duty to stop enabling business activities that provide support for the economies of international law breaching occupying powers from causing or exacerbating human rights violations in the occupied regions.”
It added that Honkasalo will be collecting signatures from other MPs for the proposed law until 1 February 2022, in an effort to attain a majority and have the act passed into law.
(WAFA, PC, Social Media)
