Over 20,000 leaflets distributed for #CheckTheLabel and boycott ‘Israel’ across UK

London (QNN)- On the last Friday before Ramadan, over 20,000 leaflets urging Muslims to check the label and boycott ‘Israel’ were distributed at mosques across the United Kingdom on Friday.

The action is part of UK-based Friends of Al-Aqsa’s Check The Label campaign calling on Muslims in the UK and Europe not to break their fasts with the ‘taste of apartheid’. This boycott campaign has gained huge momentum in the run up to Ramadan this year, with press coverage from the UK to Morocco and Malaysia.

✨️ #JUMMAH MUBARAK ✨️

If you're doing a last minute #Ramadan shop on the weekend please remember to #CheckTheLabel of the date packaging

If it say Israel, West Bank or Jordan Valley, put it down

It's that simple!

➡️RT to ensure no one breaks their fast with Israeli dates pic.twitter.com/9Fu3wpRWjr

— Friends of Al Aqsa (@FriendsofAlAqsa) March 17, 2023

.@Asda @Tesco @IcelandFoods @Waitrose Israel is an apartheid state that has illegally occupied Palestine for decades. Leading human rights organisations like @amnesty & @hrw have said Israel is committing the crime of apartheid. Will you stop selling Israeli dates? #CheckTheLabel pic.twitter.com/13hicEHKCK

— Friends of Al Aqsa (@FriendsofAlAqsa) March 16, 2023

Running since the early 2010s, #CheckTheLabel has had an unprecedented impact on the British public’s understanding of the connection between the products they buy and Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. Many individuals have become ethical consumers who avoid buying Israeli produce as a result of this campaign.

“This Ramadan, it’s more important than ever that we boycott Israel,” said Shamiul Joarder, Head of Public Affairs at Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA). “By checking the label and avoiding Israeli dates, we can send a clear message: we won’t give our money to an apartheid state that breaks international law and kills Palestinian children”.

Israeli occupation is the world’s largest producer of Medjoul dates. Major UK supermarkets like ASDA, Tesco, Iceland and Waitrose all sell dates from ‘Israel’ as well as local grocery stores.

The UK is the second-biggest importer of Israeli dates in Europe.

50% of Israeli dates are exported to Europe, where the UK, Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy import huge quantities of the dried fruit. In 2020, the UK imported over 3000 tonnes of dates from ‘Israel’, worth roughly 7.5 million pounds.

There are two peaks of date consumption in Europe. One is during the month of Ramadan and the other is during New Year’s Eve and Christmas.

Boycotting Israeli dates in Ramadan is a concerted community effort that can show we are not powerless, says FOA, adding “it would be brilliant to see all Israeli dates still left on shelves across the UK and Europe at the end of the blessed month. This would reflect our strength as a community to stand together with a very important message: We will not support the oppression of Palestinians and we will not be complicit in Israeli apartheid.”