On 10th May, FOA and Zaytoun will be launching the Check the Label – Boycott Israeli dates campaign. Every year, Israel exports millions of pounds worth of dates to the world, which many people unknowingly buy and use to break their fasts. These dates are grown in illegal settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, on land that has been stolen from Palestinians. By buying these dates, we are in fact helping Israel to continue its occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people. For this reason, Friends of Al Aqsa will again be launching the ‘Check the Label’ Campaign. We would like activists to attend to ask any questions, share experiences and collect campaign literature. What: Media and Public Launch of ‘Check the Label’ Boycott Israeli Dates Campaign When: Tuesday, 10th May, 2011 - 6.30pm Where: 10 Greycoat Place, Victoria, London, SW1P 1SB To register your place, please email your name to arif@aqsa.org.uk with the title: ‘Check the Label Launch’.

Ramadan is a time of year when we remember those who are less fortunate than ourselves. When we break our fasts with dates, it would be an affront to us all if these dates were the produce of Illegal Israeli settlements built on land stolen from Palestinians. Israeli produced Medjoul dates are grown in the Jordan Valley within Illegal Israeli settlements. They form a large part of the agriculture from these settlements and they are exported all over the world. Purchasing these dates means that you are actually helping Israeli settlements to continue to exist. Israelis will claim that Palestinians are allowed to work on the land of these settlers and therefore they are provided with jobs and a boycott will harm them. In actual fact, these Palestinians are employed for paltry wages, and they are required to do the back-breaking work that the Israeli settlers will not do themselves. This means the Israeli settlers reap the rewards for the harvests while doing very little of the work thems...