US Jewish Groups Angry about Reykjavík’s Move to Boycott All Israeli Products
The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a travel advisory on Friday to warn Jews of Reykjavik's "racist vote" which it said could "create an environment hostile to Israelis and other Jews".
The New York-headquartered World Jewish Congress, meanwhile, urged Iceland's federal government to act against the boycott, which it said "only strengthens extremists on both sides".
Israel's foreign ministry has described the vote as a "volcano of hatred", the AFP news agency reported.
Iceland’s capital Reykjavík passed a resolution on Tuesday to boycott all products made in Israel.
"I believe that the city is sending a clear message that it will not purchase products from Israel while Israel oppresses another people on the basis of ethnicity and race, and continues having the wall inside Palestine," Councilwoman Björk Vilhelmsdóttir said on the matter.
The law was first proposed by Vilhelmsdóttir, who mentioned that she intends to spend the rest of the year doing humanitarian work in the Palestinian territories.
Suggested by Vilhelmsdóttir, the resolution was proposed by the Social Democratic Alliance, has a majority in the city council, but not in the Icelandic parliament.
Passed with absolute majority, the resolution appears to be symbolic as it does not specify companies or products.
Moreover, it's not clear if the Reykjavik municipal authorities have even had any business ties to Israeli companies or if they've been purchasing Israeli products.
A similar opinion was expressed by City Council President and Bright Future Party Chairman Björn Blöndal.
Stating that the resolution was merely symbolic, he said, it's a "peaceful way to protest injustice."
The council of Reykjavík city has in the past adopted a resolution acknowledging the rights of the Palestinians to independence and a sovereign country of their own.
It has criticized what it calls the Israeli government's "racist apartheid policy."
Iceland was a supporter of the UN resolution to upgrade Palestine to the status of a non-member observer state.
