Keith Taylor MEP voices his support for the Sainsbury’s campaign

Keith Taylor, MEP for Southeast England, has voiced his strong support for the campaign to put pressure on Sainsbury’s to adhere to their own ethical trading policies and end all trade with companies operating in and exporting from the Palestinian Occupied Territory.

Sainsbury’s uses suppliers that trade in products from illegal Israeli settlements. Israeli settlements are built on stolen Palestinian land and are illegal under international law.

A National Day of Action is planned for Saturday 1st March, with protests outside Sainsbury’s stores up and down the country.

In a statement on his website, Keith Taylor states that:

I’m supporting this important campaign because the occupation of Palestine is illegal, and is an abuse of fundamental human rights. Companies that operate in and export from illegal settlements profit directly from these violations. Supermarkets who provide business to these companies therefore become complicit in these violations.

Supermarkets rely on the trust of their customers, and I believe that the continued support for economic activities in the illegal settlements threatens the reputation that supermarkets so strongly rely on. I therefore urge Supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s to face up to this and end all further support of these activities.