Thousands of Christians visit West Bank settlements in support after European sanctions, trade bans

Thousands of Christians visited West Bank settlements during the International Christian Embassy's annual conference as an act of protest against recent legislation by various European countries barring trade with them.

"The laws enacted in Europe against purchasing products from Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are antisemitism, pure and simple; therefore, the most moral course of action is to oppose them," Dag Juliussen, a Christian leader from Norway, said during a visit to the Psagot winery.

"This is a moral stand against an antisemitic move. Several generations ago, Hitler wanted to make Europe Judenrein, and now politicians want to make Judea and Samaria Judenrein. Why shouldn't Jews live there, just as Muslim Arabs live in Israel?" Juliussen added.

Hundreds more Christians visited settlements in the Binyamin and Gush Etzion regions in order to purchase locally produced goods from local residents.

Earlier this month, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) condemned the European countries' bans on trade with Israeli settlements, including those in the West Bank.

"While we agree that Israeli authorities need to do more to rein in the small fringe of ‘settlers’ engaged in acts of harassment and violence against their Palestinian neighbors, that should not be used as a pretext to selectively target all the peaceful, law-abiding Jews living in these areas," the ICEJ wrote.

ICEJ accuses European countries of double standards, political motives

The ICEJ also accused the European nations of having double standards when it came to Israel, saying that few had sanctioned regions with similar conflicts, such as "Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus and the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara."

The ICEJ claimed that the sanctioning countries had a "political motive" for the trade bans and aimed to impact the upcoming Israeli elections, calling it "an intrusive act of disrespect for a fellow democratic state which they would never countenance with regard to any other free Western democracy."