Board President Jonathan Arkush has condemned new guidelines approved by the EU on Wednesday for labelling products from Israeli settlements on what the organisation regards as occupied land. He said: “The EU labelling guidelines are not only totally misconceived but harmful. They are an attempt to stigmatise and thereby encourage boycotts, which are contrary to Government policy. They epitomise the double standard of treating Israel in a different way than other countries involved in territorial disputes. They encourage those parties who imagine that a settlement can be imposed rather than reached by negotiation and they are therefore damaging to the peace process. The Board is deeply disappointed that the EU could have acted in such an unconstructive way without thinking through the consequences.”