CRI听力:Impacts of EU Labeling Guidelines

Founded in 1982, Barkan Industrial Park in the West Bank currently employs more than 12,000 people. Among them, about half are Palestinians.

Sofiane is a Palestinian who has been working in a plastics factory in Barken for 20 years.

"I decided to work here because I couldn't find a job in my hometown. The conditions here are good. I can't get such insurance and salary near my home. And the environment is good. I feel at home."

But the situation may change because of the European Commission's new guidelines for the labeling of some products made in Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian and Syrian lands, as up to 80 percent of Barkan's products are exported.

Mosh Levran, the CEO of the plastics factory, says the EU guidelines will harm Palestinians more than Israelis.

"My concern is that what the 5,000 Palestinians that are working in this zone will do tomorrow morning. When Europe will not buy our products, our production will be reduced. By reducing production, you do only one thing, you fire workers. And these workers have nothing and nowhere to go in their side."

While the international community views settlements as a barrier to peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Israel stresses that sanctions against industry in those settlements poses a threat to the mutual financial cooperation of the region and will hinder any possibility of peace and normalization.

Dan Catarivas, a director from the Manufacturers' Association of Israel, says economic development will help Israelis and Palestinians to find a solution to their conflict.

"Let us work together. Let us create economic cooperation, and the politics will come later. Let's concentrate on economy. Let's try to create a reality that is good for the two sides. It's a win-win situation. And when politics is right, we'll find the solution."

And for Palestinian workers like Sofiane, making a living is the most important thing.

"If they want to close the factory here, they need to prepare jobs for us first. Because a lot of Palestinians work here, you can't just let all of them go home. If there is an industrial park like this in Ramallah, which offers us the same working environment, salaries and insurance, of course I will work there, but our leaders say that Israel doesn't allow us to build such industrial zones."

Xavier Abu Eid works for the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

"We lose every year something like 8 billion dollars on the cost of occupation. I think this is Israelis' excuse that suddenly they take care of a lot of our people because of labeling settlement products. If they end the occupation, we would give these people better jobs."

For CRI, I'm Ryan Price.