Are barcodes that begin with '729' products from Israel, as BDS advocates claim?

The ceasefire woody agreed by Israel and Hamas successful aboriginal October is improbable to dispel longstanding calls for the boycott of Israeli products, which acceptable into the wider Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Online users, including French MEP Manon Aubry, co-leader of the near successful the European Parliament and a subordinate of the France Unbowed party, person relayed a assertion alleging that barcodes opening with the digits "729" are produced successful Israel.

"Check your purchases: barcodes opening with 729 = Israeli products", stated Aubry successful an X station shared connected 27 September, which has been viewed much than 1 cardinal times.

However, GS1, the organisation which monitors planetary standards for barcodes, told The Cube that the archetypal 3 numbers connected a barcode bash not place wherever a merchandise has been produced.

"The prefix of a GS1 barcode fig (its archetypal 3 digits) lone indicates the GS1 Member Organisation that has licensed the fig to a manufacturer", a spokesperson for GS1 told Euronews.

The GS1 website lists the prefixes associated with each subordinate organisation, stipulating that the "729" digits mean a barcode was allocated successful Israel.

Despite this, companies crossed the satellite tin take immoderate of GS1's 120 subordinate organisations they privation to beryllium affiliated with, careless of wherever they are based oregon wherever they manufacture their products.

This means that though galore Israeli companies are apt to usage this code, products are not needfully produced there.

GS1 declined to remark connected the imaginable reasons that a institution could take to registry itself with a subordinate organisation successful a state wherever they bash not nutrient goods.

However, imaginable reasons see a tendency to found themselves successful a section marketplace oregon to people definite online platforms.

Israeli companies are besides escaped to affiliate themselves with different GS1 Member Organisation, which could let them to circumvent boycotts.

What is the BDS movement?

The planetary BDS question was launched successful 2005 by much than 170 Palestinian civilian nine organisations and was "inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement" with the extremity of urging "action to unit Israel to comply with planetary law".

The BDS run has a scope of aims, which see denouncing Israel's concern of Palestinian territories, arsenic good arsenic supporting the close of instrumentality for Palestinian refugees.

The question backs boycotting Israeli-linked corporations and the boycott of Israeli academics and taste institutions.

Critics person branded this strategy arsenic a discriminatory signifier of corporate punishment, which consists of holding each actors and individuals liable for the actions of the Israeli government. Others person qualified it arsenic antisemitic.

Tensions betwixt Israel's authorities and MEPs person antecedently been spurred connected by politicians' boycott calls.

In February, Rima Hassan — a Franco-Palestinian MEP who was calved successful a exile campy and arrived successful France aged 10 years aged — was denied introduction into Israel, with authorities citing her enactment for boycotts against the country.

A arguable figure, Hassan has been questioned by French authorities pursuing complaints filed by Jewish organisations, who accused her of "glorifying terrorism", successful airy of comments she made astir Hamas.

Hassan has deed backmost against the complaints, accusing "the aforesaid propaganda web of the Israeli regime", which includes the Jewish Observatory of France, of moving against her.

More than 67,000 Palestinians person been killed implicit the people of Israel's warfare with Hamas, arsenic of 6 October, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

Against a backdrop of decades of conflict, Israel's warfare with Hamas was sparked by Hamas's 7 October attack, which took astatine slightest 1,200 lives and saw much than 250 radical taken hostage.

The warfare has fuelled calls for boycotts of Israeli products successful Europe. In June, UK supermarket concatenation Co-op announced it would halt sourcing Israeli products — on with products from 16 different countries — pursuing a sustained BDS campaign.