[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

The Islam Online correspondent is a bit weak on Old Testament references:
"Bat Sheva - the Hebrew name of the town of Beersheba"]

Israeli Dates Flood Morocco in Ramadan
By Ahmad Hamouch, IOL (Islam Online) Correspondent
Sat. Sep. 22, 2007
www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1189959338362&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout

RABAT - Branded with Israeli trademark "Bat Sheva", Israeli dates are
flooding Moroccan markets during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

"I found dates carrying Israeli trademark in the markets," Abdel-Jalil, a
teacher, told IslamOnline.net Saturday, September 22.

Trademarked "Bat Sheva" - the Hebrew name of the town of Beersheba - the
Israeli dates can been seen in abundance on the shelves in eastern and
central Morocco.

The "Made in Israel" label is obviously seen on the packages.

"We used to buy dates from Arab countries such as Tunisia," said hajj
Mohamed, a dates vendor.

"I myself would not buy dates produced by our enemy," he said.

The Israeli-Arab conflict dates back to the 1948 when well-armed Israeli
militants bombarded Palestine and forced its natives into a panicky flight
to establish the state of Israel.

The ties turned more sour after the 1967 Middle East War, when Israel
occupied Palestinian Al-Quds (Arab East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip, the
Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.

The results of the war affect the geopolitics of the region to this day.

Greed

Mohamed said some merchants are greedy and uncaring.

"They disrespect the sensibilities of Moroccans and are only after money,"
he said.

He said some retailers are baffling merchants like him and mix Israeli dates
with Arab ones.

"The other day, I was shocked to know that some of the dates were made in
Israel," he said.

Abdel-Jalil, the teacher, says merchants tend to remove the Israeli label
and sell the dates as if they were made in Arab countries like Egypt.

"This is provocative," said Khaled Al-Sufiany, coordinator of the national
group for the support of Iraq and Palestine.

"The pro-Israel camp is exploiting Ramadan and slam dunk a trade
normalization on the laypeople," he added.

The advocates "are funding the Zionist regime to continue its daily crimes
against the Palestinians," he said.

Morocco repeatedly denies any trade relations with Israel.

The North African kingdom closed its trade office in Tel Aviv and the
Israeli trade office in Rabat following the outbreak of the 2000 Al-Aqsa
intifada.

But non-government groups say that the two countries are having booming
ties, especially in the agricultural field.

A recent report by Israel Export Institute said that Israeli exports to
Morocco mushroomed by 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2006.