Jerusalem - The layoffs of hundreds of workers following the closure of Israeli company SodaStream’s West Bank factory has even some Palestinians questioning the wisdom of the anti-Israel boycott movement. The fundamental contradiction: while Palestinians support the international outcry against the occupation of the West Bank, businesses attached to Israel’s far richer economy nonetheless offer much-needed jobs.

The West Bank factory employed some 500 Palestinians, providing a lifeline to the workers in an economy where unemployment is high and wages low. But boycott activists said the factory was a product and symbol of Israel’s nearly 50-year-old occupation, and part of a network of settlement businesses standing in the way of Palestinians building a vibrant economy of their own.

For years, the factory in Mishor Adumim was a prime target of the BDS movement, which calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions in what it says is a nonviolent struggle against Israeli occupation. BDS activists had lobbied stores around the world to remove the company’s fizzy drink makers from their shelves until it shuttered the West Bank factory. In 2014, the company said it would shut the plant and move its operations inside Israel.

Palestinians require permits to work inside Israel, and most of the factory workers, unable to get them, were let go last year. The 100 or so permits SodaStream managed to secure expired Monday and weren’t renewed, sending the remaining Palestinian workers packing.... Read More: VIN