Asia 2014 is not the imperial 1914 Europe: China

The Brics Post, February 2, 2014

Fu Ying (C), Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China’s National
 People’s Congress, attends a meeting session of the Munich Security Conference
 in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 1, 2014 [Xinhua]

China has dismissed recent suggestions that the Asian region in 2014 is beset with the same kind of conflicts that characterized Europe in 1914.

Addressing the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Fu Ying, Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China’s National People’s Congress, said that the situation in Asia now was different from that of Europe in 1914, when countries were fighting for expansion in “the year of imperialism”.

The rise of China and India is peaceful and their expansion is “not for power or for war”, Ying said.

She was referring to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s claims at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week that the current tensions between Beijing and Tokyo resembles that of the rivalry between Germany and Britain before the First World War.

“While some people trying to compare the situation of Asia 2014 to Europe 1914”, China does not agree with it, she said.

Abe’s comments were preceded by a recent Brookings Institution essay by historian Margaret MacMillan that warns against the growing clout of China, also quoting a Wall Street Journal report that “has published authoritative reports that the Pentagon is preparing war plans against China”.

“We are witnessing, as much as the world of 1914, shifts in the international power structure, with emerging powers challenging the established ones. Just as national rivalries led to mutual suspicions between Britain and the newly ascendant Germany before 1914, the same is happening between the U.S. and China now, and also between China and Japan,” she writes.

The Chinese Foreign Affairs official said in Munich on Saturday that globalization provided opportunities for a peaceful development of emerging economies including China.

Although in the process of globalization, finance, technology, resources were transferring from traditional center of industrialized countries to developing countries including China and India.

“Now is the era of peace and development,” she said, adding that the economic development of developing countries would not have the same drive for the expansion for power, or for war.

China, she asserted, has built confidence with its neighbors and initiated lots of economic and financial cooperation programs aimed at this.

The Chinese official told delegates at Munich that Asia today is “an attractive place with prosperity and lasting stability”.

On the recent strain in ties between China and Japan, Fu Ying said, “Until the Japanese leaders can face honestly what happened during the war, until they can make genuine reconciliation with the people of their neighbors, until they can take off the burden of history, it’s very hard for them to become a constructive member of Asian partnership.”

China and South Korea have condemned Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for visiting Tokyo’s Yasukuni shrine in December that honours war dead including convicted war criminals.

“Japanese leader’s recent performance, including visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine where 14 Class-A war criminals of WWII were honored, showed that there was a failure of history education in Japan. People born after the war had so little knowledge, so cold feeling for the victims of the war,” she added.

TBP and Agencies

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  8 - The End of War

The last one is the best. For thousands of years on this planet, Human Beings have warred with each other. If you take a look at the reasons they warred with each other, you will quickly see there aren't any good ones - land, resources, greed. Those are not reasons. That is a description of old energy. Those are not reasons. Reasons would be perhaps defense against an aggressor. But what if there is no longer the consciousness of the aggressor?

When I appeared in my partner's life more than 20 years ago, I said to him privately that the first messages we're going to give will be unbelievable. There would be laughter. We told him that Human nature and consciousness itself would change, and that the seeds of peace would be planted and there would come a time where there is no more war. Indeed, the laughter was great because humans look at history and they see patterns based on an absolute energy called Human Nature. "Impossible! There always has to be war. There always has been. Therefore, there always will be." This is you, in a box, in a black and white potential, where you can only see the black and white of what is and the black and white of what has been. You have no idea the shades of color that are there in your consciousness and the beauty of the love of God.

North Korea is on the edge of change, as we told you it might be. What did this require? The death of the old energy, and I want you to watch this take place. The advisors of the young leader are going to do their best to pull him back into an old energy. This free choice of his will be far different than his father, for he sees some color. Watch for these things. They'll take longer than you want, but it is the beginning of the beginning.

You'll see a fresh unification of South America sooner than not, for what is going to take place potentially this year in Venezuela. You'll see Iran changing. We have no clock. These are the potentials. These can change with free choice. These are not prophecies. This is a reality shift, dear ones, so number eight becomes the propensity not to war again. This is what Humans are going to want. This is what governments are going to want. There is a wisdom factor that will begin to happen on the planet that is grander than what you think is possible. For when you look at government, what do you think about? You see dysfunction, and there is an axiom that says the more people that try to do something together, the worse it gets. It all settles to the lowest common denominator. I'm telling you even those things are going to become old energy concepts. Instead, you're going to watch wisdom become the top potential.

I have no clock. I cannot tell you when. I can just tell you it is in the works, and there will be the seeds of it for you to observe soon - right now, in every single of the eight categories I showed you.

There are those who will say, "Well, Kryon, you're doing a lot more predictions than you used to." I want to tell you what's going on, dear one. I am not predicting anything. I am just telling you what's already there in the potential soup of your reality. That's what Humans are doing on this planet, and for those who believe this communication, you should breathe a sigh of relief and say, "It's about time." ….”

Janet Yellen sworn in as US Federal Reserve chair

BBC News, 3 February 2014

Janet Yellen faces the challenge of winding down the Fed's
economic stimulus measures

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Janet Yellen has been sworn in as chair of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, replacing Ben Bernanke in the role.

She is the first woman to hold the post at the Washington-based bank.

A respected economist, her main task will be managing the winding down of the bank's bond-buying stimulus programme without damaging her country's recovering economy.

Ms Yellen, 67, had been Mr Bernanke's deputy for three years.

She swore the oath to Governor Daniel K Tarullo in the Fed's Board Room earlier, beginning a four-year term as chair of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System.

The new governor takes control of the world's most influential central bank.

Its phased reduction, or tapering, of its $85bn-a-month Quantitative Easing (QE) programme has already sparked unrest in emerging financial markets.

QE helped keep US interest rates low and has resulted in a large outflow of cash from the US into other currencies, as investors looked for better returns abroad.

The tapering has reversed this trend, with a number of foreign currencies falling in value as a consequence.

Ms Yellen is professor emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley, where she has been a faculty member since 1980, specialising in business and economics.

President Obama announced his intention to nominate her for the role of Fed chair on 9 October 2013, then the Senate confirmed her in the position on 6 January.

Her predecessor Mr Bernanke is returning to academia after eight years as Fed chairman, and is joining the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, as a resident fellow.

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US President Barack Obama announces his nomination of economist Janet Yellen (L)

 as Federal Reserve chairman as current chairman Ben Bernanke listens in the State

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Jewel Samad)

Eyeing sanctions thaw, Western delegates race to Iran

Google – AFP, Siavosh Ghazi (AFP), 2 February 2014

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) greets Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino

during their meeting in Tehran on December 22, 2013 (AFP/File, Behrouz Mehri)

Tehran — Six months after the inauguration of Iran's moderate President Hassan Rouhani, Western diplomats and businessmen are racing to Tehran hoping that a diplomatic thaw will reopen lucrative markets.

A landmark agreement reached with world powers on Iran's controversial nuclear programme in November has raised hopes that Western sanctions could be lifted on the oil-rich country with a population of 76 million.

A delegation of 110 members of MEDEF-- France's largest employers' union-- is due in Tehran on Monday to resume talks after an absence of several years.

No contracts will be signed due to the strict international sanctions still in place, but the visit is seen as a key step towards regaining a foothold in the country.

Iran's auto market was once dominated by French giants including Peugeot, which halted operations in 2012, and Renault, which sharply scaled back its presence due to US sanctions on spare parts deliveries in June 2013.

The French firms hope to regain their share against Asian rivals, particularly Chinese firms, which are not bound by the Western sanctions.

The number of cars produced in Iran was more than halved between 2011 and 2013, from 1.7 million to just 500,000.

Iran clinched the interim deal in November with the P5+1 group -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany -- under which it agreed to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

The six-month agreement, which took effect January 20, is aimed at buying time for a comprehensive agreement.

Western nations have long accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons capability alongside its civilian programme, charges denied by Tehran.

The breakthrough in the talks has been largely attributed to the election last year of Rouhani, a reputed moderate who had vowed to pursue a diplomatic solution to the nuclear impasse.

"Among the regional countries and compared to Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Libya, Iran is paradoxically known to enjoy a remarkable stability," an Iranian analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

Western diplomats return

Iran has also seen recent high-profile political visits, including by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who led a delegation last week aimed at boosting economic ties between the two countries, which back opposite sides in Syria's civil war.

Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino visited Tehran in December.

And Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt is due to arrive in Tehran on Monday, while his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski is expected in late February.

Former British foreign secretary Jack Straw (L) shakes hands with Iranian MP, 

Abbasali Mansouri (R), leading Iranian members of the British-Iran Friendship

Group of the Parliament, in Tehran, on January, 7 2014 (AFP/File, Behrouz Mehri)

The recent visits of former British foreign minister Jack Straw and ex-UN chief Kofi Annan could be also added to the list.

Iran's diplomatic ties with Western countries were severely strained under Rouhani's predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, known for his hard line on the nuclear programme and incendiary rhetoric towards Israel.

"These visits are a sign that the taboo of sanctions has been shattered," Amir Mohebian, a political analyst, told AFP.

"This is already a major success for the diplomacy of President Rouhani."

There is no sign of any diplomats from the United States -- still dubbed the "Great Satan" by Iran's hardliners -- making their way to Tehran.

But US Secretary of State John Kerry has met repeatedly with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, and on Sunday the two met on the sidelines of a Munich security conference to discuss the next round of nuclear talks.

Iran is set to resume negotiations with the P5+1 in Vienna on February 18.

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New asset declaration rules linked to China's anti-graft efforts

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-02-02

Zhang Shuguang, China's former Ministry of Railways deputy chief engineer,
during a corruption trial, Sept. 10, 2013. (Photo/CNS)

China's new rules requiring nationals to declare their foreign assets and debt, which came into effect Jan. 1, are being seen as the country's latest efforts aimed at tackling corruption, the Time Weekly newspaper reported.

Under the State Administration of Foreign Exchange's (SAFE's) new rules regarding international receipts and payments, Chinese citizens and organizations, as well as foreign individuals and organizations that conduct businesses in China, need to file reports on overseas financial assets and liabilities.

The overseas assets also include investments made for immigration purposes, as well as those made to acquire residency in Hong Kong, the newspaper noted.

Zhang Bin, an official with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stated that the new rules are part of global efforts to improve management of international receipts and payments, led by the International Monetary Fund.

The new rules are introduced as China records growing international trade and transactions and becomes more connected to the global economy, making it crucial for the country to keep a close eye on cross-border activities, said Nankai University professor Ge Shuqi.

There is also a view among industry insiders and foreign media that the rules are part of the Chinese government's efforts to crack down on tax evasion and graft, the newspaper said.

In a report published by the People's Bank of China in 2008, the Chinese central bank listed several ways corrupt officials used to move their assets abroad, and the newspaper said transferring assets through relatives living overseas has become the latest approach.

The Communist Party of China sent out a notice on Dec. 29, requiring officials across the country to declare information regarding their overseas investments and their children travelling or working abroad, the newspaper revealed.

The South China Morning Post speculated that the rules are aimed at preventing officials from moving their assets abroad.

Yet, SAFE said it would not offer the financial information to anti-graft or taxation agencies, unless laws required it to do so and that this information will not be used as evidence in crime-fighting efforts.

In addition, Ren Jianming, a researcher at China's Tsinghua University, said the SAFE rules alone are not enough to tackle graft, and laws requiring officials to declare their and their family members' overseas activities are needed for that purpose.

Meanwhile, the Time Weekly pointed out that financial institutions and professionals handling overseas transactions have the obligation to file information regarding these business activities with SAFE, but several banks said they have not established internal rules, since the regulators have not announced regulations about the filing process.

Offshore Secrets

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

China Offshore Secrets

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Iran Gets First Installment of Frozen Assets

Jakarta Globe – AFP, February 2, 2014

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks in Tehran, on Oct. 22,
2013. (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)

Tehran. Iran has received the first instalment of $4.2 billion in frozen assets as part of a nuclear deal with world powers, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told ISNA news agency on Saturday.

Unblocking the funds under the landmark deal in which Iran agreed to roll back parts of its nuclear program and halt further advances is expected to breathe new life into its crippled economy.

“The first tranche of $500 million was deposited in a Swiss bank account, and everything was done in accordance with the agreement,” Araqchi said.

Iran clinched the interim deal in November with the P5+1 group — Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany — and began implementing the agreement on Jan. 20.

Under the agreement, which is to last six months, Iran is committed to limiting its uranium enrichment to five percent, halting production of 20 percent-enriched uranium.

In return, the European Union and the United States have eased crippling economic sanctions on Iran.

A senior US administration official told AFP last month that the first $550-million installment of $4.2 billion in frozen assets would be released from February.

“The installment schedule starts on February 1 and the payments are evenly distributed” across 180 days, the US official said.

Iran and the P5+1 will also hold a new round of talks in Vienna on Feb. 18 in a bid to discuss a comprehensive solution to Tehran’s contested nuclear program.

Major world powers and Israel fear that Iran is trying to develop an atomic bomb, but Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.

Also on Saturday, the official IRNA news agency quoted the head of the civil aviation authority, Alireza Jahanguirian, as saying that Iran will soon receive spare parts for its ailing civilian fleet.

Jahanguirian said the parts would arrive within two weeks as part of the sanctions relief agreed in Geneva in November.

But the November deal foresees an easing on sanctions imposed on several sectors, including Iran’s car industry and petrochemical exports, as well as allowing civil aviation access to long-denied spares.

Agence France-Presse

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Censored: Japan radio host quits after nuclear issues banned

RussiaToday, January 31, 2014

NHK Broadcasting Center Shibuya, Tokyo (Image from wikipedia.org)

A veteran radio show host has quit his job at Japan Broadcasting Corp. after the program director told him not to discuss nuclear power for fear his comments “would affect voting behavior” in the upcoming Tokyo gubernatorial election.

Toru Nakakita, a professor of economics at Tokyo University, was the host of the Business Outlook segment on the Radio Asa Ichiban for the past two decades. On Wednesday, the director of the morning news program, told him to change the subject of his commentary after seeing an outline for the program to air the following day, The Japan Times reported.

For the Thursday morning edition, the Nakakita planned to talk about the rising operating costs of nuclear power worldwide, as well as in Japan where the cost of decommissioning nuclear plants is not clearly reflected on utilities’ balance sheets. According to The Asahi Shimbun daily, Nakakita planned to say in his original script that “damages to be paid in the wake of a nuclear plant accident are extraordinarily high.”

However, after looking at the draft of the discussion, the director of the news program allegedly told Nakakita to wait until the gubernatorial election was over, on the grounds his comments “would affect the voting behavior” of listeners, the radio host quoted the NHK director as saying. The election is Feb. 9.

While Nakakita insisted that the nuclear debate was timely “precisely because it is the campaign period,” Japan's Broadcasting Corporation claimed it wasn’t censoring the debate, but simply wanted the discussion to be balanced.

An NHK official said that since nuclear power is one of the major issues in the gubernatorial election, "we need to be especially careful about ensuring fairness," and presenting opinions from both sides is "needed to secure impartiality."

"It could have been possible to feature another expert with a different viewpoint soon before or after [Nakakita’s] appearance, but because we received his draft the day before the scheduled broadcast, and because we have limited editions of the program during the campaign period, we decided it would be difficult to air a contrasting view,” the official said.

Nakakita, who previously served as the deputy chairman of the Council for the Asian Gateway Initiative in the first Shinzo Abe cabinet, said he wasn't satisfied with the broadcaster's official explanation.

“I wonder if it’s OK to say we can talk about [contentious issues] at length only after the election," Nakakita told The Japan Times. “What if I had talked about welfare? Wouldn’t that have affected the voting behavior?"

“The media should choose various issues especially during the campaign,” he said. “If they don’t, voters will go to the polls with no information to base their judgments on. Isn’t it the mission of the news organizations to have the guts to give more information to the public?”

In December, Japan enacted a new law to increase legal penalties for leaks, despite public concerns that the state secrets law could damage press freedoms. According to conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the measure is necessary to combat the leaking of state secrets. The new law enacts stricter sentences for public servants and others with access to sensitive national information, and could lead to jail terms of up to 10 years. Journalists in Japan could face up to five years’ imprisonment if they are adjudged to have used “grossly inappropriate” methods to acquire state secrets.

Nuclear power is often a controversial topic in the Japanese media. Last week, a freelance commentator who hosts several news and music shows on radio and TV, including for NHK, revealed in his morning program on InterFM that he had been allegedly pressured by “two broadcasting stations” not to touch nuclear power issues. “I have been told by two stations (other than InterFM) not to touch on the nuclear issue until the gubernatorial election is over, even though the campaign has not officially kicked off,” Peter Barakan said during the show, without identifying the stations.

Tensions grew earlier this month when a staunch opponent of nuclear power, former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, joined the Tokyo governor’s race. The 76-year-old politician has the support of another harsh critic of nuclear power, ex-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, one of Japan's most popular leaders during his 2001-06 term. The pair are in opposition to the former health minister Yoichi Masuzoe, the candidate backed by the party of the current prime minister, who supports the restarting of Japan's many nuclear plants, which were shut down after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Some of those are currently undergoing mandatory safety checks.

"I foolishly once believed the myth that nuclear energy is clean and safe," Hosokawa told a news conference Jan. 22. "That myth has completely broken down."

"We need to turn around by 180 degrees the current energy-guzzling society dependent on nuclear power," he added, unveiling his platform.

On Jan. 14, Japan's Trade Ministry approved a revival plan for the utility operating the Fukushima nuclear plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco). The plan revolves around Tepco restarting its currently shuttered seven-reactor Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear complex, the world’s largest, to cut fossil fuel costs.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“…  Government

Let us speak of government. We're not speaking of your government, but of any government - the way it works, how it survives, how it has survived, the way it campaigns, and how it elects leaders. It's going to change.

Years ago, I told you, "When everybody can talk to everybody, there can be no secrets." Up to this point on this planet, government has counted on one thing - that the people can't easily talk to each other on a global scale. They have to get their information through government or official channels. Even mass media isn't always free enough, for it reports that which the government reports. Even a free society tends to bias itself according to the bias of the times. However, when you can have Human Beings talking to each other all at once, all over the planet without government control, it all changes, for there is open revelation of truth.. 

Obama 'really impressed' with Pope's message of equality

Google – AFP, 31 January 2014

Pope Francis greets the crowd during a general audience at St Peter's

square on January 29, 2014 at the Vatican (AFP/File, Alberto Pizzoli)

Washington — US President Barack Obama expressed strong admiration of Pope Francis for promoting "a true sense of brotherhood and sisterhood and regard for those who are less fortunate," in an interview aired Friday.

"I have been really impressed so far with the way he's communicated what I think is the essence of the Christian faith," Obama told CNN of the pontiff who has refashioned the image of the Roman Catholic Church since his installation last year.

The US president, who will visit the Vatican in March, said he didn't believe Francis was acting out of a desire to gain widespread approval.

Rather, "I think he is very much reflecting on his faith and what he needs to do to make sure that folks -- not just of the Catholic faith but people all around the world -- are living out a message that he thinks is consistent with the lessons of Jesus Christ," Obama said.

"That's a meeting I'm looking forward to," he added of the planned March 27 sit-down.

Obama has made rising inequality and the struggles of America's middle classes the signature domestic issue of his second term.

In a speech in December, Obama praised an argument advanced by Pope Francis, the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years, on rising inequality in societies split between the very poor and the super rich.

"How could it be, he wrote, that it's not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?"

Pope Francis argued in the exhortation, that such conflicted values marked a "case of exclusion" in an unequal society.

And in October, the president told CNBC that he was "hugely impressed" with the pope's humility and empathy to the poor.

Obama was last in Vatican City in 2009, when he met Pope Benedict.

Israel concerned at growing boycott threat

Google – AFP, Steve Weizman (AFP), 31 January 2014

Entrance of the Israeli SodaStream factory in the Mishor Adumim industrial

 park, next to the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim on January 30,

2014 (AFP, Manahem Kahana)

Jerusalem — Israeli government and business leaders are alarmed by a growing international boycott movement and the likely effect of EU measures against exports from Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Cabinet ministers are to meet next week to hammer out a strategy against a growing international campaign to boycott trade linked to settlements, Haaretz newspaper reported Friday.

And a group of top Israeli businesspeople has launched a publicity campaign urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make peace with the Palestinians for the sake of the economy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

 at the 7th Annual International Conference

 in Tel Aviv on January 28, 2014 (AFP/File,

Jack Guez)

In the latest developments, Norway's sovereign wealth fund blacklisted Thursday two Israeli companies involved in building settlements in Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem and US actress Scarlett Johansson stepped down as Oxfam ambassador amid a storm over her ad campaign for a firm operating in a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

These incidents highlight the creeping success of a campaign to boycott trade linked to settlements built on Palestinian land seized during the Six Day War of 1967, and viewed by the international community as illegal.

Meanwhile, the European Union recently moved to block all grants and funding to any Israeli entity operating beyond the 1967 lines, sparking growing alarm in Israel.

Lars Faaborg-Andersen, the EU's ambassador to Israel, told AFP last week that, in addition to coordinated action by the body, Israel's constant settlement construction was fuelling private moves to boycott products and services linked to the settlements.

He said initiatives in Europe to require separate labelling for goods manufactured in the settlements were gathering pace every time Israel announced a new round of construction.

Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid warned Wednesday that the breakdown of current peace talks with the Palestinians could strengthen the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement and deal a body blow to the economy.

Israel is a country dependent on exports, with 33 percent of its foreign trade conducted with the European Union, he told a security conference.

"Europe is our primary market," he said. "Even a 20 percent fall in our trade with Europe would mean 9,800 workers being fired immediately," he said.

"Even a partial European boycott would be felt by every Israeli, and the cost of living would go up," he added.

"Exports will drop by some 20 billion shekels ($5.7 billion/ 4.2 billion euros) annually; GDP will drop some 11 billion shekels," he said.

Last May, the Palestine Liberation Organisation published an estimate of EU imports of goods produced on settlements, which it put at 229 million euros a year.

'Pain in the ass': SodaStream CEO

While some Israeli companies set up in occupied territory to take advance of tax breaks, low rents and soft loans, others do so for ideological reasons, believing in the Jewish religious imperative to settle the biblical land.

SodaStream, the home soft-drink machine maker that hired Johansson this month, says it hadn't chosen to set up in Maale Adumim settlement, east of Jerusalem, but simply inherited the facility when it acquired the business in 2007.

Israeli SodaStream factory on January 30, 2014 (AFP, Menahem Kahana)

In fact, CEO Daniel Birnbaum told New York Jewish weekly The Forward the plant's location was "a pain in the ass."

But he added: "We will not throw our employees under the bus to promote anyone?s political agenda," saying he "just can?t see how it would help the cause of the Palestinians if we fired them."

Senior executive Yonah Lloyd told the Jerusalem Post that would mean making 800 Palestinians and 500 Israelis jobless.

Commenting in Haaretz, Egyptian-Belgian journalist Khaled Diab said that while boycotts could change the behaviour of commercial enterprises they were unlikely to change state policy.

The film "'Lost in Translation' brought Scarlett Johansson global fame. Will the actress's latest role -- lost in the occupation -- earn her widespread infamy," he asked.

"Even at the height of anti-apartheid sanctions, South Africa managed to find 'sanctions-busting' alternatives, and began a process of recalibrating its economy and finding alternative trading partners."

"In addition, sanctions had some unintended consequences," he added. "For instance, it forced the country to innovate more, such as developing alternative energy technologies."

"Like with South Africa, the United States should end its military aid to Israel until it ends the occupation, which might possibly be the single most effective economic action any party can take to end the occupation."

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EU takes tougher stance on Israeli settlements

Israel condemns EU exclusion rules over settlements


Latin America, Caribbean proclaim 'zone of peace' - New

A continent transformed: the African Union's 50-year dream - New