Japan store bars wine from Golan Heights after protests

A major Japanese department store has quietly removed a vendor specialising in wine from Israel's occupied Golan Heights after protests from citizens' groups boycotting products from the region amid escalating violence there.

Daimaru store said it withdrew its offer for Naturael, a Tokyo-based importer specialising in wine from the Golan - highly valued among connoisseurs - to participate in a fair in May.

Naturael said the wine is produced and imported legally and that Daimaru's decision could lead to anti-Israel sentiment.

Daimaru said the decision did not reflect any political stance and was only for the May 9-15 "Mediterranean gourmet and wine fair" at its Tokyo store.

It said wine from elsewhere in Israel was sold at the fair and that Daimaru has no policy against Israeli products in general.

But a spokesman acknowledged that Daimaru took into consideration activists' concerns about the wine's origin.

"Today we cannot ignore geopolitical issues," said Satoshi Nishio, a spokesman for Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores Co. "We have to start paying more attention to where products are coming from."