RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – President Mahmoud  Abbas yesterday swung behind a campaign to stop Palestinians  buying goods produced by Israeli settlements in the West Bank,  urging all Palestinians to shun the products.

Abbas dismissed Israeli accusations that the campaign  amounted to incitement of hatred against the Jewish state —  something the United States has urged him to prevent as it  mediates indirect peace talks between the sides.

The 75-year old Palestinian leader opened his door to  volunteers distributing leaflets detailing products from  furniture to wine and soft drinks which the Ramallah-based  Palestinian Authority has banned from Palestinian markets.

“I call on all Palestinian citizens to do the same and to  boycott these goods,” said Abbas, speaking in public for the  first time about a campaign spearheaded by his prime minister,  Salam Fayyad.

He put a sticker on his door declaring his house “free of  settlement goods”.

“We are not inciting against Israel. We do not want to  boycott goods coming from Israel,” he said, distinguishing  between products produced by Israel and those made in  settlements built on occupied land.

Palestinian consumers, their economy tied to Israel’s,  depend on goods from Israel.

Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Friday the  boycott was undermining the latest US effort to advance the  peace process.

“It’s not the right way to approach negotiations,” he told  Israel’s Channel 1 TV channel, adding that settlement goods were  often produced together with factories in Israel.