Time to boycott Israel
by Neve Gordon
Friday 21 August
For the sake of our children, I am convinced that an international boycott is the only way to save Israel from itself
Israeli newspapers this summer are filled with angry articles about the push for an international boycott of Israel. Films have been withdrawn from Israeli film festivals, Leonard Cohen is under fire around the world for his decision to perform in Tel Aviv and Oxfam has severed ties with a celebrity spokeswoman, an actress who also endorses cosmetics produced in the occupied territories. Clearly, the campaign to use the kind of tactics that helped put an end to the practice of apartheid in South Africa is gaining many followers around the world.
- The most accurate way to describe Israel today is as an apartheid state.
- Palestinians and Jews in the areas Israel occupied in 1967 are subjected to totally different legal systems.
- The Palestinians are stateless and lack many of the most basic human rights. All Jews – whether they live in the occupied territories or in Israel – are citizens of the state of Israel.
- …the one-state solution (in an apartheid manifestation) is a reality.
I am convinced that outside pressure is the only answer.
- Over the last three decades, Jewish settlers in the occupied territories have dramatically increased their numbers.
- The myth of the united Jerusalem has led to the creation of an apartheid city where Palestinians aren’t citizens and lack basic services.
- The Israeli peace camp has gradually dwindled so that today it is almost nonexistent, and Israeli politics is moving more and more to the extreme right.
- The words and condemnations from the Obama administration and the European Union have yielded no results, not even a settlement freeze, let alone a decision to withdraw from the occupied territories.
I consequently have decided to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that was launched by Palestinian activists in July 2005 and has since garnered widespread support around the globe. The objective is to ensure that Israel respects its obligations under international law and that Palestinians are granted the right to self-determination.
…artists who come to Israel to draw attention to the occupation are welcome, while those who just want to perform are not.
Nothing else has worked. Putting massive international pressure on Israel is the only way to guarantee that the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians – my two boys included – does not grow up in an apartheid regime.
Thes are only extracts. Read the full article at Guardian Comment is Free
