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The movement to call Israel to account for its crimes against the Palestinian people is growing, it is "invading the mainstream discourse, becoming part of the constant and unrelenting drumbeat against Israel." It could eventually threaten the existence of the Jewish state by undermining the support it receives from its strongest backer, the U. S. government.
That was the message of alarm delivered by the Executive
Director of the American Israel American
Israel Public Affairs Committee, Howard Kohr, to the AIPAC Policy Conference on
May 3.[i]
AIPAC is one of the principal organizations that lobby
publicly on behalf of Israel in the United States, where it is an important
influence on foreign policy. Among the 6,000 dignitaries who attended its policy
conference were more than half of the members of the Senate and a third of the
members of the House of Representatives. Featured speakers included Vice
President Joe Biden, Senator John Kerry, former Speaker of the House Newt
Gingrich, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israeli President
Shimon Peres.
AIPAC and its allies are often alleged to act as a kind
of shadow government in Washington, distorting policy in Israel's interest
rather than that of the U.S. This stands reality on its head. The pro-Israel
lobby carries real weight in the halls of power, but only because the U.S. and
Israel share the same fundamental interests. The U.S. relies on Israel to keep
the Arab states of the Middle East divided, weak, and under constant threat of
attack, thus ensuring that they remain subservient to Washington. For its part,
Israel could not continue to exist in its present form without the strong
political and material support it receives from the U.S. It received more than
$2.5 billion in military aid from the U.S. in 2009.[ii] Israel
and the United States may be partners with shared objectives, but the
relationship is a highly unequal one.
Kohr's address focused on the growing power of the
international movement against Israel's criminal behavior, identifying support
for boycott, divestment and sanctions as a particularly worrisome development.
Kohr pointed to a variety of statements and actions
against Israel's onslaught on Palestinians in Gaza, including demonstrations in
Spain and Germany. He noted that 400 British academics had demanded that
Britain's Science Museum cancel an event highlighting the work of Israeli
scientists and that an Italian trade union calls for a boycott of Israeli
products.
"Incredibly, there now is even an Israel Apartheid Week
conducted in cities across the globe," he added.
Kohr noted the strength of opposition to Israel in the
Middle East, Europe, and in international forums. But he voiced particular
concern over the movement's progress in the United States "where Israel stands
accused of apartheid and genocide, where Zionism equals racism, where a former
president of the United States can publicly accuse Israel of
apartheid."
Significantly, the AIPAC leader also insisted on the
profound nature of the issues that divide supporters and critics of Israeli
policy.
What we are witnessing is the attempted delegitimization
of Israel; the systematic sowing of doubt that Israel is a nation that has
forfeited the world's concern; a nation whose actions are, in the strict meaning
of the term, indefensible. This is more than the simple spewing of hatred. This
is a conscious campaign to shift policy, to transform the way Israel is treated
by its friends to a state that deserves not our support, but our contempt; not
our protection, but pressured to change its essential
nature....
I'm not saying that these allegations have become
accepted. But they have become acceptable. More and more they are invading the
mainstream discourse, becoming part of the constant and unrelenting drumbeat
against Israel. These voices are laying the predicate for an abandonment.
They're making the case for Israel's unworthiness to be allowed what is for any
nation the first and most fundamental of rights: the right to self-defense. ....
They are preparing us for a world in which Israel stands alone, isolated, and at
risk....
Now, there's little we can do to stop the boycotts of
Israeli goods launched in London or Lisbon or Rome. There's little we can do to
stop Israel Apartheid Week. But there is much we can do to stop this campaign
from taking hold here. Here where it matters the most, in Washington, where
United States policy is forged, we must stop the delegitimization of Israel. We
must not let it penetrate the halls of Congress and the counsels of our
president.
To win support for Israel from the U.S. ruling class,
Kohr argued, friends of Israel must address "the absolute foundation, the base
on which all else rests," that is, the fact that Israel is
"a Western outpost in the Middle East. To those who make
that accusation, I say you are right. Israel is the only democratic country in
the region that looks West, that looks to the values and the vision we share of
what our society, our country should aim at and aspire to. If that foundation of
shared values is shaken, the rationale for the policies we pursue today will be
stripped away. The reasons the United States would continue to invest nearly $3
billion in Israel's security; the willingness to stand with Israel, even alone
if need be; the readiness to defend Israel's very existence, all are undermined
and undone if Israel is seen to be unjust and unworthy."
Kohr's argument that Israel is a garrison state, "a
Western outpost in the Middle East," the front line of the defense of
imperialist interests in the region, is not often stated in such forthright
terms. But it is quite accurate, and speaks to the source of the conflict in the
region.
Palestine
appeals for solidarity
In his speech, Kohr voiced great alarm at the growth in
solidarity with the Palestinian people in recent months. The unprecedented
growth of the international solidarity movement is a grass-roots response to the
crimes committed by Israel during its murderous 22-day assault on Gaza, and the
tight siege of the territory that it maintains to this day.
Solidarity with Palestine is being expressed in many
different ways. One of these is the international campaign for boycott,
divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. Support for BDS has grown
considerably in recent months, which is why the AIPAC leader highlighted it as a
cause for particular concern.
The BDS movement responds to an appeal for solidarity
that was issued by Palestinian civil society in July 2005. More than 170
organizations, including trade unions, political and social organizations, and
women's and youth groups, issued the appeal. The signatories represent all three
components of the divided Palestinian nation, namely, refugees, Palestinians
living under Israeli occupation, and Palestinian citizens of
Israel.
The appeal from Palestine said, in
part,
We, representatives of Palestinian civil society, call
upon international civil society organizations and people of conscience all over
the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against
Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era. We appeal
to you to pressure your respective states to impose embargoes and sanctions
against Israel. We also invite conscientious Israelis to support this call, for
the sake of justice and genuine peace.
These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained
until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people's
inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of
international law by:
1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab
lands and dismantling the Wall;
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the
Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of
Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in
U.N. resolution 194.[iii]
Students mobilize for Palestine
Students have been in the forefront of the solidarity
movement with Palestine. The attack on Gaza spurred student solidarity to new
heights.
In what one newspaper described as "the biggest student
revolt for 20 years," students in the U.K. organized occupations at 34
universities. They used the facilities to hold meetings and show films promoting
awareness of the oppression of the Palestinians. Many occupations demanded that
their university provide practical aid to Palestinian universities and students.
Another common theme of the movement was a call to end all ties to arms
manufacturers - the university-military connection being particularly strong in
the U.K. The universities promote research that benefits the merchants of death;
they also invest in those companies.
The student movement achieved some notable gains.
Glasgow Strathclyde University agreed to end its purchases from Eden Springs, an
Israeli company that produces bottled water from land in the Golan Heights that
Israel refuses to return to Syria. Several universities agreed to provide
scholarships to Palestinian students. Others organized fundraising for
Palestine; many of these efforts are ongoing. The Oxford and Manchester
universities agreed to donate surplus books, journals and other educational
material to universities in Palestine.
At the University of Manchester, an emergency meeting of
the student union attended by more than 850 people adopted a motion committing
the union to campaign for BDS.
One of the most important results of the wave of
occupations was to raise consciousness of the Palestine issue among thousands of
students and beyond. It also provided activists with valuable experience in
organizing on this issue and forged links between them. Following on the
occupations, many of the campus Palestine committees have increased their
activity in support of BDS. Efforts are also being made to build a more
sustained student Palestine solidarity movement.[iv]
In early February, new ground was conquered in the U.S.
when Hampshire College agreed to implement a policy of divestment, the first
college or university in the country to do so. Bowing to a two-year campaign by
Students for Justice in Palestine, the Board of Trustees agreed to withdraw its
investments from six companies targeted by SJP because they profit from the
Israeli occupation of Palestine. SPJ noted that "this groundbreaking decision
follows in Hampshire's history of being the first college in the country to
divest from apartheid South Africa 32 years ago, a decision based on similar
human rights concerns."[v]
Archbishop Desmond Tutu hailed the decision: "This is a
monumental and historic step in the struggle for Palestinian equality,
self-determination and peace in the Holy Land by non-violent means. I see what
these students have accomplished as a replica of the support of their college of
our struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Hampshire College's decision to
divest should be a guiding example to all institutions of higher
learning."[vi]
Israeli Apartheid Week
In his speech to the conference, AIPAC leader Hauk twice
referred to Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), an annual series of presentations and
film showings that focus on the Israeli apartheid system and the need for
boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Initiated at the University of
Toronto in 2005, IAW events took place this year on five continents in more than
40 cities and towns, 11 of them in Israeli-occupied Palestine, during the first
week of March.[vii]
Organizers of IAW in Canada, one of the centers of the
movement, had to contend with a sustained barrage of attacks and threats from
Zionist organizations backed up by the federal government. In February Jason
Kenney, Canada's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism,
decried the "anti-Zionist version of anti-Semitism" which maintains that "the
Jews alone have no right to a homeland." A few weeks later Kenny took aim
directly at IAW. Speaking to the House of Commons, he proclaimed that "Israel
Apartheid Week is not about [freedom of opinion] .... We condemn these efforts
to single out and attack the Jewish people and their homeland." He thus
suggested, without the slightest basis in fact, that IAW organizers were
violating Canada's criminal code, which bans "hate propaganda."
University administrators on a number of campuses
followed the government's lead, attempting to disrupt Israeli Apartheid Week.
But IAW organizers were successful in beating back these attacks. The daily
events unfolded as planned, with audiences of up to 500 in Toronto and Ottawa
and 400 in Montreal.[viii]
Boycott Motorola, Caterpillar, Israeli
produce
Campus-based activities in solidarity with Palestine are
one facet of a broader international campaign, which includes targeted boycotts
of companies that profit from Israel's oppression of the Palestinians.
Motorola is one such company. The U.S. Campaign to End
the Israeli Occupation is urging consumers to "Hang Up On Motorola" until it
stops selling communications and surveillance equipment to the Israeli military
and to Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land. The group organized a
protest outside Motorola's annual shareholders meeting in Chicago on May 4.
Inside the meeting, representatives of the Presbyterian, United Methodist and
other churches pressed shareholders to adopt a resolution that would instruct
Motorola to follow corporate standards consistent with international
law.
The pressure on Motorola has already forced it to give
up some ground. After Human Rights Watch announced that its teams had found
shrapnel carrying Motorola serial numbers at some of the civilian sites bombed
by Israel in its recent assault on Gaza, the company sold the department that
makes the fuses for the bombs.[ix]
Caterpillar is another target. Israel makes extensive
use of its bulldozers to demolish Palestinian homes and to build the apartheid
wall. In early February the Church of England announced that it had withdrawn
investments of more than £2.2 million ($3.5 million) from Caterpillar, following
a policy that it adopted in 2005 of not investing in companies that support the
occupation. Other churches and faith-based organizations have joined the
divestment movement against the company.[x]
In Canada, the Committee Against Israeli Apartheid and
other solidarity activists have organized a boycott of Indigo Books and Music.
They demand that the majority shareholders of the bookstore chain, Heather
Reisman and Gerry Schwartz, publicly end their support of Heseg, the Foundation
for Lone Soldiers. Reisman and Schwartz created the foundation in 2005 to reward
"lone soldiers," volunteers who travel to Israel to serve in the Israeli
military. Every year, Heseg grants scholarships to a hundred or more of these
zealots to help them remain in Israel after they complete their military
service.[xi]
For the last two years, solidarity activists have
picketed and distributed leaflets periodically outside some of the company's
main bookstores. They have also spoken out at some of its high-profile
promotional events and at its annual shareholder meetings. The Indigo campaign
has been a useful way to reach out and educate the general public about
Palestine. It has also helped to maintain the visibility of the issue during
periods when the mainstream media chooses to ignore it.
In Europe, consumer boycotts of Israeli products,
particularly agricultural produce, are gaining momentum. The U.K.-based daily
The Guardian reported in its April 3 edition that "Israeli companies are
feeling the impact of boycott moves in Europe ... amid growing concern within
the Israeli business sector over organized campaigns following the recent attack
on Gaza. Last week, the Israel Manufacturers Association reported that 21% of 90
local exporters who were questioned had felt a drop in demand due to boycotts,
mostly from the U.K. and Scandinavian countries. Last month, a report from the
Israel Export Institute reported that 10% of 400 polled exporters received order
cancellation notices this year, because of Israel's assault on Gaza."
The article also cited the Israeli financial daily,
The Marker, which said that "the horrific images on TV and the statements
of politicians in Europe and Turkey are changing the behavior of consumers,
businessmen and potential investors. Many European consumers boycott Israeli
products in practice."[xii]
Veolia: a major victory for the corporate boycott
campaign
European solidarity activists have waged a particularly
effective campaign against the French multinationals Veolia and Alstom. These
companies are part of a consortium that is building a light railway connecting
occupied Jerusalem to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, reinforcing Israel's
hold on Palestinian land.
In the U.K., the Palestine Solidarity Campaign conducted
an active petition campaign against Veolia's attempt to win a 25-year waste
collection and recycling contract worth £1 billion ($1.6 billion) with the
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. On March 16 the council announced that
Veolia had failed to qualify for the shortlist of three companies that would be
invited to bid on the contract.
Also in March, the Swedish national pension fund AP7
announced that it was removing Alstom from its investment portfolio. Activists
in Sweden had organized a public education campaign for divestment. The pension
fund specifically cited the Jerusalem rail project as the reason it had
blacklisted the company.[xiii]
The following month the Urban Community of Bordeaux
cancelled its contract, worth 750 million euros ($1.0 billion), with Veolia.
Although the French municipality cited commercial factors, the cancellation came
in the wake of a major controversy over Veolia's involvement in the Jerusalem
project. The Galway City Council in Ireland and the Stockholm Community Council
in Sweden both recently decided not to renew their contracts with
Veolia.[xiv]
Finally, the pressure became too much for Veolia. On
June 9 the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the company was abandoning
the Jerusalem project. The paper described the company's decision as a "body
blow" to the project, noting that "the French firm had been losing major
projects in Europe because of its involvement in the Jerusalem job. Observers
claim that's the real reason Veolia opted out."[xv]
This marks the first major victory of the corporate
boycott campaign. Veolia was forced to divest from the Jerusalem project as a
result of a targeted and sustained campaign in various countries, coordinated
internationally with the help of the Palestinian BDS National Committee. The
victory demonstrates how such campaigns can produce tangible victories. It is
likely to spur supporters of Palestine to increase their efforts to force
corporations to sever their ties with Israel.
Labor solidarity
Israel's bloody
assault on Gaza earlier this year has also led to new initiatives by organized
labour in solidarity with Palestine.
Not surprisingly, support for Palestine and the boycott
movement is particularly strong in South Africa. Many South Africans see
Israel's oppression of Palestinians through the prism of their own experience
under apartheid.
In early February dock workers in South Africa, members
of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), announced that they
would refuse to offload a ship from Israel that was scheduled to dock in Durban
on February 8. COSATU and the Palestine Solidarity Committee of South Africa
explained the significance of the dock workers' action in this way:
The pledge by the South African Transport and Allied
Workers Union (SATAWU) members in Durban reflects the commitment by South
African workers to refuse to support oppression and exploitation across the
globe.
Last year, Durban dock workers had refused to offload a
shipment of arms that had arrived from China and was destined for Zimbabwe to
prop up the Mugabe regime and to intensify the repression against the Zimbabwean
people. Now, says SATAWU's General Secretary Randall Howard, the union's members
are committing themselves to not handling Israeli goods.
SATAWU's action on Sunday will be part of a proud
history of worker resistance against apartheid. In 1963, just four years after
the Anti-Apartheid Movement was formed, Danish dock workers refused to offload a
ship with South African goods. When the ship docked in Sweden, Swedish workers
followed suit. Dock workers in Liverpool and, later, in the San Francisco Bay
Area also refused to offload South African goods. South Africans, and the South
African working class in particular, will remain forever grateful to those
workers who determinedly opposed apartheid and decided that they would support
the anti-apartheid struggle with their actions.
Last week, Western Australian members of the Maritime
Union of Australia resolved to support the campaign for boycotts, divestment and
sanctions against Israel, and have called for a boycott of all Israeli vessels
and all vessels bearing goods arriving from or going to
Israel.
This is the legacy and the tradition that South African
dock workers have inherited, and it is a legacy they are determined to honor, by
ensuring that South African ports of entry will not be used as transit points
for goods bound for or emanating from certain dictatorial and oppressive states
such as Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Israel.
COSATU and the Palestine Solidarity Committee reaffirmed
their commitment to campaigning for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against
Israel. They called on the South African government to sever diplomatic and
trade relations with Israel and announced a week of activities under the theme:
"Free Palestine! Isolate Apartheid Israel!"[xvi]
COSATU was the first major national labour federation to
call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Several other
national labour federations have followed suit, including those of New Zealand
and Ireland. On April 24 the convention of the Trade Union Congress of Scotland
voted overwhelmingly in favour of BDS after an extensive
debate.[xvii] A few weeks later
the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, which represents more than a third
of the country's work force, urged its government to lead an international
boycott of Israel if it continued to violate Palestinian rights.[xviii]
Individual unions and labour organisations in many
countries have also taken a stand.[xix] In June 2007 the national conference of
UNISON, the largest union of public workers in the U.K., with more than 1.3
million members, called for "concerted and sustained pressure upon Israel
including an economic, cultural, academic and sporting boycott." [xx] More recently, in the wake of the
assault on Gaza, the leadership of the largest teachers' union in France, the
Fédération syndicale unitaire, endorsed the BDS campaign and called on the
European Union to impose sanctions on Israel.[xxi]
On the other side of the Atlantic, in April 2008 the
Canadian Union of Postal Workers became the first country-wide union in North
America to adopt a BDS policy. Denis Lemelin, the national president of CUPW,
has spoken at a number of meetings and demonstrations in defence of Palestinian
rights over the last year. On January 7 he wrote to Prime Minister Stephen
Harper on behalf of the union to ask the Canadian government to apply a policy
of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel to force it to comply with
international law, including the right of Palestinian refugees to return to
their homes.[xxii]
In recent years CUPW has waged a series of battles
against the government's moves to downsize and privatize postal services. The
union also has a history of supporting international freedom struggles. It was
the first union in Canada to call for a boycott of apartheid South Africa. In a
joint statement, several solidarity organizations noted that the union "played a
lead role in labour solidarity with South African workers, engaging in concrete
actions such as the refusal to handle mail from South
Africa."[xxiii]
The Ontario division of the Canadian Union of Public
Employees, which represents more than 220,000 workers in the public sector, has
played a key role in blazing the trail for labour solidarity in Canada. The
decision of CUPE Ontario's May 2006 convention to endorse boycott, divestment
and sanctions sparked massive controversy, thereby drawing international
attention to the Palestinian appeal for BDS. Supporters of Israel in various
quarters including government officials, editorialists, and even leaders of
other unions, directed a torrent of abuse against the union, alleging that the
decision was anti-Semitic, undemocratic, and outside the union's jurisdiction.
Sid Ryan, the president of CUPE Ontario, received numerous death threats; his
family was also threatened. Ryan and the chair of the union's international
solidarity committee were inundated with hostile telephone and email messages.
Ryan and the union have stood firm against the pressure.
Union activists organised an extensive grass-roots education campaign, using an
attractive 16-page pamphlet "Towards peace and justice in the Middle East"
produced by the CUPE Ontario international solidarity committee. Ryan continued
to speak out for Palestine on every possible occasion. As a result, the Zionists
were unable to find a base of support in the union; they chose not to contest
the BDS policy at the 2008 convention. But the public campaign of vilification
of Sid Ryan and CUPE Ontario continues, boosted by a personal attack on Ryan by
the Canadian government.
Quebec teachers, students support
boycott
A year after the CUPE Ontario convention, a major union
in Quebec joined the boycott, divestment, and sanctions
movement.
The Fédération nationale des enseignantes et enseignants
du Québec (National Teachers Federation of Quebec) is the largest union of
teachers in higher education in Quebec. Its 23,500 members work at community
colleges, universities, and private schools. At its May 31 - June 1, 2007
meeting, the federal council of the union reiterated its long-standing
solidarity with the Palestinian people and its right to self-determination. The
council also endorsed the BDS campaign.[xxiv]
In November 2007 the FNEEQ published a special edition
of its magazine, Carnets, with the title, "Do more for Palestine." The
attractive, 32-page magazine contains articles that explain what life is like
under Israeli occupation, Israel's "separation" wall, why Canada is not a friend
of Palestine, and the situation of women under the occupation. Five pages
present the need to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel; the views of two
Israeli citizens who support BDS, Ilan Pappé and Michel Warschawski, are
featured. The lead editorial, written by the president of the FNEEQ, Ronald
Cameron, explains that the union is educating its members so that they will
understand why taking concrete action to support the Palestinian people is an
urgent issue of labor solidarity.[xxv]
Compared to the abuse showered on CUPE Ontario,
criticism of the FNEEQ's decision to join the boycott-Israel movement has been
relatively mild. Quebec is the area of the country where popular sentiment is
most favourable to the Palestinian cause. Various unions in Quebec have been
active on this issue over the years, and the union leadership in higher
education supports the Palestinian cause. (CUPW, discussed earlier, is one of a
small number of major Canada-wide unions that have a sizable membership in
Quebec.)
The FNEEQ's record of support for Palestine is
particularly strong. In October 2004 it sponsored a delegation of 20 Quebec
teachers who attended an international conference on Education, Globalization
and Social Change in Ramallah, Palestine. (Willie Madisha, then president of
COSATU, also participated in the conference.). The FNEEQ has participated in
several other Quebec-based solidarity delegations to Palestine since then. In
late May a 17-person delegation from Quebec that included members of the FNEEQ,
CUPE and the CUPW spent a week investigating the situation in the occupied
Palestinian territories. Israeli authorities turned them back when they
attempted to enter Gaza.
The FNEEQ is also helping to educate students about
Palestine. It organized workshops on the issue on community college and
university campuses across Quebec during the 2007 - 2008 school year, in
collaboration with the Quebec Public Interest Research Group and the Association
pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante. The ASSÉ represents approximately
42,000 Quebec students. In May 2008 it became the first major student union in
Canada to join the international BDS campaign.[xxvi]
The FNEEQ and the ASSÉ joined forces again this May when
they jointly published Israël Ne Peut Pas Rester Impuni !
(Israel Cannot Remain Unpunished!) a 14-page dossier that
explains how Israeli military rule undermines the right to education in
Palestine. Much of the content consists of translations of material produced in
Palestine, notably by the Right to Education Campaign at Birzeit University. The
two unions have made copies of the dossier available to the public on their web
sites.[xxvii]
At its May 30-31 congress, the FNEEQ unanimously
reaffirmed its support for BDS. It also decided to participate in the World
Education Forum, part of the World Social Forum movement, that will be held in
Palestine in October 2010.[xxviii]
Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia: no ties with
Israel
One of the aims of the international boycott-Israel
movement is to induce governments to break all economic and diplomatic relations
with Israel, treating the Zionist state as an international pariah. This is
starting to become a reality in Latin America.
Cuba broke
relations with Israel in September 1973, on the eve of the Yom Kippur
war.[xxix] Time and again in international forums
the revolutionary government has spoken out in support of the struggle of the
Palestinian and Arab peoples and against Israeli aggression. It has translated
those words into action whenever it could.
However, for decades Cuba's has stood alone in the
region in its support for Palestine. In the rest of Latin America and the
Caribbean, domination by Washington was the rule, and with it, support for U.S.
foreign policy. Israel became notorious for the support it gave - through arm
shipments, special "advisors" and the like - to bloody dictatorships from
Guatemala to Chile.
But now a process of radical transformation is unfolding
across the region. Radical, popular movements have emerged in many countries as
large numbers of working people begin to act to improve their circumstances.
These movements are putting their stamp on society and government. One important
result of this process has been the creation of the Bolivarian Alternative for
the Americas (ALBA), an alliance of seven countries that promotes fair trade and
mutual aid based on principles of solidarity rather than profit. ALBA also
champions respect for national sovereignty and unity of the region against U.S.
domination.[xxx]
The rising tide of struggles in Latin America has been
accompanied by a rise in support for the Palestinian people, including by the
governments of the region. ALBA has led the way on this.
In September 2008 the ALBA countries were instrumental
in securing the election of Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann as president of the
General Assembly of the United Nations. D'Escoto is a well-known supporter of
Palestine. As foreign minister of the Sandinista government of Nicaragua during
the 1980s, he played a prominent role in exposing Israel's role in the "dirty
war" that Washington organized against his country.
On November 24 d'Escoto told a meeting at the U.N. that
60 years after partition, "the failure to create a Palestinian state as promised
is the single greatest failure in the history of the United Nations." He went on
to say that "although different, what is being done against the Palestinian
people seems to me to be a version of the hideous policy of apartheid."
[xxxi] Addressing the General Assembly later
the same day, he repeated the apartheid characterization, adding that "I believe
it is very important that we in the United Nations use this term. We must not be
afraid to call something what it is."
D'Escoto also urged the member states to consider
implementing sanctions against Israel. "More than twenty years ago we in the
United Nations took the lead from civil society when we agreed that sanctions
were required to provide a non-violent means of pressuring South Africa to end
its violations. Today, perhaps we in the United Nations should consider
following the lead of a new generation of civil society, who are calling for a
similar non-violent campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions to pressure
Israel to end its violations." [xxxii]
ALBA was founded by Venezuela and Cuba, and the
Venezuelan government has been especially forthright in speaking and acting for
justice in the Middle East. This is an expression of the profound
anti-imperialist character of the struggle that has been unfolding in Venezuela
since President Hugo Chavez was elected in 1999.
In July 2006 Chavez forcefully denounced the war that
Israel had unleashed on Lebanon, and Venezuela matched its words with deeds. It
withdrew its ambassador from Israel, sent 20,000 tons of emergency aid to
Lebanon, and began a drive to raise funds for Lebanese
reconstruction.[xxxiii]
Soon after Israel began its attack on Gaza, Venezuelans
took to the streets in protest. Speaking to a rally in Caracas on January 9,
2009, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro announced that his country would send 80
tons of medicine, water, and food aid to Gaza, as well as 30 doctors and a
humanitarian work brigade.
On January 14, both Venezuela and Bolivia broke off
diplomatic relations with Israel. When Israel retaliated by expelling Venezuelan
diplomats, Chavez responded that "it is an honour for this socialist government
and this revolutionary people to have our representatives expelled by a
genocidal government such as Israel."[xxxiv] Bolivia's president, Evo Morales,
announced that his country would formally indict Israel's leaders for war crimes
in the International Criminal Court. "They've made the world move backwards with
crimes against humanity that we haven't seen since Rwanda and Yugoslavia," he
said.[xxxv]
Bolivia is also a member of ALBA.
On April 27 Venezuela and the Palestinian Authority
established formal diplomatic relations and opened a Palestinian embassy in
Caracas. Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said that the embassy
would coordinate solidarity with Palestine across Latin
America.[xxxvi] A Palestinian embassy has functioned
in Havana, Cuba for decades.
A growing movement, larger struggles
ahead
The BDS movement now includes its first national Jewish
organization. At its first annual general meeting on June 14, the Independent
Jewish Voices (Canada) overwhelmingly endorsed boycott, divestment and sanctions
against Israel. "Independent Jewish Voices has voted to join the international
boycott campaign because we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and
support their right to self-determination," said Diana Ralph, co-chair of the
organization. "We are calling on the Canadian government and all Members of
Parliament to push for immediate sanctions on Israel." IJV has chapters in seven
Canadian cities.[xxxvii]
Israel's prestige
and moral standing in the world has suffered a serious setback as a result of
its barbaric attack on the besieged population of Gaza. Growing numbers of
people are coming to understand Israel's crimes, the apartheid nature of the
Israeli state, and the need to express solidarity with the Palestinian people
through concrete action. The protests against Israel's actions in many countries
were unprecedented in their size and duration. New forces are joining the
international movement in solidarity with Palestine. As part of this process,
the international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel
is emerging as one of the most important ways to demonstrate this
solidarity.
This survey of recent developments provides only a
partial picture of the scale and diversity that the BDS movement is acquiring as
it grows. (The movement is actively promoting an academic and cultural boycott
of Israel, for example. For more information on this boycott, see the website of
the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott,
http://www.pacbi.org/index.php and the article "Palestine and the Cultural
Boycott" by Rafeef Ziadah, http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/21206.)
But even this partial account is sufficient to
demonstrate that the international campaign to boycott Israel is making headway
on a number of fronts. Although still relatively new, the movement has achieved
some notable successes. It shows the promise of developing into a powerful and
sustained international force that can help attain justice for the Palestinian
people.
AIPAC's call to arms is a grudging recognition of these
initial successes of the movement and, above all, of its potential. It is
evident that supporters of the Jewish-only Israeli state - be they official
lobbyists, powerful government figures, or others - intend to redouble their
efforts to smear the BDS movement as anti-Semitic and to suppress public debate
of Israel's crimes. Supporters of the rights of Palestinians are responding by
uniting with others to defend the right to free speech on these issues and by
reaching out to win new support for the boycott-Israel
campaign.
Art Young is a member of the Coalition Against Israeli
Apartheid in Toronto.
[ii] Israel
received $2.55 billion in "security" aid from the U.S. during fiscal year 2009,
the first year of a new ten-year program. U.S. aid will increase annually, then
level off at $3.1 billion for the last six years of the program. (All amounts in
this article are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.)
[iii]
"Palestinian Civil Society Calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against
Israel," http://www.stopthewall.org/downloads/pdf/BDSEnglish.pdf
[iv] "Students
demand justice for Palestine," http://www.palestinecampaign.org/files/NUS_Conference_PSC_Newsletter.pdf and information from Katan Alder, a
participant in the movement.
[v] Under heavy
fire from supporters of Israel, the administration subsequently denied that it
had acted because of the Palestine issue. But the minutes of the meeting of the
Board of Trustees at which the decision was taken explicitly acknowledge "the
good work of SJP that brought this issue to the attention of the [investment]
committee." Furthermore, the college has not rescinded its decision to divest.
See http://www.hsjp.org/archive/2009/02/page/4 and "Divestment: What Really
Happened," http://www.hsjp.org/
[viii] "For
more information about attempts to repress Israeli Apartheid Week, pro-Palestine
advocacy, and free speech more generally, see:
"Israeli Apartheid Week Beats Back Attacks on Free Speech" By John
Riddell, http://rabble.ca/news/israeli-apartheid-week-beats-back-attacks-free-speech, "For Free Expression on Palestine"
by Justin Podur, http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/bullet211.html and "Freedom of Expression and
Palestine Advocacy" by Rafeef Ziadah, http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/bullet219.html
[x] "Church of
England divests over £2.2 million from Caterpillar," http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/1840.shtml
[xii] "Israeli
exports hit by European boycotts after attacks on Gaza," http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/03/israel-gaza-attacks-boycotts-food-industry
[xiii]
"Divestment campaign gains momentum in Europe" by Adri Nieuwhof,
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10418.shtml
[xiv] "Veolia
loses contracts in France and Ireland, faces court proceedings,"
http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/1941.shtml
[xvi] "FREE
PALESTINE! ISOLATE APARTHEID ISRAEL!," http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/2009/feb/press7.htm
[xvii]
"Scottish Trade Union Congress Joins BDS Campaign!!!," http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/376
[xix] For more
information about labour support of the boycott campaign, see http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/124. For a list of
unions supporting BDS, current to July 2007, see
[xxiii]
"Support the Canadian Union of Postal Workers' campaign against Israeli
apartheid," http://www.tadamon.ca/post/1356
[xxv] "Faire
plus pour la Palestine," http://www.fneeq.qc.ca/fr/accueil/publications/carnets/CARNETS_Palestine-final.pdf
[xxvi]
"Étudiants et étudiantes contre l'apartheid israélien," http://www.asse-solidarite.qc.ca/spip.php?article1036&lang=fr
[xxvii] "Une
publication conjointe de l'ASSÉ et de la FNEEQ sur l'éducation en Palestine,"
http://www.fneeq.qc.ca/fr/comites/action_internationale/communiques/communiques_2009/comm_0016.html
[xxviii]
Information provided by Ronald Cameron
[xxx] Member
countries of ALBA are Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and
Venezuela.
[xxxiii]
"Support for Palestine Builds in Latin America" by John Riddell,
http://www.socialistvoice.ca/?p=415
[xxxiv]
"Chávez Welcomes Expulsion of Venezuelan Diplomats from Israel,"
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4155
[xxxv]
"Venezuelans Protest Israel's Attack and Send Aid to Gaza," http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4095 and "Venezuela and Bolivia Cut
Diplomatic Ties with Israel, "http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4113
[xxxvi]
"Venezuela and the Palestinian Authority Establish Diplomatic Relations,"
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4407
[xxxvii]
Independent Jewish Voices (Canada) media release, June 16,
2009
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Comment On This Article | See All Comments (2) | View sustainers that like this article |
Comments
By Shapiro, Tali
Thank you so much Art! All week I was preoccupied with the horrid things that
happen here everyday. I needed to hear something constructive.
Just to
let people know, that there's now an official call to boycott from within.
http://boycottisrael.info/ It's in stages of site-building, and we're hoping to
see it running smoothly within two weeks. I won't kid myself, we probably won't
pass 5000 signatures and policy makers will ignore us, but we hope to make some
noise internationally, and let the international community know, that we're
asking for your help- there's little we can do from within.
Comment
By Miller, Chris
Thank you for what is obviously a well researched and solidly constructed article. As a supporter of the (British) Palistinine Solidarity Campaign I am very pleased to see such strong material - and a very useable summary - published on znet.