Years ago during the action being taken against the Apartheid Regime in South Africa sceptics would tell us that boycotting S.A. goods would have no effect; refusing to play sports against them would mean zilch; cutting diplomatic ties likewise. History now teaches us that the above activities and more played a massive part in destroying the evil and immoral white supremacist state of S.A. and confining Apartheid to the dustbin of history. Looking back I remember the great emotion of actually doing something to help the struggle however small, it is simply great for morale.
The same lame excuses for inaction have been trotted out over the past couple of years when people have suggested the same type of campaign should be encouraged to undermine Israel’s vile treatment of the Palestinians whose land they have continued to occupy against overwhelming world opinion for 43 years. Following recent Israeli atrocities the tide is beginning to turn in favour of decency and justice and against Israel. The Boycott is up and running and beginning to bite, appeals to boycott Israel have been made for years without a great deal of success but; a change is taking place and it’s down to a piece of chutzpah too far by the conceited Israeli occupiers.
Israeli occupiers in the West Bank recently came up with a swindle to cheat people worldwide; which is now backfiring on them. Having taken over Palestinian land; farms and houses they decided to start selling their produce labeled as “Product of the West Bank” which is of course Palestinian. A great many people who sympathise with the plight of the Palestinian people were quite happy to buy what they thought was Palestinian produce; doing their little bit to help as I explained earlier. Word of this Israeli dishonesty reached the ears of people outside the West bank mainly through international solidarity organisations and Trade Unions including here in
Scotland I’m proud to say. The hubris displayed by the occupiers turned out to be a bad gaffe.
What we have now is a campaign which is much easier to focus on and also lets us see results as they happen; people are encouraged to read the labels of the goods they buy and refuse to purchase goods which do not clearly state that they are Palestinian. “Produce of the West Bank” does not suffice it is an Israeli falsehood; not one of their bigger lies by comparison but a lie nevertheless and they have been caught out. Israeli factories based in settlements on the West Bank have been forced to cut back production as a growing Palestinian boycott movement begins to take effect. Israeli settlers have been stealing Palestinian farms and selling the produce of the stolen farms back to the Palestinians, that is being stopped.
The Palestinian Authority are positive with support at 85% they said they were pleased with the level of support for the boycott, put in a recent survey at around 85%. "People feel national pride that they can participate in this campaign," a spokesman said; as I said earlier it makes you feel better. Europe is catching on and the E.U. guidelines urge traders to display labels clearly differentiating between Palestinian, Israeli and Settlement goods.
This is not an easy option for Palestinians as the Settlers will punish them in any way possible and jobs are at stake but; so is pride and the Palestinians deserve our full support.
READ THE LABELS! SUPPORT THE BOYCOTT OF ISRAELI GOODS
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4 comments:
"The gap between rich and poor is too wide and it needs to be narrowed"
Ed Milliband after 14 years of a Labour goverment.
Pass the sick bucket Mabel, I'm going to be sick
(Anonymous) 30/06/10
The gap between rich and poor is too wide after hundreds and hundreds of years of Capitalism: that is what needs to be changed.
Remember to read those labels.
Sooo, I take it then that having a Labour government doesn't make an once of difference??
Correct me if I am wrong but didnt the gap get WIDER under Labour???
As for Labels, Please do confirm to us that the Labour governement did not facilitate weapons sales to Israel as they all did with export licences. Never mind the Jaffas feel the ship to shore missile systems.
(Anonymous) 13:22
Having a Labour Government makes a whole lot more than an once of difference; this country and particularly those who are less well off are about to learn that lesson again just as they did under Thatcher.
I don’t know if the Labour governement facilitated weapons to Israel; perhaps you could enlighten us.
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