Israeli message of support to Australian BDS activists

August 10, 2011
Issue 

Boycott Israel 19, August 11 - Israeli activists from the pro boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign in Israel issued the statement below on August 11 in support of Australian pro-Palestine activists in Melbourne who have faced arrests and intimidation from the Victorian government.

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Following anti-Democratic Arrests and Intimidation Attempts: Israeli Citizens in Solidarity with Australian BDS Activists!

We, Israeli citizens, members of Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within, would like to express our solidarity with the numerous Australians who are involved in the burgeoning BDS campaign in Australia.

Witnessing first-hand the brutality of our government against the Palestinian people, we have joined the July 2005 Palestinian call for a comprehensive boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against the state of Israel and its institutions.

Such means should be applied as long as Israel continues to flout international law and UN resolutions and refuses to acknowledge the Palestinian people’s universally recognized human rights: The rights of Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, the rights of Israel’s Palestinian citizens, and the rights of Palestinians who were expelled from their homes during the Nakba (the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine).

As Israeli citizens, we are angered by the outrageous attempts to exploit the horrors committed by the Nazi regime, through a comparison of the Palestinian led BDS campaign to the 1933 Nazi boycott campaign, in order to try and silence the Palestinian non-violent popular struggle for freedom and justice.

The deplorable and racist Nazi boycott campaign targeted all Jews, without exception, and only for being Jewish.

The Australian BDS campaign does NOT target Jewish businesses, as argued by demagogues in Australia! The lesson from the Jewish Holocaust should be, in our view, the need to oppose all forms of discrimination and violence committed against different ethnic groups in the name of nationalist or supremacist ideologies. The state of Israel has failed to learn that lesson.

To reiterate, we are concerned that some politicians in Australia have accused the activists involved in BDS of being anti-Semitic. We reject those accusations.



The BDS campaign is a legitimate form of non-violent political action, whereby people and organizations are required not to participate in or support violations of international law.

We take a clear stand against all forms of racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. Not only does the BDS campaign oppose anti-Semitism, it is also a responsible call that targets only complicit institutions rather than individuals.

BDS is neither anti-Jewish nor anti-Israeli, since it does not oppose all that is Israeli because it is Israeli: the campaign simply insists that Israel abide by its obligations under international law.

Furthermore, by attempting to lump together all Jews around the world as a monolithic block that is expected to support its criminal policies, the state of Israel is denying the fact that many Jews, including in Israel, oppose the occupation and apartheid policies inflicted on the Palestinian people.

The current debate within Israeli society shows us that the boycott campaign is extremely effective.

The latest attempt by the Israeli government to silence its own citizens, the new anti-boycott legislation, in addition to other explicitly racist laws, is yet another indication of the need for this Palestinian-led non-violent global movement, in order to insure the rights of all people in this region.

The recent Australian BDS actions have been a great inspiration. We are encouraged to know that as far-away as Down Under there are individuals and groups active in the BDS campaign, promoting the Palestinian people’s unassailable rights.

The BDS movement needs your help and support. We call upon all Australians to join and support the struggle for freedom and equality in Palestine.

With the deepest gratitude and all our support,

Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within
http://boycottisrael.info/

Comments

As a human being I disagree with you. Right now we are witnessing legal discrimination resulting in this year alone thousands of people being murdered and many tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands people made into refugees by Egypt Syria Libya Sudan Iran Iraq Lebanon Yemen and other Arab nations. These countries legally discriminate. Whatever your perception of the Palestinian issue, it pails to insignificance compared to the Arab issue. And further what about Malaysia which has enjoyed legalized discrimination for too long. What are you doing about this? Why shouldn't Jews be afraid? Why target israel? I would like to know what public actions you will be taking against these other truly rogue countries who legally discriminate and murder.
If you paid attention to this site, rather than just coming on to troll on one article, you would see that Green Left takes up all the cases you mention -- violent repression across the Arab world and full support to the democracy movement in Malaysia that is fighting all the restrictions on democratic rights there. None of these examples make Israel's apartheid policies any better. Injustice must be opposed wherever it is found. Also, if Jewish people "should be afraid", why are these Jewish Israeli citizens not only *not* afraid of the global BDS movement, but offering it full support?

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