International boycott Israeli goods (BIG) day

by ?? Fri May 10, 2002 15:07 Dublin

Personally I cant think of any product that I buy that comes from Israel, but that doesnt mean anything cause I just dont check to see where what im buying comes from so maybe I do get things from Israel. So it would be really helpful if you could give some examples of everyday things that people buy that we should boycott if we are to support this.

by Layla - IPSC Fri May 10, 2002 15:26 milltown02 at yahoo dot com

First of all thank you for showing interest in our campaign. I hope more and more people will realize the noble aims behind it.

Perhaps the most obvious goods are fruits and vegetables that are in almost every supermarket.
Keep an eye out for "Jaffa" oranges, grapefruits and lemons. "Carmel" avocados, dates, herbs and wine. "Yarden" wine, "Tivali" health foods, "Osem" snacks and "Elite" halva, sweets and coffee. In Tesco, for example, it usually lists the origin of produce in the Fruit and Vegetable section. So instead of buying potatoes from Israel why not buy Irish potatoes and support the local economy? For exotic fruits, you can always find substitutes from Portugal or Spain.

Then there are clothes. An example is "Delta Galil" that supply clothing to M&S, GAP, Donna Karen, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein & Hugo Boss, and Playtex.

For the skin care enthusiasts out there, avoid
"Ahava" Dead Sea beauty products.

More information about BIG can be found at
http://www.boycottisraeligoods.org/index.php

by Fri May 10, 2002 21:59

boycotts dont work they hurt the working class and rally a population around its leaders. look at iraq. mass mobilisation is the way forward

by STOP NYC. Inc. Sat May 11, 2002 18:30

The U.S. is Israel's no.1 benefactor-financier. Israel recieves
$3,000,000,000 in financial/military aid from the U.S. every year. Click link below for a list of coroporations that invest/do business with Israel.
You'll see most of them are U.S. based.

by Donal Sun May 12, 2002 02:24 Dublin

Layla : You mislead your readers and cheat your 'noble' Irish with your lies and misrepresentations. Now that the facts are available for all to read, why are you silent regarding the atrocities that have been committed by Arafat and the PLA. If you are truly a member of the 'noble Irish' then be consistent with your moral standards.

In case you haven't read the full report on the evidence that has been found, published and presented to the world for scrutiny, proving Arafat's crimes against his own people as well as Israeli civilians, here is a summary. See the attached link for the full report.

I challenge you to prove that you are sincere in your 'noble' moralising by

1. Condemning all evil, including that committed by the Palestinian leadership.

2. Acknowledge that Israel's recent actions were not committed out of the blue, or as an act of revenge, but as a genuine response in order to defend its civilian population.

Here is the summary of the evidence against Arafat:

This report brings some very grave facts to your attention. Israel's military operation "Defensive Shield" has obtained clear-cut hard evidence that the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat is a supporting encouraging and actively operating body of terror. Arafat and his close aides are directly responsible for the cold-blooded murder of Israeli citizens.

The main findings of this report are:

Yasser Arafat was personally involved in the planning and execution of terror attacks. He encouraged them ideologically, authorized them financially and personally headed the Fatah Al Aqsa Brigades organization.

The closest aides to Arafat responsible for terrorist activity are head of General Intelligence Tawfik Tirawi and financier Fouad Shubaki, who operated the ongoing logistics of financial aide and support of terrorism actions.

The Al Aqsa Brigades organization, headed by Arafat, was put under the direct authority of Marawan Barghouti, who had no compunction in using women and even children to execute terrorist activity, which killed hundreds of Israelis.

Arafat and his men used the funds donated to them by other countries, including the European Union, to finance terrorist activity.

The Palestinian Authority allocated vast sums of money from its budget to pay salaries to Fatah terrorists (45 million dollars a month from Arab countries, 9 million dollars a month from the European Unity).

The Palestinian Authority established close links with the "forces of evil" - Iran and Iraq. These countries supplied funds and terrorist warfare equipment to the Authority.

Syria supplied the Hamas and Islamic Jihad with the funds, enabling them to found and operate the terrorist infrastructure in Jenin.

Saudi Arabia financially supported the families of terrorists, including families of suicide bombers who carried out mass murder attacks in Israel.

The Palestinian Authority armed itself with weapons in complete violation of all agreements signed with Israel. At the head of the arms smuggling stands Fouad Shubaki.

Arafat's headquarters took great pains in encouraging the Israeli Arab population to join the war of violence and terror against Israel.

The most prominent criminal activity carried out by the Palestinian Authority has been the stealing of Israeli vehicles and forging of documents, in collaboration with Israeli Arab citizens.

Arafat's compound in Ramallah became the central command post for the terrorist activity and suicide bombing. The "security forces" headed by Tawfik Tirawi and directly responsible to Arafat himself, initiated, planned and saw to the finest details of every action taken against Israel and Israelis.

Corruption in the Palestinian authority. Economic management by means of monopolizing and unjust division of foreign funds among the various stratas of the Palestinians society. Embezzlements of payments and unjust collection of public resources transferred to private accounts of high ranking authority officials.

In this activity there has been complete cooperation between all the terror organizations - the Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Jenin became the "haven of suicide bombers" in the West Bank, with other towns following its lead.

During Israel's campaign to eradicate terrorism, the terrorists used the civilian population as a human shield. They operated within private homes, holding their own people hostage. They blew up houses and property, laid mines and booby-traps, in the hope of afterwards accusing Israel of the devastation and destruction.

The Fatah and Arafat's intelligence network intimidated and maltreated the Christian population in Bethlehem. They extorted money from them, confiscated land and property and left them to the mercy of street gangs and other criminal activity, with no protection.

by Layla Sun May 12, 2002 03:33 milltown02 at yahoo dot com

Donal,

It amazes me with how much trust you seem to take Israel's word on the documents allegedly proving Arafat's involvement with financing suicide bombers. Whether or not the Palestinian Authority is in any way pushing the suicide bombers is not known to you and me. But what I do know, as a Palestinian, and as a Christain Palestinian for that matter, is that any human being whose basic human rights are denied to him or her, will search for a "way out" of their misery.

If you look at the demographics of the suicide bombers, you'll notice that they are young men and women in their teenage years or early twenties. That is the age when you turn into an adult and start to plan your future. Can you tell me what kind of a future Palestine's unfortnate youth have to look forward to? These kids are so disillusioned and depressed that they see blowing themselves up as 1) a way out of their oppression under occupation and 2) as the only means to fight their oppressor. It is human nature to resist injustice -- try to place yourself in their position before you speak.

My point is this: suicide bombers do not need incitement nor financing. These young people are a force on their own. And I believe that the only way to eliminate this force is to give the Palestinains the justice that they deserve.

by A Freeman Tue Apr 21, 2009 14:30

I expect my comment will be quickly removed as it doesn't agree with the policies of SWP and doesn't condemn Israel but I'll say it anyway - why are people so obsessed with boycotting and condemning Israel?, when there are countries that carry out FAR WORSE abuses of Human Rights and yet the usual contributors to this site have no interest in boycotting goods from those states e.g.

1. Iran -which brutally represses religious minorities (esp. Bahi'i), executes gay people and ships weaponry to Hezbollah and Hamas.
2. Sudan - which is carrying out a genocide against it's own people in Darfur
3. China - for it's brutal repression of the Tibetans and also the followers of Falun Gong/Falun Dafa
4. Saudi Arabia - A brutal theocracy which provides funding for Wahhabi-style Islamic fundamentalists such as the Taliban, promotes wonderful practices such as child marriages, FGM and public mutilations and executions.

These are just some of the worst offenders and they make Israel look like a bastion of human rights, yet I never see calls for boycotts of the products of any of these countries. Could it be that since the Jews don't run any of them the usual anti-zionists have no interest in these abuses? It's just good old anti-semitism dressed up in new garb.

by Susan Tue Apr 21, 2009 17:02

No Freeman, the countries you have selected do not make Israel look like a bastion of Human rights. Nothing could do that, same as nothing could make Saudi Arabia look like a democracy any more than Israel.
I guess most people would be satisified if Israel enjoyed the same noteriety as Iran and Sudan and Saudi Arabia. Israel's record is certainly comparable and possibly worse to that of these regimes. But unfortunately Israel is singled out for special treatment throughout the world and its representatives enjoy unprecendented access to world power figures and institutions. Israel also enjoys virtual full access to European markets . We dont know why Israel gets such special treatment considering it's blatant crimes against civilians and it's unprecedented occupation and oppression of Palestinians.We will be happy when Israel is treated like Sudan. Then we might deploy troops to the West Bank to protect the People from the rampages of the Israeli army as we did in Chad. I for one, would be happy to see Israel, like China, hauled up in front of the Human Rights Council at the UN , It's certainly long overdue. But they just seem to enjoy special status. Maybe you can explain why Israel is always singled out for special treatment perhaps it has something to do with people sharing an irrational hatred of Muslims or perhaps just a complete disregard for the Human rights of the Palestinians. Can you explain it ?

by A Freeman Tue Apr 21, 2009 18:07

Susan,

You seem to think that Europe should be boycotting Israel because it oppresses the Palestinians and that according to you has "is worse than China, Saudi Arabia or Iran" when it comes to human rights! this would be laughable if you didn't seem to be serious. Israel occupies the West Bank as a result of its victory in the 1967 6-day-war when a coalition of Arab states failed in their stated objective of "driving the Jews into the sea". Had the Arabs won that war (as many like you would clearly wish) you can be sure there wouldn't be an Israel-Palestine conflict today as the Jewish population would have been expelled or killed en masse, a 'Final Solution' to the conflict that people like you wish to see even today. When peace has been on offer Israel has returned the whole of Sinai to Egypt and attempted to resolve the situation in Gaza in 2005 by unilaterally withdrawing from the Strip. The Hamas and Islamic Jihad response to this action was of course to fire even more rockets into Israel, seeing any withdrawal as a sign of weakness, is there any doubt that a full withdrawal to 1967 borders would merely embolden the Islamists even more?

I think you need to ask yourself why hating Israel is more important to you than say the sufferings of Tibetans under Chinese occupation, the persecution of Bahi'is in Iran or the slave-like status of women in Saudi Arabia?, these are the kind of people who've recently been cheering Ahmadinejad in Geneva, would you join in the cheering yourself?

As for the EU giving special treatment to Israel, as far as I can see that's nonsense - Israel enjoys normal trade relations with the EU. Perhaps you are suggesting that we revert to traditional European treatment of Jews i.e. boycott of Jewish businesses, confinement to the ghetto, the occasional pogrom etc. I think they had a revival of those old traditions in Germany in 1933!

Don't forget to book a Saudi holiday and check it out for yourself!

by Fred Johnston Tue Apr 21, 2009 18:41

Perhaps a few phrases to ponder:
"All significant U.S.-Israel activities in the territory are in flat violation of international law."
"The matter of the Geneva Conventions is particularly significant. These were adopted in the aftermath of World War II to bar the practices of the Nazis, including transfer of population of the conqueror to the occupied territories or any actions that harm the civilian population. Responsibility for monitoring observance of the Conventions was assigned to the International Red Cross, which has determined that Israel's settlement programs violate the Fourth Convention."
" . . .Sharon had attempted to construct what he called "a 'new order' (The Hitler phrase)" in Lebanon (Martin Peretz, 'New Republic,' March 18, 1985; 'New Republic,' March 19, 1984). The phrase was indeed Hitler's, and Sharon used it, as does Israeli commentary generally." (Notes to Chomsky book cited below: p192, 55.) Peretz is ironically trying to refute 'calumnies' made by the Washington Post, but Chomsky's book cities other examples of the use of the phrase.

Israel was the first country in the world to hijack a civilian aircraft - in 1953.

For these quotes and facts I am indebted to 'Noam Chomsky - Pirates and Emperors, Old and New ' - Pluto Press. (2002) ISBN 0-7453-1980-7 Pbck. www.plutobooks.com

by Susan Tue Apr 21, 2009 18:53

You forgot to address the simple point I made in relation to your chosen hated States. Most people who support Palestinian calls for independence and Human rights would be happy for the moment if the Israeli Junta was treated in the same way as those that you likened Israel to. But Israel somehow enjoys immunity for its crimes unlike any other junta like it in the world. That fact that it gets away with mass murder on the world stage is probably what irks people most , at this point in time.

Please Clarify : Which "Arab State" stated that it had the intent of "driving the Jews into the sea" ? or did you make it up or did you copy it from a racist or Arab Hater without knowing it.?

by Anoy Tue Apr 21, 2009 20:00

Might be interesting for some in this debate

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13227

Quotes from Article offers its own index for validation purposes

In terms of law, describing Israel as an apartheid state does not revolve around levels of difference and similarity with the policies and practices of the South African Apartheid regime, and where Israel is an apartheid state only insofar as similarities outweigh differences. In 1973, the UN General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (General Assembly resolution 3068 [XXVIII].[4]

The main point is that like genocide and slavery, apartheid is a crime that any state can commit, and institutions, organizations and/or individuals acting on behalf of the state that commits it or supports its commission are to face trial in any state that is a signatory to the Convention, or in the International Criminal Court. It is therefore a fallacy to ground the Israeli apartheid label on comparisons of the policies of the South African Apartheid regime, with the resulting descriptions of Israel as being "Apartheid-like" and characterizations of an apartheid analysis of Israel as an "Apartheid analogy."

Two points made by Mac Allister in her legal analysis of Israeli apartheid deserve to be reiterated because they are often confused or misconstrued even by advocates of Palestinian human rights. First, Israel's crimes and violations are not limited to the crime of apartheid. Rather, Israel's regime over the Palestinian people combines apartheid, military occupation, and colonization in a unique manner. It deserves notice that the relationship between these three components requires further research and investigation. Also noteworthy is the Palestinian BDS Campaign National Committee (BNC)'s "United Against Apartheid, Colonialism and Occupation: Dignity & Justice for the Palestinian People" [7] position paper, which outlines and, to some extent, details the various aspects of Israel's commission of the crime of apartheid, and begins to trace the interaction between Israeli apartheid, colonialism and occupation from the perspective of Palestinian civil society.

The second point worth reiterating is that Israel's regime of apartheid is not limited to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In fact, the core of Israel's apartheid regime is guided by discriminatory legislation in the fields of nationality, citizenship and land ownership, and that was primarily employed to oppress and dispossess those Palestinians who were forcibly displaced in the 1948 Nakba (refugees and internally displaced), as well as the minority who managed to remain within the "green line" and later became Israeli citizens.[8]

Israel's apartheid regime was extended into West Bank and Gaza Strip following the 1967 occupation for the purpose of colonization, and military control over the Palestinians who came under occupation. Using again the example of South Africa, the crime of apartheid was not limited to the Bantustans; the whole regime was implicated and not one or another of its racist manifestations.

The analysis of Israel as an apartheid state has proven to be very important in several respects. First, it correctly highlights racial discrimination as a root cause of Israel's oppression of Palestinians. Second, one of the main effects of Israeli apartheid is that it has separated Palestinians - conceptually, legally and physically - into different groupings (refugees, West Bank, Gaza, within the 'green line' and a host of other divisions within each), resulting in the fragmentation of the Palestinian liberation movement, including the solidarity movement. The apartheid analysis enables us to provide a legal and conceptual framework under which we can understand, convey, and take action in support of the Palestinian people and their struggle as a unified whole. Third, and of particular significance to the solidarity movement, this legal and conceptual framework takes on the prescriptive role underpinning the growing global movement for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law.

by Anoy Tue Apr 21, 2009 23:34

Quote from earlier response

But the Arabs dont want Jews to be able to live anywhere they want?

End Quote

Firstly can you please define who are these "Arabs" you speak of? it is my understanding there are over a billion so called Arabs in diverse locations with diverse cultures and traditions around the world. Do you mean Israelis of Arab ethnicity or corrupt governments in Islamic middle eastern countries or the billion living souls or all of the above or something else? It would be helpful if you could clarify.

Secondly here are a few quotes from a study conducted under the auspices of the UN and Amnesty International I have pasted some "highlights" from the report for your perusal. Can you please back up your assertions with some detailed studies on your claims of equality in Israel for all her citizens so as to further the debate?

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/007/2007/....html

1. Increasing Barriers to Entry to the OPT

Discriminatory laws and measures barring or restricting entry to the OPT to spouses of Palestinians, which have been in place for decades, were significantly increased in 2006, denying the possibility of family life to Palestinians who marry spouses from outside the OPT

1.1 Right to family life arbitrarily curtailed or denied

During 2006, the policy which for many years has prevented family unification for Palestinians married to spouses from countries which require advance visas to enter Israel and the OPT (in particular, Jordan) was extended to restrict entry to foreign spouses from countries whose nationals do not require advance visas (mostly the US and European countries).

3. House Demolitions

3.1 Demolition of homes within Israel

The discriminatory policy of house demolition has continued to target Israeli Arabs (Palestinian citizens of Israel), as described in Amnesty International’s briefing to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination of January 2006, and in the past year it has been most acute in the Negev region, where some 60-70,000 Bedouins live in approximately 45 "unrecognised" villages.

3.2 Demolitions of homes in the OPT including East Jerusalem

The Israeli authorities give several reasons for demolitions of Palestinian homes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: lack of a building permit; too close proximity to Israeli settlements in the West Bank or to the fence/wall being built by the Israeli army through the West Bank; or as part of military operations. The underlying reasons for the demolition of Palestinian homes given in Amnesty International’s 2006 briefing to CERD remain valid: the appropriation of large areas of Palestinian land and the expansion of Israeli settlements unlawfully built for the sole benefit of Israeli Jewish citizens

4. Settlements

The establishment and maintenance of Israeli settlements - in effect, colonies - have been repeatedly condemned by UN human rights bodies, yet these settlements remain and continue to be expanded in the West Bank in violation of international humanitarian law and to the detriment of the rights of the local Palestinian population.

by Corkboi Tue Apr 21, 2009 23:52

Israel also demolishes Illegal Jewish built homes on numerous occasions.Course you wouldn't hear of it in the Western Media,Pray they might have to show Israel in a good way.

And in Ireland Illegally built homes are knocked down.Illegally built sheds are knocked down.

Traveller camps are knocked down and they are moved on.Are we an Apartheid state????

Please do tell.

by Anoy Wed Apr 22, 2009 00:31

Are you kidding me did you even read what you replied to?. I did not make this assertion, Amnesty International and the UN did (I posted a link to the report if your in doubt), nor your so called Palestinian biased Western Media (that is a sick joke btw)

It is one thing to reject a report for its validity for whatever reason but comparing "Ireland Illegally built homes are knocked down.Illegally built sheds are knocked down" to the forced and systematic diplacement of people shows your level of ignorance. it is mind boggling.

This is what amnesty had to say

"the underlying reasons for the demolition of Palestinian homes given in Amnesty International’s 2006 briefing to CERD remain valid: the appropriation of large areas of Palestinian land and the expansion of Israeli settlements unlawfully built for the sole benefit of Israeli Jewish citizens"

by Corkboi Wed Apr 22, 2009 00:48

Yes the BBc came out and criticisd it own Journalist Bowen for being biased.

The UN,Good grief,What a farce.

Firstly,The UN is not democratic,All nations can join it,but we don't vote for our rep to the UN.

Secondly UNWRA,Why are Palestinans the only ones that get a specific UN Agency,Why not Tibetans,Homosexuals,Afghani's,Rwandans etc.

Thirdly John Ging came out and claimed he was 99 per cent certain Israel attacked the UN school.He and the UN had to come out later on and admit.Israel never hit the school.So his people on the ground reporting to him are spueing Hamas rubbish.The only news that comes out of gaza is through Hamas or UNWRA.Which is controlled by Hamas,As the teachers union fully elected all Hamas reps except one Fatah member.

So I take UN allegations as just that allegations.

Course the biased media barely corrected their reporting and admitted Israel never attacked the school.

Hamas have slaughtered the opposition in Gaza and been accused of war crimes by Amnesty for firing rockets into Israel into civilian areas.Course not one word of condemnation will come out of your one sided biased lips.

by Anoy Wed Apr 22, 2009 01:26

Here is a report on Fatah and Hamas human rights violations on its own population from Amnesty and yes I personally believe any person, government or otherwise murdering civilians or in breach of fundamental human rights should be held accountable but I will not play the game Hamas / Fatah did this, so your critisism of Israeli government actions is invalid it is childish.

http://www.amnesty.org/fr/library/asset/MDE21/010/2007/....html

Amnesty International is calling on Fatah and Hamas leaders to take immediate action to ensure that their forces and the armed groups acting as their proxy militias cease endangering civilians and violating international law through their reckless, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force in Gaza, and to prevent further abuses in the West Bank - notably:

* to assert control over the security forces and ensure that they uphold the law and respect human rights, including international standards relating to the use of force and treatment of prisoners, and ensure that members of their security forces who abuse human rights or fail to carry out their duty are held to account;
* end impunity, by establishing effective mechanisms to bring to justice those responsible for human rights abuses, irrespective of their political affiliation;
* instruct their security forces that the armed groups who commit human rights abuses or crimes must be apprehended and brought to justice, irrespective of their political affiliations, in accordance with international human rights law and standards;
* put in place a mechanism to ensure independent, impartial and non-partisan oversight of the security forces and ensure that all killings, abductions and other attacks on civilians are investigated and that those responsible are brought to justice.

by Frank Adam - privatecitizen Fri Apr 24, 2009 23:51

The worst childish game in all this is to ignore the historical pattern. Nobody has been able to arrange an Arab - Israel peace because there is no way of imposing any pressure on the Arab parties to keep to an agreement - a two way agreement of equal respect - because the Arab policy is to get rid of Israel altogether. The Arabs of course, are entitled to choose such a policy, and nobody can stop them - that is the problem; but it is an unconstructive policy in flagrant defiance of UN two state policy since 1947 - and the British two state Peel proposals of 1937. This war was seething before 1967, and 1967 & its consequences is NOT the cause of the Arab vendetta on Israel. Israel's existence itself is what annoys Araby . 'Annoy' take note that we live in a world of equality, not of supremacists, "tolerating." If Ireland is entitled to a free state so is Israel - and over half of Jewish Israeli families came from the Arab World.

Further in our highly integrated and complex world in general, and any society and economy in particular it is very easy to rock the boat: qv threats by "Republican dissidents" to puncture Mr Maguiness' ministerial suit and salary; and the recent imprisonment of the US journalist in Iran to poison offers to relax the situation which does rather point to the hostility having been created by the Ayatollahs.

When it comes to the Arab indulgence in creating thousands of border raids or rocket incidents as the Arabs did in the eight years before 1956 and the eight years before Gaza .... The Arab World is not divinely ordained. It is an imperialist construct as much as the Roman World or the British Empire's steam World, and Arabs are not plaster saints and must reconsider their own responsibilities for the situations of their people. The Arab parties on their own pronunciamento rejected UN181 and attacked Israel in 1948 so the Arab refugees are their problem.

President Obama is now organising another bash - no doubt leaning heavily on Israel, which is easy -but do remember that meanwhile you have been diverted from all manner of other wickedness in the Arab World, and the "big oil" lobby and the Military-Industrial Complex.

Peace will come bit by bit with the effects of "peak oil" increasing after 2020 at latest. The World economy will boycott the petrosheikhs as the world moves to winds, tide and solar power. Accordingly the Arabs will find it advantageous to leave Israel alone, & cultivate their garden as are Egypt and Jordan.

The "soft loans from Allah" and the UNWRA aid will dry up as it is less urgent to appease Arab - and Iranian mullahs and the Palestine refugees will disperse or settle as most have together with all the other Arab refugees from the 16 other Arab wars since 1948 which have killed 1300 000 Arabs. Sure the Arab World will grumble. Some Arabs still can not stomach losing: Spain, India and the Balkans - but they can live with it.