Netanyahu’s Victory Means It’s Time To Intensify BDS: 7 Simple Actions You Can Take To Support Justice For Palestine
Mass murdering war criminal, Benjamin Netanyahu, the butcher of Gaza, has emerged victorious in the Israeli general election, foisted to victory on the back of racist campaigning and a pledge for the permanent occupation of Palestine . As the IPSC pointed out, it really didn’t matter who came out on top in the election, the net result for Palestinians would still be occupation and apartheid – but the outcome is significant nonetheless.
That Netanyahu and his party topped the poll for the third time in a row, and that the Zionist right in general did so well, should serve as a wake-up call to Western governments and institutions that neither the Israeli establishment nor the vast majority of the electorate is interested in a genuine, just peace in the region.
Just prior to election day Netanyahu declared that there would be no Palestinian state after he was elected, and while people were going to the polls he racistly lamented that the 1.2 million Palestinian citizens of Israel that are eligible to vote were “moving in droves to the polling stations.” His coalition partner, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman taunted Netanyahu, saying “if the Arabs are voting in droves, only a strong Lieberman can stop them.”
This is the reality of the racism that runs deep within Israeli society today. Indeed the entire election saw continuous racial incitement by many of the candidates – perhaps most notoriously when Lieberman declared his wish to behead “disloyal” Palestinian citizens of Israel. He received no rebuke from any of the main Israeli parties for this racist incitement.
The impunity Israel has enjoyed in the face of its constant human rights and international law violations, land theft, colonisation, apartheid policies and war crimes against the Palestinian people has ensured that most Israelis today feel that the Palestinian issue is not a serious problem for them, it is something that can be ‘managed’, while Jewish-Israeli society continues to reap the benefits of occupation. Thus, while it continues to evade any sanction, Israel will continue with ‘business as usual‘ – indeed, it is largely taken for granted within Israel that there will be another attack on Gaza sooner rather than later.
Sadly, it seems Western governments and institutions like the EU and UN are willing to sit on the sidelines and allow the killing, maiming, dispossession, mass imprisonment, torture, traumatisation and illegal settlement building to continue; the EU has congratulated Netanyahu on his victory and promised that “We are at your side, you can count on us”; the UN has just bowed to Israeli “intimidation” by removing the Israeli occupation forces from a list of groups that routinely violate the rights of the child, while it continues its criminal complicity in the illegal siege of Gaza; the Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan visited Israel last month and spoke of “strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries.”
Therefore, it remains up to ordinary people of conscience to do what we can to help the Palestinian people in their continuing struggle for their human, national and democratic rights. One of the main ways we can do this is by supporting and escalating the worldwide Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign which aims to pressure Israel into granting Palestinians their rights and obeying international law. The Palestinian people demand a true peace – but there can be no such peace until Palestinians fully enjoy their rights and self-determination.
Join the BDS campaign today and help freedom, justice and equality prevail in the Palestine-Israel region.
HERE ARE SEVEN SIMPLE ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE
1) Sign and share the petition calling for an end to the Irish arms trade with Israel, and come to one of our nationwide screenings of ‘The Lab’, Yotam Feldman’s devastating exposé of the Israeli arms industry at the end of this month.
2) Write to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and local TDs asking them support the call for an arms embargo on Israel.
3) Boycott Israeli Goods and write to supermarkets and stores asking them to stop stocking Israeli goods.
4) Complain to media outlets about pro-Israel bias and anti-Palestinian omissions in coverage of the situation. Check out our new weekly Palestine news roundup and ask why outlets why aren’t covering any of these important issues.
5) Use this simple tool to contact your local MEPs and ask them to take action to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
6) Join the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign and become part of the Global BDS Movement for justice in Palestine (you can always donate to support our work too)
7) Follow the IPSC on Facebook and Twitter and help us spread solidarity with the people of Palestine
