Support The International Court of Justice!
Kris | 10.07.2004 09:52 | Analysis | Repression | Social Struggles | World
An attempt to organise a campaign for the boycott of Israeli products in light of the decision of the International Court of Justice and the blatant disregard for this decision by both Israel and America.
The International Court of Justice has found that the wall being built by Israel in the occupied territories is contrary to international law, the continued construction of the barrier should be terminated and that reparations be paid for the destruction caused by the construction of the existing wall.
Also nations are obliged not only to not give aid or assistance to maintain the current illegal situation but to ensure Israel complies with international law.
Basically the wall is illegal, it should not only be stopped but destroyed, those who lost livelihoods to its construction should be repaid and other states should not support Israel in this illegal act.
Once again, as predictable as ever the United States has not only ignored the opinion of the International Court of Justice, the main judicial organ of the UN, but seems determined to go against the final suggestion of the court.
It is now in the hands of the UN to decide what further action should be taken in order to end the illegal construction of the wall. Predictably if the UN decision does not fit into US plans, the US government will just ignore it and continue to support Israel and so other nations will not follow the decision simply because if the US is not involved any action will prove futile.
It may seem to many people, especially me in the UK, that we no longer have any power in a democracy. Millions of people worldwide were against the war in Iraq and yet our collective voice did not appear to register with those who are supposed to represent us.
Yet the biggest irony is that while in a democracy we seem to have no power, in the capitalist system (the main reason for the problems in our democracy) we do have power. That is the power of the consumer. The rulings of organisations who are supposed to guide our leaders morally in the difference between right and wrong are being ignored and so it is our duty simply as human beings to step into the void. Raanan Gissin, an aide to prime minister Ariel Sharon hopes that “this resolution will find its place in the garbage can of history” it us up to us to make sure it does not.
What I am proposing is a boycott of all Israeli goods; it is our job to ensure that our states compel Israel to abide by humanitarian law. While the decisions of the UN are easily ignored when they are not useful the decision of consumers is not. In the current world our only power lies in where we choose to buy our goods from, even if the US does decide to support Israel it will be of little good if the majority of the world does not. There are still two super powers in the world, the United States and the opinion of the world. It is to the second super power that I am appealing.
Write to your local supermarket and shops to inform them that you will no longer be buying products that are from Israel and that you would prefer them to find out sources for those goods until the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are upheld. Then make sure that you boycott products from Israel.
If you live in the UK then you are lucky enough to have labelling on your food to tell you where it originates from, as for other countries I cannot comment.
Write to your local MP and suggest that he or she support any action decided by the UN in order to end Israel’s construction of the wall.
For all of those pro-Israeli people who are bound to condemn this call for a boycott as a call for the support of terrorism I assure you it is not. Both Palestinian and Israeli terrorism are intolerable. The two reinforce and support each other, if there were no Hamas there would be no need for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) to spend so much
time in Palestine BUT if the IDF did not spend so much time attacking towns in Palestine there would be no need for Hamas, the atrocities of both are equally horrific and no one side is more righteous than the other. There is no difference between killing a Palestinian civilian with a helicopter than an Israeli civilian with a suicide bomb.
The argument that this wall is supposed to be for the security of Israelis is clearly flawed, the first point worth noting is that the ICJ did not recognise this and secondly if the wall really was for security it should be built just inside Israel so that the IDF could patrol both sides but this would disrupt the lives of Israeli’s and not incorporate more land. The separation barrier is a thinly disguised attempt at seizing more land under the cover of “security”.
Finally it is not anti-Semitic to be critical or against of Israel’s policy, no more than it is racist to be against policy of Zimbabwean government.
It is inevitable that if this boycott is successful then it is ordinary Israelis who will suffer and although this is unfortunate and unfair it is no worse than what the Palestinians have to suffer because of the wall and the discontent of ordinary Israelis may have a more dramatic impact on the actions of their government than the discontent of the rest of the world.
Also nations are obliged not only to not give aid or assistance to maintain the current illegal situation but to ensure Israel complies with international law.
Basically the wall is illegal, it should not only be stopped but destroyed, those who lost livelihoods to its construction should be repaid and other states should not support Israel in this illegal act.
Once again, as predictable as ever the United States has not only ignored the opinion of the International Court of Justice, the main judicial organ of the UN, but seems determined to go against the final suggestion of the court.
It is now in the hands of the UN to decide what further action should be taken in order to end the illegal construction of the wall. Predictably if the UN decision does not fit into US plans, the US government will just ignore it and continue to support Israel and so other nations will not follow the decision simply because if the US is not involved any action will prove futile.
It may seem to many people, especially me in the UK, that we no longer have any power in a democracy. Millions of people worldwide were against the war in Iraq and yet our collective voice did not appear to register with those who are supposed to represent us.
Yet the biggest irony is that while in a democracy we seem to have no power, in the capitalist system (the main reason for the problems in our democracy) we do have power. That is the power of the consumer. The rulings of organisations who are supposed to guide our leaders morally in the difference between right and wrong are being ignored and so it is our duty simply as human beings to step into the void. Raanan Gissin, an aide to prime minister Ariel Sharon hopes that “this resolution will find its place in the garbage can of history” it us up to us to make sure it does not.
What I am proposing is a boycott of all Israeli goods; it is our job to ensure that our states compel Israel to abide by humanitarian law. While the decisions of the UN are easily ignored when they are not useful the decision of consumers is not. In the current world our only power lies in where we choose to buy our goods from, even if the US does decide to support Israel it will be of little good if the majority of the world does not. There are still two super powers in the world, the United States and the opinion of the world. It is to the second super power that I am appealing.
Write to your local supermarket and shops to inform them that you will no longer be buying products that are from Israel and that you would prefer them to find out sources for those goods until the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are upheld. Then make sure that you boycott products from Israel.
If you live in the UK then you are lucky enough to have labelling on your food to tell you where it originates from, as for other countries I cannot comment.
Write to your local MP and suggest that he or she support any action decided by the UN in order to end Israel’s construction of the wall.
For all of those pro-Israeli people who are bound to condemn this call for a boycott as a call for the support of terrorism I assure you it is not. Both Palestinian and Israeli terrorism are intolerable. The two reinforce and support each other, if there were no Hamas there would be no need for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) to spend so much
time in Palestine BUT if the IDF did not spend so much time attacking towns in Palestine there would be no need for Hamas, the atrocities of both are equally horrific and no one side is more righteous than the other. There is no difference between killing a Palestinian civilian with a helicopter than an Israeli civilian with a suicide bomb.
The argument that this wall is supposed to be for the security of Israelis is clearly flawed, the first point worth noting is that the ICJ did not recognise this and secondly if the wall really was for security it should be built just inside Israel so that the IDF could patrol both sides but this would disrupt the lives of Israeli’s and not incorporate more land. The separation barrier is a thinly disguised attempt at seizing more land under the cover of “security”.
Finally it is not anti-Semitic to be critical or against of Israel’s policy, no more than it is racist to be against policy of Zimbabwean government.
It is inevitable that if this boycott is successful then it is ordinary Israelis who will suffer and although this is unfortunate and unfair it is no worse than what the Palestinians have to suffer because of the wall and the discontent of ordinary Israelis may have a more dramatic impact on the actions of their government than the discontent of the rest of the world.
Kris
