Boycott Isn’t Just One Day – It’s a Process

28/01/10

As previously reported (Nationwide Protests for Palestine), when the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign called, éirígí not only listened, it acted.

On Saturday, January 16, the IPSC called a Boycott Israeli Goods National Day of Action. The call was put out far and wide that, on that day, all concerned people and parties should mobilise throughout Ireland with the aim of encouraging a complete consumer boycott in support of Palestine.

The idea of a boycott is a familiar one to these shores, indeed, the very term was coined in late 19th century Ireland. It was then that a ruthless Captain Charles Boycott, a British land agent, mercenary and general strong arm for an absentee landlord met with the moral indignation of the local populace.

Inspired by the Irish Land League’s campaign in opposition to exploitation and appropriation, the local population withdrew their labour, goodwill and services. Charles Boycott was soon rendered useless. Through a morally principled campaign, the local population ensured that he was left to languish in absolute isolation and that, until justice was done, they determined that he would sell nothing, buy nothing nor receive anything.

In the end, the campaign defeated Charles Boycott, at least, and he was forced to flee the country.

The principled tactic of ‘boycotting’ had formally arrived.

So, when the IPSC made the call for a boycott, éirígí activists from across Ireland and others took to the streets to make the case for one.

One year on from the last major assault by zionist forces, when close to 1,400 Palestinians were slaughtered and many more were seriously injured, éirígí activists sought to convince the public to boycott all Israeli goods, in line with calls from Palestinian civil society and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

However, éirígí activists in Belfast have recognised that a boycott, if is to be effective, is not something that can be done in a day, it’s a process. If it is to be successful in denting the racist apartheid state of Israel, it must be sustained.

Thus, on January 16 and in the days that followed, éirígí activists in Belfast visited a number of major retailers in the west of the city, retailers that continue to stock Israeli goods.

Letters detailing the horrific nature of the occupation of Palestine and the racist policies of the occupier, Israel, were delivered to management along with an explanation and justification for a process of boycott. The retailers were asked to “immediately undertake a review of the products it stocks with a view to ensuring that no Israeli goods are on sale in west Belfast”.

éirígí Belfast has pledged to follow up on these requests. The process has begun and pressure will be sustained.

For its part, éirígí has signalled its intention to keep Palestine at the top of its agenda and having answered the call of boycott it in turn puts the call out – Boycott Israeli Goods!

Letter delivered to west Belfast businesses

A Chara,

As you are probably aware, the turn of the year marked the first anniversary of the Israeli government’s vicious onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

During this assault, close to 1,400 Palestinians lost their lives, the vast majority of them civilians. No regard for human life was shown by the Israeli occupation forces during the Gaza assault; ambulances were blown up, rockets smashed into residential buildings, UN food stores were incinerated and an array of deadly weaponry, including white phosphorous, was used on a nearly defenceless population. Ordinary men, women and children paid the price with their lives.

However, this savage bombing campaign against the people of Gaza represented just the pinnacle of Israel’s racist, colonialist policies against the Palestinian population.

The ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip has left the population without basic medicines, foodstuffs and materials for reconstruction.

Israel is in the latter stages of building a wall around the West Bank and Gaza, reminiscent of that which surrounded the Warsaw ghetto, that will divide families and cut off Palestinian farmers from their land – this wall has been condemned by the United Nations.

There are currently over 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners, including children and elected representatives, in Israeli jails.

Since 1967, Israel has demolished over 18,000 Palestinian homes, leaving 100,000 people without shelter.

Palestinians are more than four times as likely to be unemployed than Israelis, while Palestinians living inside the Israeli state face routine discrimination.

These are just some the facts that mark out Israel as a racist apartheid state. This has been acknowledged by head of the United Nations Father Miguel D’escoto Brockmann, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela and former US president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter.

The people of west Belfast have a long and honourable record of providing practical solidarity to the people of Palestine. This has included the boycotting of Israeli products by local businesses.

The boycott of Israeli goods is an international campaign, supported by 180 organisations that are representative of a broad section of Palestinian society. The boycott is supported by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and is similar to the one that played a key role in bringing down the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Accordingly, we are requesting that your store immediately undertakes a review of the products it stocks with a view to ensuring that no Israeli goods are on sale in west Belfast.

Alternatives to all Israeli products can be easily sourced and will result in little to no inconvenience to customers, staff and management. Given the appalling human rights situation in Palestine, the boycott of Israeli goods is a small, morally necessary step that can be taken by all local businesses.

We await your prompt reply.