Using a frequent tool of the nonviolent Palestinian resistance, Khaled Mansour is coordinating a grassroots campaign to boycott Israeli goods.
Operating under the umbrella of the National Committee of the Jerusalem Province, Mansour said that this action is crucial as the Israelis are causing enormous harm to Palestinian food industries. “The situation requires an official and popular Palestinian campaign.”
The Israeli administration floods Palestinian store shelves with its own products and bans locally made goods. The Palestinian Authority is among those responding to the ongoing violation and the most recent ban on dairy.
Mansour said today that two letters were sent to the Israelis, stating: “Our people will continue to boycott Israeli goods as a form of popular resistance aimed at causing a loss in the economy of the Israeli state which is raping our legitimate national rights.”
The second letter was addressed to the owners of factories and companies informing them that the Palestinian people are boycotting all Israeli goods, which Mansour says will enhance growth of the national economy. “This could lead to a national demand to buy only Palestinian products on the background of nationalism and the desire to create losses for the occupation.”
The official and head of the grassroots campaign said that the “latest Israeli action preventing dairy products from entering the Palestinian city of Jerusalem clearly reveals the extent to which the occupation state is attempting to narrow Palestinian culture.” He continued to say, “The extent of the damage caused by the possible repercussions of the boycott campaign could be enormous as far as losses to the Israeli economy as the Palestinian market is in second place as recipient of Israeli goods.”
The people’s campaign in the province, says Mansour, is “designed to deprive Israel of the benefits it derives from the occupation of our land.”
