Thursday May 06, 2010 11:01 by Saed Bannoura – IMEMC & Agencies Report post

Several popular movements, civil society institutions and women organizations in the 1948 areas are preparing to officially declare the launch of a boycott campaign targeting all settlement products as a means of economic pressure on Israel.

The movements held a meeting and issued a statement calling for a unified stance to boycott all settlement products.

The Follow-up for the Boycott Campaign will be holding a comprehensive meeting on Thursday evening to officially declare the boycott.

It stated that “around the world, several groups and organizations are boycotting settlement products, made in the occupied territories”, and that such campaigns in Europe and other parts of the world managed to achieve a significant success.

The Committee added that Arab markets buy more than 400 Million Israeli Shekels worth of settlement products annually, and that the time has come to declare a clear stance to boycott those products.

It called on all national and popular figures, political factions and all institutions in the Arab cities and towns to be actively involved in the boycott campaign.

Baker Awawda, member of the Popular Committee in Kafr Kanna, said that the campaign will be officially launched Thursday and aims at increasing awareness for boycotting settlement products as settlements are illegal and are meant for the prosecution of the Palestinian people.

Awawda added that this campaign is the beginning of a wider campaign against settlements and their products.

He further said that such campaigns are increasing around the world, especially since the offensive on the Gaza Strip, and added that boycott campaigns managed to keep settlement products off the shelves of several European and international markets.