The development NGO platform Skop has called for a boycott of Israeli companies in the wake of the shooting of Bianca Zammit, the Maltese activist injured by a live bullet shot by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza.
“We urge all those of goodwill who want justice for the Palestinian people to demand boycott, divestments and sanctions of Israeli companies and institutions that keep turning a blind eye to the occupation,” Skop spokesperson Mario Gerada said.
Bianca Zammit was injured in an unwarranted attack by IDF personnel while accompanying Palestinian farmers in Gaza to their fields in the so called “buffer zone”, a no-go area unilaterally declared by Israel.
There is no legal basis for the no-go area.
“Boycotts can be effective in getting Israelis to realise that not all is alright, and they have to range from academic to commercial and artistic boycotts of everything Israeli, while supporting Palestinian products made in Palestine,” Bianca Zammit told MaltaToday in a recent interview shortly after she was released from hospital.
In their statement, Skop said another activist, Ahmad Deeb, 21 was killed whilst participating in another peaceful demonstration by a dumdum bullet, a bullet that breaks into shrapnel once inside the body.
“Violations of human rights cannot and should not be justified because of one”s own ethnic origins or nationality. Such justification is a form of apartheid. Sadly the state of Israel has become an embarrassment for the international community,” Gerada said.
Skop is urging the EU institutions to reconsider EU-Israel privileged relations. “We also urge the 25-MEP delegation visiting Israel this month to address human rights violations perpetrated by the State of Israel against humanity,” Gerada said.
Skop, the national platform of Maltese NGDOs, is Malta”s broadest network of voluntary and non-governmental organisations working in international development and humanitarian aid.
