The re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu to a fourth term as Prime Minister of Israel on a platform explicitly hostile and racist to Palestinian citizens of Israel and to Palestinian sovereignty makes starkly clear the necessity for a new way forward. Despite the occasional verbal condemnation of Netanyahu”s antics in front of the Republican-led House of Representatives, the fact remains that the U.S. government provides the material support for Netanyahu”s policies. While the U.S. government might sometimes chastise Netanyahu”s racism or denial of Palestinians” rights, it keeps the money and weapons flowing.
How can we forget that at the same time that Netanyahu”s forces devastated the civilians of Gaza in Operation Protective Edge last summer, U.S. President Barack Obama offered millions of dollars of weapons, including parts for the US-developed Iron Dome, to support Israel’s onslaught?
Netanyahu”s election makes clear that neither an Israeli left nor the governments of Israel and the United States will ever protect Palestinians from policies of Palestinian elimination.
It is therefore up to us, as a popular, global mass movement, to demand a change to business as usual. We have the power to insist that the global community no longer does business with Netanyahu”s regime, and its violent attempt to eliminate Palestine and Palestinians.
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) originated in Palestine in 2005 and has growing international support. BDS is a non-violent popular movement intended to respect Palestinians” rights under international law and to ostracize Israel and its increasingly xenophobic and genocidal policies towards the Palestinians.
When governments fail to prevent atrocities, when they sanction violence, it”s up to us to speak up and to demand change.
Now is the time to join the BDS movement. Sign here to support the academic and cultural boycott of Israel: http://www.usacbi.org/
