PACBI Statement

Israel is Committing War Crimes in Gaza with Impunity--High Time for Boycott!

July 9, 2006
Since the beginning of its current invasion of Gaza, and under the pretence of freeing a captured soldier, Israel has violated basic principles of international law and committed war crimes, as documented by Amnesty International, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, and other human rights bodies. These crimes and the resulting tragic death toll among Palestinian civilians are not surprising, given Israel’s long record of dehumanizing Palestinians and its collective punishment against them.

Since the beginning of its current invasion of Gaza, and under the pretence of freeing a captured soldier, Israel has violated basic principles of international law and committed war crimes, as documented by Amnesty International, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, and other human rights bodies. These crimes and the resulting tragic death toll among Palestinian civilians are not surprising, given Israel’s long record of dehumanizing Palestinians and its collective punishment against them. What is indeed extraordinary is the almost complete acquiescence or complicity from western governments, which have effectively provided the Israeli army with a protective political shield, allowing it to continue, with impunity, its inhumane and illegal killing, house demolition, tree uprooting and destruction of vital infrastructure in the besieged and deliberately impoverished Gaza Strip, as well as the abduction of elected Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank.

Two years after the ICJ’s damning verdict against its Wall and colonies built on occupied Palestinian land, Israel is showing in its Gaza invasion a criminal disregard for fundamental human rights and the applicable precepts of international law. The latest failure of the international community of nations to hold Israel to account puts the moral burden on the shoulders of conscientious citizens of the world to take action now to end the bloodshed and to compel Israel to respect its obligations under international law. Applying diverse forms of boycott -- economic, academic, athletic, cultural, etc. -- and divestment against Israel, as was done to apartheid South African, remains the most politically and morally sound means of achieving this end and boosting the chances for realizing a just peace in our region.

The Palestinian BDS Campaign salutes all those who have stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people in this dark moment, upholding the sanctity of all human life and human rights and preserving the primacy of international law.

Acting Steering Committee, Palestinian BDS Campaign

Contacts:
PACBI: [email]info@BoycottIsrael.ps[/email]
OPGAI: [email]info@badil.org[/email]

July 9, 2006
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