Update

Palestinian BDS National Committee condemns creation of Israeli taskforce to deport international human rights activists

The decision to establish this anti-BDS task force was made by Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan and Interior Minister Arye Dery.

The Palestinian BDS National Committee, the broadest coalition in Palestinian society that leads the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights, strongly condemned Israel’s establishment of a taskforce specifically for identifying international BDS activists and groups in order to deny them entry or deport them from the country.

The decision to establish this anti-BDS task force was made by Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan and Interior Minister Arye Dery. 

The announcement comes less than a month after five U.S. human rights delegates were detained and harassed at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport before being deported on July 17. Israel regularly denies entry to foreigners for their political affiliations without being met with any meaningful counter measures by governments around the world.

Abdulrahman Abunahel, a spokesperson for the Palestinian BDS National Committee, commented:

"Deporting BDS activists in order to silence them and undermine their principled support for Palestinian human rights is not only anti-democratic; it is yet another incident of Israel shooting itself in the foot. If anything, we expect such acts of heightened repression to boost support for boycotting Israel back in these activists' home countries."

"This latest weapon in the intensifying Israeli legal, espionage and propaganda war against the BDS movement for Palestinian rights is a strong indicator of how desperate and irrational Israel's regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid has become in its futile attempts to hinder the impressive growth of the BDS movement around the world."

"After failing to counter or even diminish the unmistakable impact of BDS in isolating its brutal regime of oppression, Israel is dropping the mask. It is revealing its true face to the world as a ruthless, warmongering pariah state, and it is resorting to the same repressive tools deployed by apartheid South Africa in its last chapter, before its eventual collapse."

"We salute every person of conscience around the world who has creatively, passionately and selflessly supported the Palestinian struggle for our rights under international law. We are confident that Israel's intensifying repression notwithstanding, this principled solidarity will significantly contribute to the struggle for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality."


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