Boycott is an instrument for the people and for individuals to express their solidarity concretely with those who are struggling in a just cause, and in today's world there is no juster cause that that of the Palestinians.
In 2005, Palestinian civil society made a united proposal to the international solidarity movements; identify ways of boycotting Israeli products, of disinvesting from commercial activities in Israel, of imposing sanctions on the state of Israel, of imposing academic and cultural boycotts on Israelis who do not take a position against the occupation and against apartheid.
All these requests have been coherently formulated in the BDS campaign, which has already achieved many successes (for example against Veolia, Africa-Israel, Motorola..) and has obtained support from organisations in civil society - accademic groups and trade unions from all over the world, including Israel. All the prAinciple unions that represent the Palestinian workers, often used as a workforce in Israel and in the settlements, are among the promoters of the BDS campaign.
Apartheid farms and Carmel Agrexco
In several European countries, a campaign has built up against Agrexco Ltd; the principle export company for Israeli agricultural products, which is partly state-owned.
With the Carmel lable, Agrexco sells around 70% of all fruit and vegetables produced in the Israeli settlements in the occupied territores, including those in the Jordan valley.
Some reasons to boycotto Agrexco:
- In the Jordan valley, which covers one third of the West Bank, the Israeli settlers control 95% of Palestinian land with military bases, 30 illegal settlements, and immense plantations, in violation of the Oslo accords.
- The agriculatural activities of the settlements have led to the illegal confiscation of land and the diversion of Palestinian water resources. Palestinians are not allowed to extend their houses, dig wells, or transport their few agriculatural products to market. So, while their products rot at checkpoints, those of the settlements are freely exported to Europe.
- The company has benefited from agricultural subsidies granted by the Israeli government to intensify colonisation of the Jordan valley, and has used them to increase production of fruit, flowers and vegetables, that are then sold in Europe, Latin America, Africa and East Asia.
80% of the Agrexco's products are exported to Europe, by way of France, Spain, and since last summer, also through Italia's Vado Ligure port in Savona. So, since 2009, Italy has become an essential link in the distribution of agricultural producs from Israeli settlements to Southern Europe.
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Per further information about the StopAgrexco Italia campaign, write to savona@donneinnero.it
Report on Agrexco from Stop the Wall Campaign (Nov 2009)
Siti utili
http://www.boicottaisraele.it/
http://www.bdsmovement.org/
http://www.bigcampaign.org/
http://www.whoprofits.org/
http://www.coalitioncontreagrexco.com/
