http://www.fosna.org/

martedì 4 aprile 2017

 

FOSNA Stands with Omar Barghouti

 

On March 19, Israeli authorities arrested and began interrogating Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian human rights activist and co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Though Barghouti was arrested on the pretext of “tax fraud,” we, as a Christian ecumenical organization advocating and organizing for justice in Palestine, recognize the arrest as an unconscionable act of political repression. It comes on the heels of a years-long campaign on the part of Israeli authorities to curb Barghouti’s work and the BDS movement at large.

Since the 2005 call for an international movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, Israeli authorities have worked tirelessly to squash the movement, to no avail. BDS is a rights-based tactic based on historic boycott movements against oppressive governments and policies. It draws on the legacy of the boycott against apartheid South Africa. BDS gives people the power to hold Israel responsible for its actions when world governments and international bodies have failed to do so. In the 10-plus years since the call for BDS was issued, it has become the most popular tactic for human rights activists calling for justice in Palestine around the world. For instance, in 2016, the United Methodist Church divested from Israeli banks, and the Alliance of Baptists adopted a BDS platform supporting Palestinian human rights.

In order to fight these peaceful resistance measures, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up initiatives meant to discredit BDS as a tactic, such as the “Brand Israel” campaign, which challenges the cultural and academic boycott. Most recently, Israel passed a law banning supporters of BDS from entering the country, establishing further precedent to detain, search, and interrogate internationals working for justice and to muzzle their work toward justice. In the United States, legislators around the country have passed anti-BDS legislation, criminalizing companies that engage in boycott.

Israel’s ongoing harassment of Omar Barghouti has been part of a strategic international campaign to shut down the BDS movement and our freedom of speech. Thus far, Israel has attempted to revoke Barghouti’s permanent residence in Israel and imposed a travel ban on him; Israeli government ministers have even made threats on his life. Charging Barghouti with bogus claims of tax fraud is only one more in a string of attacks meant to smear his image and, by extension, discredit BDS as a tactic.

We recognize the importance that BDS holds as a tactic for those of us working in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and insist that engaging in boycott of Israel is an incredibly powerful moral act of resistance that leverages our buying power against Israel’s violent policies.

We insist that the continued detainment and interrogation of Barghouti is draconian, inhumane, and antithetical to all standards of human rights and basic morality. We call on both governmental and non-governmental actors concerned with Palestinian rights, especially those calling for nonviolence, to join the chorus demanding Israel end its campaign of harassment and intimidation against Bargouti and all supporters of the BDS Movement.