24 oct 2019
by Mahm’d Zaban, PNN
The Israeli occupation state views BDS as a movement which forms a strategic threat to its national security, extensively triggering international public opinion against it, and works to isolate Israel internationally. Thus, Israel uses several means to reduce the effects of BDS, including the policies of extreme right-wing organizations in America.
The Hebrew publication, Yediot Aharonot, quoted senior political forums in Tel Aviv as saying, “Israel is financing some International organizations to encounter the BDS, and to organize events and activities for the benefit of Israel, especially in the EU states through launching media campaigns on the social networks.”
At their joint position in Brussels, last September, the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs and Internal Security, Gilad Erdan, the US special envoy to monitor and encounter anti-Semitism, Ilan Carr, head of the EU-Jewish Council, Rabbi, Menachem Margolin, all urged the EU to take serious steps against any organization which supports BDS, claiming that its activities are racist.
In its bi-weekly report on boycott affairs, the National Bureau for Defending the Land and Resisting Settlement, said that the international boycott campaigns, especially in the EU countries, won’t stop, but step up, despite the Israeli Government, the Zionist lobby and the extreme right-wing parties in the EU countries , as they attempt to criminalize, prosecute, and enact legislation to punish supporters, trying to stop their expansion — especially within BDS — but in vain.
In Johannesburg, at the Synod Church Council that is held every 3 years, and representing Anglican societies in South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Angola, and St. Helena, the high commission at the Anglican Church for South Africa (ACSA) unanimously took a resolution to support the BDS campaign against Israel until it ends its military occupation in Palestine. It is worth mentioning that the resolution stated: “The situation in the Holy Land requires the attention of the church, being the place where he (Jesus) was born and crucified.”
Hundreds of authors, recently, have publicly denounced the revocation of a German literary prize, the Nelly Sachs Award for Literature, from esteemed British-Pakistani writer Kamila Shamsie, because of her support for her support for the movement to boycott the occupation.
Moreover, Aachen City authorities have decided to deprive Lebanese artist Walid Ra’d from the literary prize, which values at US $ 9,900, as he is also pro-BDS. Also noteworthy is the fact that Aachen has chosen Ra’d to win the prize for his project “Atlas Group,” which dealt with the history of the civil war in Lebanon, which lasted from 1989 to 2004.
Additionally, the BDS movement has called on Indian artists to boycott a festival to be held in Israel, this month, in order to promote the Israeli occupation. The movement requested and expected that the Bollywood stars won’t join such event, which supports apartheid, noting that the list of guests include Indian artists, most notably Anil Kapoor, Ravina Tandon and Amisha Pateel.
In Germany, the Palestinian Society, supported by other Palestinian unions in the EU — such as the German-Palestinian Society, and the German-Palestinian Women’s Association — managed to win a case filed against BDS by the Municipality Council, which criminalizes and prohibits its activities.
It should be noted that the Society has recruited a number of rights organizations, especially the Netherland Transparent Democratic Organization that is host to international Lawyer Giovanni Massimo, to follow up on the matter, which targets German and Palestinian activists, in addition to countering the German Parliament’s resolution, which criminalizes BDS.
In the United States, the largest financial supporter of Israeli settlement movements, and the Israeli lobby in Washington, billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, has founded a new Jewish-American group called the “Maccabi Labor Commission,” to fight BDS at American and other universities, especially in the EU, where the movement is becoming increasingly active, adding that the group is going to begin working at the beginning of the academic year, in 2020. Furthermore, the Jewish lobby is pressing to enact new laws in the US which would ban criticism of Israel and its occupation of the Palestinian territories, at university campuses.
However, BDS confirms that the number of colleges which support the movement in North America has reached 51, stressing the importance of the students’ activity against the Israeli occupation, and praised the American “Trail Blazers” basketball team’s refusal to sponsor the “Leopold and Sniffens Co.,” which provides the Israeli occupation army with military supplies.
On the Arab level, the Palestinian National Committee for Boycotting Israel (BDS) condemned Qatar‘s recent acts of normalization with the apartheid colonial system, specifically the Israeli occupation, as it hosts official Israeli sports teams in its sports tournaments, most recently the World Beach Sports Championship, in which an Israeli delegation of 4 players participated, preceded by another Israeli delegation that participated in the World Athletics Championships, held in Qatar. Moreover, Bahraini and Arab organizations and institutions poised against Israel condemned delegation’s participation in a conference, held in Bahrain, to protect navigation in the Gulf.
The Palestinian National Committee for Boycotting Israel – Palestinian BDS, international leadership of BDS, the Moroccan Boycott Movement – Morocco BDS, the Moroccan Coalition of Human Rights, and Coordinating Maghreb Human Rights Organizations also condemned the targeting and harassment of human rights activists in Morocco, by its use of Israeli espionage technology.
On the Palestinian level, several organizations have condemned the government’s decision to import olives from Israel. They have also condemned the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture’s statements to import about 2,000 tons of Israeli olives, intended for pickling, under the pretext of meeting the needs of the Palestinian market of such olives. It should be noted that these organizations have called for boycotting all kinds of Israeli olives, for supporting the local Palestinian product, and developing the market so that it can meet its own needs.
On the Israeli level, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri threatened to to prevent Omar Barghouti from staying in Israel, accusing him of doing his best to harm Israel, and therefore should not have the right to stay in Acre with his two sons, as he is one of the founders of the BDS movement. Adding that Barghouti was recently barred from entering Britain and the United States, where he was supposed to participate in conferences, due to the Israeli incitement against him. Moreover, Barghouti was prevented from joining his daughter’s wedding ceremony, in Washington, some months ago.
Hebrew press, including Yediot Aharonot, has also revealed that senior political sources in Tel Aviv claim that Israel is providing financial assistance to international right-wing organizations operating against the BDS movement, through the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, which provided NIS 5.7 million to organize activities in favor of Israel, with extensive campaigns implemented via social media. NIS 3,000,000 will reportedly be granted, by Israel, to organize pro-Israel field activities, as well as NIS 2.7 million, which will be provided to organizations and activists on social media networks, to organize campaigns against the de-legitimization of Israel, and the boycott movement in the countries, where BDS is active.
Human Interest 10/21/19 Palestine Through The Eyes Of A Visitor
The Israeli occupation state views BDS as a movement which forms a strategic threat to its national security, extensively triggering international public opinion against it, and works to isolate Israel internationally. Thus, Israel uses several means to reduce the effects of BDS, including the policies of extreme right-wing organizations in America.
The Hebrew publication, Yediot Aharonot, quoted senior political forums in Tel Aviv as saying, “Israel is financing some International organizations to encounter the BDS, and to organize events and activities for the benefit of Israel, especially in the EU states through launching media campaigns on the social networks.”
At their joint position in Brussels, last September, the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs and Internal Security, Gilad Erdan, the US special envoy to monitor and encounter anti-Semitism, Ilan Carr, head of the EU-Jewish Council, Rabbi, Menachem Margolin, all urged the EU to take serious steps against any organization which supports BDS, claiming that its activities are racist.
In its bi-weekly report on boycott affairs, the National Bureau for Defending the Land and Resisting Settlement, said that the international boycott campaigns, especially in the EU countries, won’t stop, but step up, despite the Israeli Government, the Zionist lobby and the extreme right-wing parties in the EU countries , as they attempt to criminalize, prosecute, and enact legislation to punish supporters, trying to stop their expansion — especially within BDS — but in vain.
In Johannesburg, at the Synod Church Council that is held every 3 years, and representing Anglican societies in South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Angola, and St. Helena, the high commission at the Anglican Church for South Africa (ACSA) unanimously took a resolution to support the BDS campaign against Israel until it ends its military occupation in Palestine. It is worth mentioning that the resolution stated: “The situation in the Holy Land requires the attention of the church, being the place where he (Jesus) was born and crucified.”
Hundreds of authors, recently, have publicly denounced the revocation of a German literary prize, the Nelly Sachs Award for Literature, from esteemed British-Pakistani writer Kamila Shamsie, because of her support for her support for the movement to boycott the occupation.
Moreover, Aachen City authorities have decided to deprive Lebanese artist Walid Ra’d from the literary prize, which values at US $ 9,900, as he is also pro-BDS. Also noteworthy is the fact that Aachen has chosen Ra’d to win the prize for his project “Atlas Group,” which dealt with the history of the civil war in Lebanon, which lasted from 1989 to 2004.
Additionally, the BDS movement has called on Indian artists to boycott a festival to be held in Israel, this month, in order to promote the Israeli occupation. The movement requested and expected that the Bollywood stars won’t join such event, which supports apartheid, noting that the list of guests include Indian artists, most notably Anil Kapoor, Ravina Tandon and Amisha Pateel.
In Germany, the Palestinian Society, supported by other Palestinian unions in the EU — such as the German-Palestinian Society, and the German-Palestinian Women’s Association — managed to win a case filed against BDS by the Municipality Council, which criminalizes and prohibits its activities.
It should be noted that the Society has recruited a number of rights organizations, especially the Netherland Transparent Democratic Organization that is host to international Lawyer Giovanni Massimo, to follow up on the matter, which targets German and Palestinian activists, in addition to countering the German Parliament’s resolution, which criminalizes BDS.
In the United States, the largest financial supporter of Israeli settlement movements, and the Israeli lobby in Washington, billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, has founded a new Jewish-American group called the “Maccabi Labor Commission,” to fight BDS at American and other universities, especially in the EU, where the movement is becoming increasingly active, adding that the group is going to begin working at the beginning of the academic year, in 2020. Furthermore, the Jewish lobby is pressing to enact new laws in the US which would ban criticism of Israel and its occupation of the Palestinian territories, at university campuses.
However, BDS confirms that the number of colleges which support the movement in North America has reached 51, stressing the importance of the students’ activity against the Israeli occupation, and praised the American “Trail Blazers” basketball team’s refusal to sponsor the “Leopold and Sniffens Co.,” which provides the Israeli occupation army with military supplies.
On the Arab level, the Palestinian National Committee for Boycotting Israel (BDS) condemned Qatar‘s recent acts of normalization with the apartheid colonial system, specifically the Israeli occupation, as it hosts official Israeli sports teams in its sports tournaments, most recently the World Beach Sports Championship, in which an Israeli delegation of 4 players participated, preceded by another Israeli delegation that participated in the World Athletics Championships, held in Qatar. Moreover, Bahraini and Arab organizations and institutions poised against Israel condemned delegation’s participation in a conference, held in Bahrain, to protect navigation in the Gulf.
The Palestinian National Committee for Boycotting Israel – Palestinian BDS, international leadership of BDS, the Moroccan Boycott Movement – Morocco BDS, the Moroccan Coalition of Human Rights, and Coordinating Maghreb Human Rights Organizations also condemned the targeting and harassment of human rights activists in Morocco, by its use of Israeli espionage technology.
On the Palestinian level, several organizations have condemned the government’s decision to import olives from Israel. They have also condemned the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture’s statements to import about 2,000 tons of Israeli olives, intended for pickling, under the pretext of meeting the needs of the Palestinian market of such olives. It should be noted that these organizations have called for boycotting all kinds of Israeli olives, for supporting the local Palestinian product, and developing the market so that it can meet its own needs.
On the Israeli level, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri threatened to to prevent Omar Barghouti from staying in Israel, accusing him of doing his best to harm Israel, and therefore should not have the right to stay in Acre with his two sons, as he is one of the founders of the BDS movement. Adding that Barghouti was recently barred from entering Britain and the United States, where he was supposed to participate in conferences, due to the Israeli incitement against him. Moreover, Barghouti was prevented from joining his daughter’s wedding ceremony, in Washington, some months ago.
Hebrew press, including Yediot Aharonot, has also revealed that senior political sources in Tel Aviv claim that Israel is providing financial assistance to international right-wing organizations operating against the BDS movement, through the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, which provided NIS 5.7 million to organize activities in favor of Israel, with extensive campaigns implemented via social media. NIS 3,000,000 will reportedly be granted, by Israel, to organize pro-Israel field activities, as well as NIS 2.7 million, which will be provided to organizations and activists on social media networks, to organize campaigns against the de-legitimization of Israel, and the boycott movement in the countries, where BDS is active.
Human Interest 10/21/19 Palestine Through The Eyes Of A Visitor
The UN expert on human rights in the Palestinian territories on Wednesday called for an international ban on all products made in Israeli settlements, as an important step towards ending Israel’s 52-year-old “illegal occupation” of the West Bank.
Michael Lynk, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, told the General Assembly’s human rights committee Wednesday that the international community should issue “a clarion call to the United Nations” to complete and release a withheld database “on businesses engaged in activities related to the illegal settlements.”
Lynk stressed that the international community has a responsibility and a legal obligation to compel Israel to completely end its occupation and remove barriers to self-determination for the Palestinians.
He also called the Israeli occupation in Palestine “the longest occupation” in the world, Anadolu reports.
“Israel has occupied the Palestinian territory for more than 52 years, the longest belligerent occupation in the modern world.”
He said the international community is reluctant to take action against Israel for its permanent occupation and serious violations of international law.
“The status quo of Israel’s ‘occu-annexation’ is endlessly sustainable without decisive international intervention because of the grossly asymmetrical balance of power on the ground,” Lynk said.
As for Gaza, the rights expert said the ongoing blockade — land, sea and air — has severely restricted basic rights of the residents, including healthcare, education and livelihood.
“The Gaza blockade is a denial of basic human rights and amounts to collective punishment,” he said.
Turning to ongoing protests by Gazans and the use of live ammunition by Israeli security forces, Lynk said Israeli has not held its soldiers accountable for their actions despite calls by the international community and civil society organizations in this regard.
The “Great March of Return” and related protests have resulted in the deaths of 207 Palestinians and 33,828 have been injured, he noted.
The expert also raised concerns on the Israeli government’s annexation activities in the West Bank and settlers’ escalating violations there.
“Incidents of settler violence were recorded in a number of West Bank towns including in Hebron, Nablus, and Ramallah,” he added.
Lynk said the Israeli security forces have intensified their raids into various parts of the West Bank and arrests and arbitrary detentions.
Lynk also said more than 100 Palestinian-owned structures have been demolished in east Jerusalem since late April.
He said the Israeli occupation is a bitter illustration of the absence of international accountability for Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights and humanitarian law.
Michael Lynk, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, told the General Assembly’s human rights committee Wednesday that the international community should issue “a clarion call to the United Nations” to complete and release a withheld database “on businesses engaged in activities related to the illegal settlements.”
Lynk stressed that the international community has a responsibility and a legal obligation to compel Israel to completely end its occupation and remove barriers to self-determination for the Palestinians.
He also called the Israeli occupation in Palestine “the longest occupation” in the world, Anadolu reports.
“Israel has occupied the Palestinian territory for more than 52 years, the longest belligerent occupation in the modern world.”
He said the international community is reluctant to take action against Israel for its permanent occupation and serious violations of international law.
“The status quo of Israel’s ‘occu-annexation’ is endlessly sustainable without decisive international intervention because of the grossly asymmetrical balance of power on the ground,” Lynk said.
As for Gaza, the rights expert said the ongoing blockade — land, sea and air — has severely restricted basic rights of the residents, including healthcare, education and livelihood.
“The Gaza blockade is a denial of basic human rights and amounts to collective punishment,” he said.
Turning to ongoing protests by Gazans and the use of live ammunition by Israeli security forces, Lynk said Israeli has not held its soldiers accountable for their actions despite calls by the international community and civil society organizations in this regard.
The “Great March of Return” and related protests have resulted in the deaths of 207 Palestinians and 33,828 have been injured, he noted.
The expert also raised concerns on the Israeli government’s annexation activities in the West Bank and settlers’ escalating violations there.
“Incidents of settler violence were recorded in a number of West Bank towns including in Hebron, Nablus, and Ramallah,” he added.
Lynk said the Israeli security forces have intensified their raids into various parts of the West Bank and arrests and arbitrary detentions.
Lynk also said more than 100 Palestinian-owned structures have been demolished in east Jerusalem since late April.
He said the Israeli occupation is a bitter illustration of the absence of international accountability for Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights and humanitarian law.
22 oct 2019
We, the undersigned Palestinian trade unions, work to protect Palestinian workers’ rights and are part of the struggle for freedom, justice and equality for all. Trade unions have the responsibility and the duty to protect workers’ rights in their countries, but also to keep other workers around the world safe.
We, as Palestinians, have not been allowed to return to our homes for the last 70 years. We live under a brutal military occupation in the West Bank, under the blockade in Gaza, and as second-class citizens in Israel – we endure Israel’s discriminatory and racist policies every single day of our lives.
Palestinian workers are unlawfully arrested, killed, given worse work conditions, stopped at checkpoints on their way to work, and are at greater risk of losing their jobs.
Israel can only maintain its regime of apartheid, colonialism and occupation over the Palestinian people due to institutional and companies’ support.
After reading the report AXA: Financing war crimes [pdf], we have learned that AXA is investing over $91 million in Elbit Systems and in the top five Israeli banks. Elbit is Israel’s private military security company, and it gives its weapons to the Israeli army to test on Palestinians, and then sells them to the rest of the world as “battle-tested”.
The top five Israeli banks – Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot, First Israel Bank and Israel Discount Bank – all finance and maintain Israeli settlements, which are illegal under International Law and considered war crimes.
AXA has taken a positive first step by partially divesting from Elbit Systems last December. But it still invests over $1.2 million in Elbit Systems.
We cannot understand how an insurance company, which should protect people’s lives, is involved in destroying them.
We know there have been activists calling for AXA to divest from these above mentioned companies. But now, from trade unions to trade unions, we want to call on you to ask AXA not to maintain these complicit investments. We know well that AXA will listen to your message.
Stand on the right side of history and make sure that your company, AXA, is not investing in hurting our rights as Palestinians, and is not complicit in Israel’s violations of International Law.
Signed by:
We, as Palestinians, have not been allowed to return to our homes for the last 70 years. We live under a brutal military occupation in the West Bank, under the blockade in Gaza, and as second-class citizens in Israel – we endure Israel’s discriminatory and racist policies every single day of our lives.
Palestinian workers are unlawfully arrested, killed, given worse work conditions, stopped at checkpoints on their way to work, and are at greater risk of losing their jobs.
Israel can only maintain its regime of apartheid, colonialism and occupation over the Palestinian people due to institutional and companies’ support.
After reading the report AXA: Financing war crimes [pdf], we have learned that AXA is investing over $91 million in Elbit Systems and in the top five Israeli banks. Elbit is Israel’s private military security company, and it gives its weapons to the Israeli army to test on Palestinians, and then sells them to the rest of the world as “battle-tested”.
The top five Israeli banks – Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot, First Israel Bank and Israel Discount Bank – all finance and maintain Israeli settlements, which are illegal under International Law and considered war crimes.
AXA has taken a positive first step by partially divesting from Elbit Systems last December. But it still invests over $1.2 million in Elbit Systems.
We cannot understand how an insurance company, which should protect people’s lives, is involved in destroying them.
We know there have been activists calling for AXA to divest from these above mentioned companies. But now, from trade unions to trade unions, we want to call on you to ask AXA not to maintain these complicit investments. We know well that AXA will listen to your message.
Stand on the right side of history and make sure that your company, AXA, is not investing in hurting our rights as Palestinians, and is not complicit in Israel’s violations of International Law.
Signed by:
- Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions – Gaza Strip
- The Palestinian New Unions
- Palestinian Union of Postal, IT and Telecommunication workers
- General Union of Palestinian Workers
21 oct 2019
There is a possibility that there will be no indigenous Christians left in the Holy Land - unless Israel ends its occupation of Palestine. This was the urgent message from Palestinian Christian theologians and activists speaking at the Holy Land Conference in Johannesburg last week.
Hosted by The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa (TEASA), which represents almost 4 million Christians who identify as born-again or evangelical, delegates heard first-hand accounts of how Israel’s military occupation and its restrictions on Palestinian movement prevented Christian Palestinians from worshiping at Christianity’s most sacred sites in occupied Jerusalem. Some of these sites are located less than 15km from their homes. Israel’s occupation of Palestine has also effectively deprived Palestinians of access to education, health-care and employment opportunities.
This has led to an exodus of Christian Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. Indigenous Christian Palestinians once constituted over 19% of Palestine’s population, and number less than 2 percent today.
According to Shireen Awwad Hilal, the coordinator of Musalaha Women’s Ministry in Bethlehem, the chief cause of the decline in the Christian population of the Holy Land is not due to the persecution of Christians by Muslims. “Many Christians feel that there is little hope for a better future for their children under Israeli occupation, and this has contributed to the growing emigration of Palestinian Christians. Christian Palestinians are under threat from the Israeli occupation – not Islam,” says Awwad Hilal.
Yousef Al-Khouri agrees. “Muslim and Christian Palestinians suffer equally under the Israeli occupation. There is no conflict between Islam and Christianity in Gaza or anywhere else in occupied Palestine. This is not a religious conflict, this is occupation,” says the Gaza-born Biblical Studies lecturer whose family goes back over 900 years in the Greek Orthodox priesthood in Palestine.
According to TEASA secretary-general, Reverend Moss Nthla, the conference and the visit by the Palestinians was a ground-breaking attempt by the evangelical movement in South Africa to introduce an alternative narrative on the Holy Land. The dominant narrative within the evangelical movement is that the creation of the state of Israel was a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. This narrative, Nthla says, “weaponizes the Bible against Palestinians and justifies the occupation of Palestine.”
“As Christians, we need to change our role as unwitting collaborators with the oppression of Palestinian people. We must inform and equip ourselves to be part of a solution that has as its aim a just peace in Palestine, rather than being part of the problem,” Nthla explained in an interview with the Afro-Palestine Newswire Service. “South African Christians must be interested in what is happening in Israel/Palestine because it is the place where Jesus Christ was born, lived and died.”
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) has condemned Israel’s occupation of Palestine, calling the treatment of the Palestinians by Israel “worse than Apartheid”.
In September, the Anglican and Methodist Churches of Southern Africa resolved to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel until that state ended its military occupation of Palestine.
Hosted by The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa (TEASA), which represents almost 4 million Christians who identify as born-again or evangelical, delegates heard first-hand accounts of how Israel’s military occupation and its restrictions on Palestinian movement prevented Christian Palestinians from worshiping at Christianity’s most sacred sites in occupied Jerusalem. Some of these sites are located less than 15km from their homes. Israel’s occupation of Palestine has also effectively deprived Palestinians of access to education, health-care and employment opportunities.
This has led to an exodus of Christian Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. Indigenous Christian Palestinians once constituted over 19% of Palestine’s population, and number less than 2 percent today.
According to Shireen Awwad Hilal, the coordinator of Musalaha Women’s Ministry in Bethlehem, the chief cause of the decline in the Christian population of the Holy Land is not due to the persecution of Christians by Muslims. “Many Christians feel that there is little hope for a better future for their children under Israeli occupation, and this has contributed to the growing emigration of Palestinian Christians. Christian Palestinians are under threat from the Israeli occupation – not Islam,” says Awwad Hilal.
Yousef Al-Khouri agrees. “Muslim and Christian Palestinians suffer equally under the Israeli occupation. There is no conflict between Islam and Christianity in Gaza or anywhere else in occupied Palestine. This is not a religious conflict, this is occupation,” says the Gaza-born Biblical Studies lecturer whose family goes back over 900 years in the Greek Orthodox priesthood in Palestine.
According to TEASA secretary-general, Reverend Moss Nthla, the conference and the visit by the Palestinians was a ground-breaking attempt by the evangelical movement in South Africa to introduce an alternative narrative on the Holy Land. The dominant narrative within the evangelical movement is that the creation of the state of Israel was a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. This narrative, Nthla says, “weaponizes the Bible against Palestinians and justifies the occupation of Palestine.”
“As Christians, we need to change our role as unwitting collaborators with the oppression of Palestinian people. We must inform and equip ourselves to be part of a solution that has as its aim a just peace in Palestine, rather than being part of the problem,” Nthla explained in an interview with the Afro-Palestine Newswire Service. “South African Christians must be interested in what is happening in Israel/Palestine because it is the place where Jesus Christ was born, lived and died.”
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) has condemned Israel’s occupation of Palestine, calling the treatment of the Palestinians by Israel “worse than Apartheid”.
In September, the Anglican and Methodist Churches of Southern Africa resolved to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel until that state ended its military occupation of Palestine.
16 oct 2019
The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) said that the Saudi soccer delegation’s visit to occupied Palestine at this particular time can only be regarded as “an act of official normalization,” citing a decision by the Saudi team in 2015 refusing to enter the country.
"In the context of the dangerous official normalization of the Saudi regime - along with the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and others - with Israel and the growing normal security and political relations between them, [the visit] is part of the attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause through the so-called Israeli-US deal of the century," BNC said in a statement on Tuesday.
BNC also condemned “the types of sports normalization represented by some Arab countries hosting Israeli sports teams in international and regional championships, most recently in Qatar and the UAE, thus defying the Arab popular boycott of the occupying power.”
"In the context of the dangerous official normalization of the Saudi regime - along with the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and others - with Israel and the growing normal security and political relations between them, [the visit] is part of the attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause through the so-called Israeli-US deal of the century," BNC said in a statement on Tuesday.
BNC also condemned “the types of sports normalization represented by some Arab countries hosting Israeli sports teams in international and regional championships, most recently in Qatar and the UAE, thus defying the Arab popular boycott of the occupying power.”
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