RESISTANCE: Choking Off The Money & Investment Funding Israel's Genocide
The BDS Movement is one effective wrench to throw into the churning cogs of the death machine.
Illustration by Mark Taylor / DeMOCKracy.ink
“Corporations are beginning to learn that having their products, business name and reputation linked to a perverse, fascist, genocidal state that takes pride in the sniper head-shot killing of toddlers by its military, whose leaders call for continued anal rape of detainees, institutionalizes the physical and sexual assault of children is — surprise — kinda’ bad marketing!”
By Mark Taylor
DeMOCKracy.ink (9/29/24)
In the face of the industrialized slaughter of the US/Israel genocide in Gaza, the West Bank and now expanded into Lebanon, it is logical to feel overwhelmed and powerless. When calls to bought-off, completely unresponsive congressional drones and AIPAC bots is nothing more than talking into a sewer pipe, new pathways of resistance need to be found and leveraged by as many individuals as possible.
The only thing that means anything to Israel and the United States government is money and corporate profits; it’s all they exist for. Both states are completely empty, opportunistic money wheels for the wealthy. They stand for nothing else and represent nothing admirable; just blood-stained money barrels.
One sliver of hope is the growing success of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanction (BDS) movement.
Corporations are beginning to learn that having their products, business name and reputation linked to a perverse, fascist, genocidal state that takes pride in the sniper head-shot killing of toddlers by its military, whose leaders call for continued anal rape of detainees, institutionalizes the physical and sexual assault of children is — surprise — kinda’ bad marketing!
And having your corporate logo linked to a country whose military kill rate is made up primarily of women and children from a population almost half of which are children is a bit of a bummer for your marketing campaign.
Huh, ‘magine that!
Divestment of university funds and endowments from Israeli corporations and especially Israeli arms dealers has been a central focus of student protests across the country. Some universities have found a scrap of morality and responded to the protests by stepping away from such financial taint and, in one case, even establishing a scholarship program for Palestinian students. A number of cities have reduced or cut their ties with Israeli companies.
A report earlier this month on the AnylstNews website has a good summary of recent BDS success since Oct. 7th.
The BDS movement targets the purchase of products or services of Israeli companies, divesting from investment in Israeli companies or any other companies in partnership with such companies and international sanctioning of such corrupt business.
A spark of resistance and hope
A similar BDS movement contributed to the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Now that same tactic is having effect on today’s apartheid regime in Israel, giving a spark of resistance and hope.
Olivia Katbi, the North America coordinator for the non-violent Palestinian-led BDS movement, notes, “If Israel no longer has international support, that means they no longer have access to the global economy and all of the governments and corporations that are helping to prop up their illegal, illegitimate, racist settler society.
“Massive companies, over the years, stopped doing business with Israel and hundreds of millions of dollars were divested from Israel through the BDS movement activism.”
On top of the internal conflict over political corruption and the tremendous economic stress of conducting its spreading wars of genocide, the BDS movement has added additional stress and uncertainty to the Israeli economy.
“Israel is the one causing injury to its own economy through its violence and war crimes,” Katbi noted. An excellent interview with Katbi and review of the BDS movement can be found here.
In her recent Substack post, The Gifts of Peace, Diana van Eyk linked to two excellent resources for information on how to support BDS:
The Support Palestine. Boycott Israel website has good information, including a detailed guide of corporations to avoid doing business or investing with.
Incorporate peaceful resistance into daily life with ‘Boycott Israel Sticky Note Pads’.
The crimes of the international corporate blob state are vile, huge, despicable and metastasizing. Peaceful opposition to the inhumanity of the corrupt and crumbling US/Israel death machine needs to be both large and small. The BDS Movement is one effective wrench to throw into the churning cogs of the death machine.
“When you see these massive lists of dozens and dozens of companies to boycott that are going around on social media, please keep in mind that the goal isn’t to boycott as many companies as possible. The goal is to strategize, pick a few targets and exert enough collective pressure to actually win a campaign.”
— Olivia Katbi, North America coordinator for the Palestinian-led BDS movement
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement works to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law.
COMPLICITY EXPOSED: How The US Covered Up Israel's STARVING Of Gaza
Bu Owen Jones (9/29/24)
This explosive new report exposes the criminal responsibility of the US government in Gaza.
12-minute video
Studying the holocaust of the 1930’s and 1940’s I learned that numerous familiar companies, brands, and institutions worked with the Nazi’s throughout the war. Coke/Fanta, Bayer Aspirin, Ford and many others were complicit in the murder of millions of people.
Once I discovered this disturbing piece of history I decided not to purchase Bayer products, Ford products, Coke products and institutions like the Catholic Church and Chase Bank.
Imagine, then, if we can all participate in showing our fellow citizens what companies are complicit in these current massacres and what we can all do to curtail the violence.
And if you’re in Scotland and run a business or organisation - cafes, retailers, community centres and cultural institutions - or are just a humane human being, then sign up to be an Apartheid Free Zone!
https://apartheidfree.scot
Elsewhere in the world, get more info here https://bdsmovement.net/apartheid-free-zones