Israelis don’t feel effect of bans and boycotts ‘in their pockets yet’
Some Israelis, especially in academia, the business community, and other elites, are “really afraid” about boycotts against Israel, says Akiva Eldar, an Israeli political analyst.
“When you show an Israeli passport, you have to apologise and to say, well, I regret my government’s policy. I know that we are committing war crimes,” Eldar told Al Jazeera, speaking from Tel Aviv.
People don’t feel comfortable travelling, and academics are complaining that funds are not coming in, he added.
Still, at least one-third of Israelis support Netanyahu’s policies. “They actually even buy the narrative – that it’s not about Gaza, it’s not about occupation, it’s anti-Semitism,” said the analyst.
Furthermore, the Israeli stock market has never been so good and the shekel, the Israeli currency, is better than most currencies in the world, he added.
“Israelis don’t feel it in their pocket yet. Once it will hit their bank account … once they will not be able to travel”, maybe then bans, boycotts and sanctions will be effective, said Eldar.
World must ‘act to end complicity’ amid Gaza genocide: BDS
Omar Barghouti, cofounder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, says there are many steps people around the world can take to try to hold Israel accountable for its rights abuses against Palestinians.
“The most important thing is to act within your sphere of relative influence to end complicity, to do no harm,” Barghouti told Al Jazeera. “That’s the most profound, ethical obligation – especially when faced with such unspeakable crimes like the genocide in Gaza.”
Launched in 2005, the BDS movement aims to pressure Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territory, ensure equal rights for Palestinian citizens of the country, and respect the right of return of Palestinian refugees.
While consumer boycotts are part of the movement, “it is not enough to act alone”, Barghouti said. “To be effective BDS has to be done collectively – en masse.”
He added: “Israel has shown itself to be a rogue state in front of the whole world and this has [led] many to enact sanctions [and] to enact support for boycotts and divestment. Divesting from companies that are complicit is also a very important part of BDS.”
