Israel/Palestine
Showing Original Post only (View all)Mandela’s SA Boycott Success Sparks Israel Debate [View all]
JERUSALEM Recent successes in the Palestinian campaign to boycott Jewish settlements have given fresh impetus to calls for sanctions against Israel like those that brought down apartheid in South Africa.
Since the European Union said it would block grants and funding for any Israeli entity operating over the 1967 lines, a growing number of international bodies have taken similar steps to cut ties, in a move that has sparked alarm in Israel.
"This has happened in recent days," commentator Chemi Shalev wrote in the newspaper Haaretz, listing a series of steps as proof that the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement was gaining ground.
"The Dutch water company Vitens severed its ties with Israeli counterpart Mekorot, Canadas largest Protestant church decided to boycott three Israeli companies; the Romanian government refused to send any more construction workers; and American Studies Association academics are voting on a measure to sever links with Israeli universities," he wrote.
The boycott debate has been further stoked by the death on December 5 of Nelson Mandela as the world remembered his lifes work in pushing for a global boycott that contributed to bringing down the minority white government of Pretoria.
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http://www.bdlive.co.za/world/mideast/2013/12/16/mandelas-sa-boycott-success-sparks-israel-debate