The Boycott National Committee (BNC) of the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has called for the world to keep ‘all eyes on Rafah’, and to act in solidarity. They posted on social media platform X:
Direct your eyes at Rafah, but don’t stop there. Learn what you can do to help stop Israel’s genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza. #AllEyesOnRafah pic.twitter.com/Qt6c7ioioF
— BDS movement (@BDSmovement) May 30, 2024
Since 7 October 2023, 36,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. The current Israeli attack began after Hamas’ October operation, but it is the culmination of 17 years of Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip, and 76 years of Israeli state violence and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Israel has been engaged in an assault on the city of Rafah since the beginning of May. The Israeli military has been pushing Gaza’s civilians into Rafah since 7 October, initially promising the city would be a ‘safe zone’. Since May, Israel has bombed the displaced person camps in the city, causing raging fires in the tents and burning people alive.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has demanded an immediate end to the assault on Rafah, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. This week, the US House of Representatives voted in favour of a bill to sanction ICC officials, as an act of punishment for the court’s action.
On 6 June, the Israeli military bombed a UN-run school in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, which was being used as a shelter by displaced people. At least 40 people were killed. The bombing has been widely condemned as a war crime.
The BNC’s post urges people internationally to show solidarity by supporting “the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (#BDS) movement led by the largest coalition in Palestinian society. Boycott the companies targeted by the BDS movement, and pressure your university, pension fund, city council, and other institutions to divest from companies complicit in military occupation, genocide and apartheid.”
The Committee called for people to demand a comprehensive military embargo. They posted “This isn’t a choice: every government delivering weapons to Israel is complicit in what the International Court of Justice has ruled is a plausible genocide against 2.3M Palestinians in Gaza.”
According to the BNC, it is only “people power” that can plausibly stop Israel’s genocide. They wrote “Only our people power can build the pressure needed to stop Israel’s carnage and help dismantle its 76-year-old regime of settler-colonialism and apartheid.”
Take to the streets, join millions who are demanding an immediate, permanent #CeasefireNOW, and wage peaceful disruptions to end all complicity in genocide.
Only our people power can build the pressure needed to stop Israel’s carnage and help dismantle its 76-year-old regime of… pic.twitter.com/Nb1yKXMdXK
— BDS movement (@BDSmovement) May 30, 2024
To find out more about the Palestinian-led BDS movement click here.
