Iceland Boycotts Israel
The whole world needs to follow Iceland’s lead. Its capital City of Reykjavik no longer will buy products made in Israel.
Its city council voted for boycott as long as it continues occupying
Palestinian territory – a bold act deserving high praise, perhaps
inspiring greater numbers of cities worldwide to follow suit, then maybe
countries if enough effective popular resistance against its
viciousness materializes.
Petitions in Britain and America to arrest Netanyahu attracted
growing thousands of ordinary people – expressing justifiable anger
against an apartheid state brutalizing Palestinians for not being
Jewish.
Reykjavik Social Democratic Alliance councilwoman Bjork
Vilhelmsdottir introduced the motion to boycott – her last action before
retiring from politics, expressing support for long-suffering
Palestinians, recognizing their self-determination right, free from
Israeli oppression.
Left Green Alliance governing coalition member Soley Tomasdottir
expressed hope Reykjavik’s action will be a step toward ending Israel’s
illegal occupation. Boycotting other countries guilty of human rights
abuses may follow, she said.
By acting, “we as a city council, even though we are a small city in
the far north, are doing what we can to put pressure on the government
of Israel to stop the occupation of Palestinian territory,” she told
Icelandic public broadcaster RUV.
Israel reacted as expected. “A volcano of hatred is erupting in the
Reykjavik city council,” blustered foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel
Nahshon.
“There is no reason or justification for this move, besides hate
itself, which is being heard in the form of calls for a boycott against
Israel, the Jewish state,” he added.
“We hope that someone in Iceland will wake up and stop this blindness
and one sidedness which is aimed against the only democracy in the
Middle East, Israel.”
The move is largely symbolic, yet another BDS success. Its web site
highlighted “a decade of effective solidarity with Palestinians,” citing
the following:
A UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report shows
year-over-year direct foreign investment in Israel declined 46% in 2014.
UNCTAD’s Ronny Manos said “(w)e believe that what led to the drop in
investment in Israel are Operation Protective Edge and the boycotts
Israel is facing.”
