Last summer, I didn’t spend my days swimming, picnicking or warming my bones in the sun. Israel had once again unleashed its military fury onto Gaza and Palestinians were being murdered by bombs or sniper fire every day.
By the end of the 50-day attack more than 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were dead.
The activist group I’m a part of, London Palestine Action (LPA), was set up two years ago to bring people together in creative action against Israel’s discrimination of Palestinians. It's a response to the call by Palestinian civil society to boycott Israel, and has close ties with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Last year we organised an inexpertly-executed-but-very-fun folk-dance flash-mob in supermarkets stocking Israeli produce, disrupted the annual shareholder meeting of G4S, a security company that equips Israeli prisons, and held a picnic in drone-investing bank Barclays, forcing it to close for the day.
During the days of that blood-soaked summer, we went into overdrive. Every week brought a new action against complicit government offices or businesses. Group members made headlines with their two-day occupation and closure of a factory in Shenstone. This factory was owned by a subsidiary of “defence electronics” company Elbit, and supplied parts to drones used by Israel to target Palestinians in Gaza. Two weeks ago, the legal case against the protesters was dropped, with Elbit refusing to provide details of its exports as requested by the defence.
Last week, a second Elbit subsidiary was occupied; the protesters were removed with no arrests made. Not one. Seriously? If someone was standing on my roof all day, I’d want the book thrown at them. Why is Elbit so keen to avoid the scrutiny that a court case would provide? Why doesn’t it want us to know where products made on assembly lines in England end up?
Because this is the issue. While Israeli oppression and violence does not take place on our soil, the UK Government is deeply complicit in war crimes committed in other countries. It issued nearly £8bn of arms licenses to Israel last year. Doubtless, profit was made, shiny new weapons were “battle-tested”, and our economy was boosted, by the war in Gaza. Our government has its fingers in this pie, and that’s where they’ll stay – until we force them to wash their sticky mitts.
Canada also has a deep connection and complicity with Israel. Harper’s Conservative government has declared “Israel has no greater friend in the world today than Canada.” As well as unwavering governmental support for the summer slaughter, Canada also provides some of the machinery used to carry it out; engines for the ‘Cobra’ helicopter are manufactured by a Vancouver company. The two countries recently signed a series of cooperation agreements, including a commitment to work jointly to counter the continued growth of BDS and smear it as anti-semitic. As a matter of principle, the BDS movement opposes all forms of racism and discrimination, including anti-semitism and Islamophobia.
The BDS movement is gaining ground. Scores of artists and writers have refused to perform in Israel or cancelled performances following campaigning pressure, UK outlets of companies based in illegal West Bank colonies have shut down, and BDS motions are being adopted by church groups, trade unions and student groups.
Like other grassroots movements that brought about social change, BDS activism has been taken up enthusiastically because citizens are frustrated with governmental inactivity. Millions came to London demonstrations in the summer, saying “NO to these atrocities”, “you will NOT DO THIS in my name.” Our Prime Minister declined to condemn the massacre, refused to see us and looked the other way, humming a little tune.
The daily bombings may have ceased for the time being, but Israel’s systematic oppression of Palestinians continues. Israeli Apartheid Week is approaching, its name drawing a parallel between the notorious system of racial segregation employed in South Africa and the one that’s alive and kicking in Israel and Palestine today. We’re planning exciting actions targeting companies complicit in the occupation machine, and we’re doing it using folk dance and a bubble machine. Our movement is gaining strength, and our governments won’t be able to ignore it much longer.
Keep in touch with London Palestine Action on Facebook. Read the author’s blog from Palestine.