Thursday, 16 October 2025

Israeli Boycott Continues To Grow

I have been writing here for far too long that Israel should face a South Africa moment and from what i am seeing and hearing, that moment is nearer than ever.
The thinking then was to isolate South Africa on the world stage due to the Apartheid system and since the war broke out in Gaza, companies such as McDonald’s, Starbucks and Coca-Cola have faced boycotts because of their connections to Israel, while some global Israeli-owned companies have been targeted and even Netanyahu has spoken of his country’s growing economic isolation.
The campaign against white minority rule in South Africa saw the country banned from the Olympics with FIFA as well as tennis, cricket and rugby governing bodies expelling them from their big competitions.
Writers, musicians and artists were urged not to perform in South Africa or publish their work there and consumers were urged to shun South African goods.
In echoes of that time today, 380 writers and organisations signed a letter stating that the war in Gaza is genocidal and the literary community announced a boycott of most Israeli cultural institutions. Last month more than 4,500 film workers, many from Hollywood, signed a pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions and festivals.
Eurovision song contest organisers have said member countries will vote in November on whether Israel can participate next year with many nations stating they will pull out of the contest if they compete and hundreds of musical artists have joined a call to block their music from being streamed in Israel.
In Football, FIFA and UEFA are facing growing pressure to ban Israel and it's club sides from international Football competitions.
Economically, one survey stated that the refusal by many to buy Israeli goods has shaved 5% off the Israeli GDP but with America backing it financially as well as militarily and diplomatically, the effects may not be as stinging as they were on South Africa but Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank have led to a huge shift in public opinion and even with a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas agreed, the pressure as the revulsion at Israel’s wartime conduct has mounted, as images of starving children emerged and the death toll exceeded 67,000 people and many official International bodies now speaking openly about Israel committing a genocide.
As they always do, supporters of Israel and the extreme right wing warmongers running the country will try to paint all this all antisemitism to try and intimidate people but as the excellent Greta Thunberg said when Israel weirdly tried to paint delivering aid to starving people was antisemitic: 'It is not antisemitic to say that we should not be bombing people, that one should not be living in occupation, that everyone should have the right to live in freedom and dignity, no matter who you are' so boycotting Israel is not in any way antisemitic, it’s a flat rejection of the Israeli government going back decades.

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