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History gives value to boycotting

Re: “Pro-Palestinian doesn’t mean anti-Israel” Oct. 14, 2009

To the editor:

Letter-writer Leore Zimner rightfully deplores the “demonization” of Israel, but in doing so unfortunately throws the baby out with the bathwater by including the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions amongst the offending activities.

When the same campaign was waged against the apartheid regime in South Africa, many conservative South Africans also complained they felt unfairly singled out in a region with its share of human-rights abusers.

Like Zimner, they also pointed to the fact that their country was the most advanced in Africa, with world-class science, technology, and medicine, and that, by virtue of this success, should be spared economic sanctions.

Had the world listened to them, the regime in Pretoria would have continued to crush the African National Congress, Mandela would have remained in jail and apartheid in South Africa would have continued to this day.

The author of the suffering of the Palestinian people over the past 60 years has been the Israeli government. Though this does not make Israelis bad people, the fact that the government builds towns, roads and housing for Jewish people only, while denying any civil rights to the occupied people means that all moral people have an obligation to make it change its behaviour.

History shows that a boycott is an effective non-violent strategy to accomplish this. To be Pro-Palestinian is to recognize this fact. If Zimner has a better non-violent strategy to bring an end to the occupation, she should propose it, before criticizing others.

—Wajid Sayeed
Medicine IV

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