The peoples of the world rose up against the massacres being committed in the Gaza Strip by organizing anti-Israel protests and issuing successive calls to boycott Israeli products, but will this boycott be useful?
In a report published by the Turkish magazine “Kritter”, it was stated that the Israeli occupation continues to commit massacres without discrimination between men, women and children. Although the powerful Israeli lobby in the economic, political, cultural and artistic fields is doing its utmost to silence the voice of people of conscience, the reaction against Israel has been stronger than these pressures. Is this boycott useful?
In the besieged Gaza Strip, considered “the largest prison in the world,” Palestinians suffer atrocities no less than those that occurred in Nazi concentration camps. At this time, people of conscience from all over the world are trying their best to stop this tragedy by working together.
The magazine says that successive protests against the terrorism of the Israeli occupation are being held all over the world. People view the boycott of Israeli products as one of the most powerful weapons against the atrocities committed by the occupation. Are these protests and boycott campaigns futile efforts, as some claim? Certainly not, as we are already beginning to see the results of these efforts on the economic, diplomatic and psychological levels.
Economic crisis for Israel
It is expected that Israel will suffer significant economic damage due to this boycott. In an open letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a group of 300 Israeli economists pointed out the seriousness of the situation, saying: “You do not understand the magnitude of the economic crisis that the Israeli economy is facing.” These economists expect that the boycott will go beyond people simply refraining from buying some goods.
The writer pointed out that the second and most important stage of the boycott campaign is to produce alternatives to the products of Israeli companies, and to eliminate Israeli dependency in all sectors, including the economy and finance.
The greater the number of similar national products and their areas of use, the greater the damage that will be caused to the global hegemony of Jewish capital, and this is the nightmare that haunts Israeli economists.
According to a report prepared by the US Rand Corporation in 2015, the economic boycott of Israel between 2013 and 2014 caused a cumulative loss estimated at approximately $15 billion. This led to a decrease in Israel’s GDP per capita by 3.4%.
The current boycott, which is more widespread than previous boycott campaigns, is likely to cause much greater economic damage to Israel. When dollars are not entered into the Israeli budget, it will not be able to purchase weapons and ammunition. Therefore, it is clear that participating in the boycott is not only a moral duty, but also a humanitarian duty.
Given the psychological dimension of boycott, it is not psychologically easy to do because it requires an active change in mindset to abandon consumer habits. When companies that support Israel are boycotted, the person is announcing to the entire world that he stands against Israel on the Palestine issue, admitting that Israel is brutally killing innocent people.
Regarding the diplomatic gains of the boycott and protests against Israeli state terrorism, it can be said that some countries cutting diplomatic relations with Israel or reducing them to the lowest level have isolated Israel and its supporters on the international stage, putting them under more severe pressure.
