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New Evidence Proves Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance Success
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- Last Updated on Thursday, 19 April 2012 10:56
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Fadi Abu Sada – It was clear from the Israeli outrage during the Knesset committee for economic affairs meeting over the weekend, that the latest Palestinian decision to boycott settlements products had forced Israeli into a difficult position.
This outage most encourages us to hold on to boycott policy as a nonviolent form of resistance that is growing rapidly in the Palestinian territories.
Recently Israel threatened of imposing economical sanctions on the Palestinian Authority by closing sea ports for Palestinian imports and exports while keeping the border crossings with Jordan available for such trade.
Moreover Israel may conceder canceling the Palestinian Authority participation in the World Trade Organization and withholding the monthly E.U economical funds to the PA. All those threats are in fact a clear evidence of the success the Palestinian nonviolence resistance had achieved recently. EU sends 150,000 USD as economical aid to the Palestinian Authority every month.
Another indication to the level of success the settlements products boycott campaign had achieved; the Israeli discussion on whether they should demanded officially from the PA to cancel its boycott decision and going to the Quartet Committee for Peace in the Middle East to enforce that.
The settlements products boycott campaign started as a grassroots community based campaign; later PM Salam Fayyad joined he campaigners by organizing disposal actions of settlements products, then last week Palestinian President Abbas issued a ban on those products. Abbas made a law which allow the PA forces to fine and jail those who ignore the ban.
The West Bank market consumes up to $500 million per year of settlements products starting from construction materials to nuts, according to Palestinian officials’ estimates. The settlements products boycott campaign had directly threatened this lucrative market.
While weekly nonviolent actions against the Israeli wall had managed to reroute sections of it, and PDS campaigns, locally and internationally rapid growth, is a clear evidence on what nonviolent resistance could achieve.
