boycotting israel:
The call for boycotting the racist Apartheid government was an exclusively South African endeavour, made resonantly and repeatedly by the African National Council (ANC) and backed by the various liberation movements in the country and in exile. It took years for the dedicated campaign to be effective.
(...) I called Ahmed Youssef, the chief political advisor to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to ask him whether such a call for a boycott was feasible, especially prior to the forthcoming mass rallies to be held in London and other major cities on 9 June -- on the 40th anniversary of the Israeli occupation. Youssef was clearly distressed; the infighting between Palestinians had taken its toll on his often optimistic attitude. "How can one expect a unified leadership position on a boycott while Palestinians are fighting on two fronts; against one another and against Israel?"
(...) The conflict in Palestine is at a very critical juncture. Israel, brazenly aided by the two remaining imperialist countries, the US and the UK, is in the final stages of planning its Bantustanisation of the disconnected pockets that remain of historic Palestine. Martin Luther King Jr once said "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". An Israeli victory against the Palestinian people is indeed a defeat for every struggle for justice, rights and equality everywhere. It simply must not be allowed. But how to prevent this is a debate that should immediately commence without reverting to dogmatic approaches and language, political or religious sensitivities, and most importantly without any sense of ownership over the discourse, which is sadly creeping up in Palestinian circles everywhere.