Iranian News today reported that the movement of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel is gaining momentum in, of all places, Germany:
An international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel is also gaining momentum among Germans amid continued Israeli human rights violations in the Palestinian territories, a German human rights official said.
“The BDS call is an important demand. A large number of church and human rights groups are backing the (BDS) campaign,” said Christina Pfestroff Wednesday evening during a round-table discussion at the educational center of the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Berlin.
“Israeli target killings, collective punishment, torture, destruction of property, dispossessions, building the security fence and having illegal settlements mark Israeli occupation,” she added.
Pfestroff who is an activist for the Protestant Development Service (EED), pointed out that it was the impact of the BDS campaign which finally sealed the end of the former South African apartheid regime.
She called on the the European Union to review its association agreement with Israel amid ongoing violations.
The EU-Israel Association Agreement was signed on 20 November 1995, and entered into force on 1 June 2000.
Article 2 of the association agreement, between the EU and Israel is widely referred to as the ‘essential element’s clause’, commits the EU and Israel, to base their relations on the respect for human rights and democratic principles.
Multinational companies were involved in the demolition of Palestinian homes and the construction of Jewish settlements and the so-called ‘security wall’.
There are numerous German websites which have listed dozens of Israeli firms which do business in Germany, urging Germans to boycott these companies.
It is interesting that Iranian News is the only one carrying this news.