Editor:
Our representative in Ottawa voted for the Conservatives’ anti-BDS (Boycott-Divest-Sanction) motion in the Commons on Feb. 22. The motion asks the government “to condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS movement.” Arguments used to support the motion indicate a lack of awareness on the part of our rookie MP.
BDS is a non-violent, effective means of pressuring Israel into respecting Palestinian human rights as called for by resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly. It is overwhelmingly supported by Palestinian society, Canadian church groups, university students and Jewish Voice for Peace.
The BDS movement against South African apartheid helped abolish that racist institution thanks to the support of people all over the world.
As a teenager, I travelled to the Middle East and later became more aware of the oppression of Palestinians by Israel. I was glad to support the world BDS movement that rose to end it and was elated to find myself in the good company of Desmond Tutu, the late Nelson Mandela and our own Naomi Klein.
Here is what Klein wrote in the Guardian a few years ago: “The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa. In July 2005 a huge coalition of Palestinian groups laid out plans to do just that. They called on ‘people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era.’ The campaign Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions was born.”
I hope that our MP will read Naomi’s article (www.naomiklein.org/articles/2009/01/israel-boycott-divest-sanction) to learn more about this issue and support BDS in the future.
Roger Lagassé, Halfmoon Bay
