Home  Publications News from Within News from Within Vol. XXI No.5 (Jul/Aug 2005)
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News from Within Vol. XXI No.5 (Jul/Aug 2005) |
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Written by Webmaster
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Thursday, 01 September 2005 |
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Page 3 of 7
Succeeding in the Campaign for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel - The South African Experience
Bangani Ngeleza *
Palestinian civil society has recently come together to initiate a campaign calling for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Are these calls justified? Is there anything that the South African experience can contribute? In this article, the author uses his experience from the South Africa Anti-Apartheid movement to provide some insight into the role of internal mobilization in such campaigns. Bangani also assesses the contribution that can be made by Palestinians in the diaspora. He is a member of a family that was actively involved in the African National Congress (ANC). Bangani?s father spent ten years on Robben Island, his brother was in the ANC?s military wing, his mother was in and out of prison because of her activities for the ANC Women?s League, and Bangani himself participated in ANC-linked student and teacher movements. It is a key lesson that the success of such campaigns requires ongoing and sustained internal and external action.
Calls for International Isolation are a Contribution to Peace
Palestinian civil society has initiated a campaign that seeks to achieve the isolation of Israel through boycotts, divestment and sanctions. This call is made as a response to Israel's continued violation of international law and the human rights of Palestinians. These calls are emerging following years of vain, but patient anticipation that negotiations will bear fruit. This is not dissimilar to the situation with South Africa, where such calls also followed years of attempted negotiations and failed deputations with the apartheid regime. In asking the British people to boycott South Africa in 1959, Chief Albert Luthuli, then president of the ANC, stated that ?[?]non-white South Africans have responded to attacks on them by sending deputations and submitted petitions to the authorities[?] When these approaches were unsuccessful, they turned to passive resistance and then boycott?.(1) Similar to South Africa therefore, such calls from Palestinian civil society are genuine and peaceful efforts directed at advancing the course for justice and peace. These calls do not represent a radical rejection of the ongoing peace process, but rather are one peaceful means available to occupied Palestinians; thus pressuring Israel to stop violating international law and to negotiate in good faith. It is incumbent upon the world to heed these calls.
The Strategic Role of Internal Action in International Isolation
In advancing the course for justice and peace, leaders of the campaign will be well advised to always remember not to act ?on behalf? of the people but rather ?with the people.? Boycott and mass protest action at grassroots levels are often the only peaceful means of struggle available to the oppressed. Mass protests and boycott campaigns within will give Palestinians the hope that their struggle is still on track. It will demonstrate to the oppressed that their salvation is, first and foremost, in their hands. In a sense, an internal boycott campaign is a means of giving power (to effect change) and courage back to the disempowered. By involving the masses, those in the forefront of such calls will be demonstrating their proximity to the people. They will be sending a message that they are acting not on behalf of, but with the people.
The South African experience shows that the world tends to respond more readily when there is evidence of internal agitation. Internal mass mobilization campaigns and protest action in South Africa in the 1980s dispelled the myth which was often purveyed, that those who were calling for isolation represented a radical fringe amongst the oppressed. By putting the South African case firmly in the international media spotlight, mass protests and internal boycott campaigns made it impossible for the world to turn a blind eye. Civil society around the world responded with horror to the images of the brutal manner in which the regime attempted to repress ongoing peaceful demonstrations. This, without any doubt, accelerated the momentum towards the international isolation of the apartheid regime that we saw during the 1980s. The strategic starting point for campaign leaders inside Palestine is therefore that of mobilizing the grassroots to initiate their own mass protests and boycotts at home.
The Strategic Role of People in Exile in Advancing Calls for Isolation
The Palestinian movement for Israel?s international isolation will benefit from a strategic focus on leveraging on its strengths. One of these is the fact that there are already quite a number of Palestinians in the diaspora. Some of these individuals have lived for many years in countries like the Netherlands, Britain, the US and other countries which have trade relations with Israel. They have come to understand these societies and what drives them. Since calls for international isolation are about advocacy, which in its turn is about effective communication whose success depends a lot on an understanding of target audiences (i.e. what their interests are in the Israel/Palestine conflict, the types of contributions they can make to the campaign, linkages they have to institutions and other groups in their countries), Palestinians in the diaspora consequently have a strategic role to play. This role should entail putting together and taking responsibility for boycotts, divestment and sanctions made outside of Palestine. They should be targeted and encouraged to use their knowledge of societies in their host countries to develop effective strategies, which link to the efforts that are driven from within Palestine. What could therefore emerge is a multiplicity of advocacy strategies, developed both in Palestine, as well as in different parts of the world. Holding these strategies together should be a common vision and a common set of issues and objectives.
The Struggle Ahead
In the case of South Africa, the sting of boycotts, divestment and sanctions took many decades to be felt. The campaigns started on a small scale, were long, and tested the dedication and commitment of all involved, both inside and outside the country. The ANC and the people of South Africa had to wait for more than three decades after Chief Luthuli?s call to the British people before apartheid started to crumble. This was three decades of active and tireless internal and external campaigning. The hope is that Palestinians will not have to wait that long for their day of salvation. It is important though that all involved in this struggle brace themselves for a long, sustained and trying campaign ahead. There cannot be space for indifference, a respite, nor a break from such campaigning. Liberation struggles are notorious for their lack of easy victories. It is like trying to roll a stationary boulder down a slope. The hardest part is starting the boulder rolling, but once it starts rolling downhill, it is likely to gain speed from its own momentum. In the case of boycotts, divestments and sanctions, achieving signs of movement may take years, but once societies around the world start responding, and isolation starts biting; the only source of respite for Israel will be its acquiescence with the legitimate demands of the Palestinian people.
Notes:
1) Statement by Albert Luthuli (Jointly with Dr G.M Naicker and Peter Brown) appealing to the British people to boycott South Africa.
* Bangani Ngeleza is an organizational development consultant who specializes in organizational strategy. Bangani has visited Israel and the OPT on several different occasions to share his experiences as an activist in South Africa
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