Q: How are political developments in the West affecting the Palestinian struggle?
While there is a strong popular movement in the West to support Palestine, sadly, the efforts in the West to prevent the boycott of Israel continue. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, now in its eleventh year, cites UN resolutions and echoes the anti-apartheid campaigns against white minority rule in apartheid era South Africa, calling for "various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets its obligations under international law". The British Conservative government and the new Liberal government in Canada both recently passed laws condemning BDS.
They didn't dare make BDS a criminal activity, but the effect is nonetheless chilling. BDS activity continues to grow. In 2014, the Canadian Federation of Student's Ontario branch, representing 300,000 students, joined BDS unanimously. The latest campaign was in Prime Minister Trudeau's Montreal, where McGill BDS was formed in February 2016. But the new law made it easy for the Board of Governors' Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility to reject the student-led motion.
The churches are less cowardly than university administrators. The United Church and the Quakers both refuse to invest their funds in Israel. In January, the United Methodist Church in the US divested from five Israeli banks implicated in Israel's illegal settlements, and French telecom giant, Orange, pulled out of Israel. The British security giant G4S is selling its operations in Israel.
So Iranians can take heart from their friends and allies in the West. We in the West can also take heart that there is no evidence that Iranian public opinion has changed, nor the will of Iranian leaders. Our common battle is justice and peace, and it will never change.
al-Quds
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