Dear cats, how is everything with you? As the world seems to be going down a darker path every day, I say that we have to keep on fighting for justice with all means possible. For most of us, one of the few things doable is boycotting and protesting (although we have seen a few weeks ago one of the most extreme ways of protesting with Aaron Bushnell setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington).
Who and why to boycott
Who
It should be clear, at this moment: the State of Israel.
Why – many reasons.
- First of all – the many years of illegal settlements, constant raids, and control over Palestinian movements (aka having instituted an Apartheid state).
- Disproportionate response to the attacks of 7th October 2023
- Having started a genocide against the Palestinians (which has been recognised by the International Criminal Court)
How
The BDS (Boycott Divest Sanctions) Movement has a list of all the companies supporting Israel and the use of illegal settlements, so that you can avoid buying from them (you will see there are overlappings with some of *very bad* non-vegan companies – here and here).
Just a couple of notes:
I was thinking about how to write about all the things I have been learning in the past months but I always find that it is true there are some complicated issues. However, one can say with certainty that the situation has been escalated by Israel.
- Israel and Palestine were given distinct territories for a Jewish State and an Arab State by the UN
- During the Six-Day War, Isreal took some extra Palestinian territories, reducing what was owned by the Palestinians
- Israel has one of the most powerful armies in the world as it’s constantly supplied by Western Countries, with the major contributor in weapons and money being the USA (Gaza war: Where does Israel get its weapons?)
- Did people forget about PEGASUS?
Don’t forget that there are always economic interests behind the war
For example, gas and natural resources. Following are some interesting resources
42 USC 17337: United States-Israel energy cooperation
§17337. United States-Israel energy cooperation
(a) Findings
Congress finds that-
(1) it is in the highest national security interests of the United States to develop covered energy sources;(2) the State of Israel is a steadfast ally of the United States;
(3) the special relationship between the United States and Israel is manifested in a variety of cooperative scientific research and development programs, such as-
(A) the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation; and
(B) the United States-Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation;
(8) United States-Israel energy cooperation and the development of natural resources by Israel are in the strategic interest of the United States;
(9) Israel is a strategic partner of the United States in water technology;
(10) the United States can play a role in assisting Israel with regional safety and security issues;The US had a plan in the 1960s to blast an alternative Suez Canal through Israel using 520 nuclear bombs
According to the 1963 memorandum, which was declassified in 1996, the plan would have relied on 520 nuclear bombs to carve out the waterway. The memo called for the “use of nuclear explosives for excavation of Dead Sea canal across the Negev desert.”
The memo added that “such a canal would be a strategically valuable alternative to the present Suez Canal and would probably contribute greatly to economic development.”
One possible route the memorandum proposed stretched across the Negev desert in Israel, connecting the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Aqaba, opening access to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
The laboratory noted that there were 130 miles of “virtually unpopulated desert wasteland, and are thus amenable to nuclear excavation methods.”
But the memo conceived that one problem, which the authors had not taken into consideration, might be “political feasibility, as it is likely that the Arab countries surrounding Israel would strongly object to the construction of such a canal.”
Use of Nuclear Explosives for Excavation of Sea-Level Canal Across the Negev Desert (Canal Studies Filefolder)
The route extends northward from Eilat on a bearing of 5° for 83 miles, then turns westward on a bearing of 295° for 20 miles to pass between two mountains, then turns northward again on a bearing of 348° for
58 miles, to the Mediterranean, passing by Beersheba and the Gaze Strip.
Israel hands out offshore oil exploration licences to BP and ENI to strengthen international relations
In June, Israel approved the development of Gaza Marine, the strip of water off the Gazan coast containing an estimated 1tn cubic feet of natural gas. Offshore Technology said the field would produce about $2.4bn in royalties and profits for Palestine during its lifetime. As the website also noted, Gaza Marine is closer to shore than Israel’s existing oil and gas fields, making it cheaper to develop.
Meanwhile, after Europe cut off Russian oil and gas supplies in 2022, Israel signed a deal with the EU to become a keystone supplier. Joseph Dana, a market analyst and journalist, wrote at the time that the plans would “radically transform” Israel’s relationship with the rest of the world over its occupation of Palestine. In particular, Dana highlighted how new Israeli oil and gas prospects could make pro-Palestinian campaigns in Europe effectively “meaningless”.
Since Hamas launched its ground attack on Israel on 7 October, European leaders have nearly uniformly backed Israel’s actions. Israel’s latest offshore licences come as its bombing and invasion of Gaza enters a fourth week and as calls for a cease or a so-called “humanitarian pause” grow. A “curious time” indeed.
Gaza: Operation ‘Cast Lead’
On 27 December 2008 Israel launched a major military offensive – nicknamed Operation ‘Cast Lead’ – in Gaza. It prevented the media and aid agencies from entering the area.
In the following three weeks, the Israeli military killed at least 1,383 Palestinians, including 333 children. Palestinian armed groups killed thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, in rocket attacks on Southern Israel.
Israel/Gaza Operation ‘Cast Lead’: 22 days of death and destruction
At 11.30am on 27 December 2008, without warning, Israeli forces began a devastating bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip codenamed Operation “Cast Lead”. Its stated aim was to end rocket attacks into Israel by armed groups affiliated with Hamas and other Palestinian factions. By 18 January 2009, when unilateral ceasefires were announced by both Israel and Hamas, some 1,400 Palestinians had been killed, including some 300 children and hundreds of other unarmed civilians, and large areas of Gaza had been razed to the ground, leaving many thousands homeless and the already dire economy in ruins.
IDF’s Gaza assault is to control Palestinian gas, avert Israeli energy crisis
But in 2007, a year before Operation Cast Lead, Ya’alon’s concerns focused on the 1.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas discovered in 2000 off the Gaza coast, valued at $4 billion. Ya’alon dismissed the notion that “Gaza gas can be a key driver of an economically more viable Palestinian state” as “misguided.”
The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People: The Unrealized Oil and Natural Gas Potential
The new discoveries of oil and natural gas in the Levant Basin, amounting to 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas at a net value of $453 billion (in 2017 prices) and 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil at a net value of about $71 billion, offer an opportunity to distribute and share a total of about $524 billion among the different parties, in addition to the many intangible but substantive advantages of energy security and cooperation among long-time belligerents. They can also potentially be a source of additional conflict and violence if individual parties exploit these resources without due regard for the fair share of others. What could be a source of wealth and opportunities could prove disastrous if this common resource is exploited individually and exclusively, without due regard for international law and norms.
Several schemes of alternative property sharing methods are identified in this study, anchored in the historical property rights of the parties and recent agreements. The utility of these identified shares is that they are grounded in history and mutual agreement. These shares could serve as background for a negotiation framework.
The exploitation of Palestinian natural resources, including oil and natural gas, by the occupying Power imposes on the Palestinian people enormous costs that continue to escalate as the occupation remains in effect. This is not only contrary to international law, but also in violation of natural justice and moral law. To date, the real and opportunity costs of the occupation exclusively in the area of oil and natural gas have accumulated to tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars.
Holocaust survivor Dr Gabor Mate calls for land return to Palestine
He said the historical context surrounding the events of 7 October must be acknowledged to understand the current conflict and move forward.
Mate, who survived the Holocaust after his mother placed him with another family after he was born in an effort to save him, called for an end to the Israeli occupation, an end to the persecution of Palestinians, and the return of Palestinian land seized by the occupation since 1967.
Behind Israel’s ‘end game’ for Gaza: Theft of offshore gas reserves
Renewed interest in pursuing development of the Gaza Marine field surfaced in early 2022 following the war between Russia and Ukraine, the destruction of the Nord Stream Pipeline, and the sanctions placed on Russia that caused a global energy crisis. Joint meetings were held between Israeli, U.S., Egyptian, Jordanian and Palestinian Authority officials to discuss the project, which was given the go-ahead by Netanyahu following his reelection. In particular, President Joe Biden and Egyptian government officials pressured Israel to pursue the project. (al-monitor.com, June 19)
On June 18, Israel gave preliminary approval for the development of a gas field off the coast of Gaza, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming progress would hinge on “preserving the State of Israel’s security and diplomatic needs” and coordination with the Palestinian Authority and neighboring Egypt. At the same time, Hamas official Ismail Rudwan told Reuters: “We reaffirm that our people in Gaza have the rights to their natural resources.” (June 18)
Two months before Oct. 7, the Pentagon began building a $35.8 million troop facility in Israel’s Negev desert, 20 miles from Gaza, allegedly as a radar site to monitor for missile attacks on Israel. The base is part of a “secret” U.S. military presence in Israel. (The Intercept, Oct. 27)
Israeli Cabinet Minister Adds To Calls For ‘Voluntary Emigration’ From Gaza
An Israeli Cabinet minister said this week that the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip will compel Palestinians to leave the territory, despite widespread condemnation of Israeli calls for so-called “voluntary emigration” amid an invasion that Gazan health authorities say has claimed the lives of more than 23,000 Palestinians.
In an interview posted online on Monday by Israeli broadcaster Knesset TV, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said “ we certainly need to encourage emigration” from Gaza.
Anesthetics, crutches, dates. Inside Israel’s ghost list of items arbitrarily denied entry into Gaza
For months, queues of trucks bound for the enclave have been backed up along the highway leading from the Egyptian town of Arish, a major logistical hub for aid, to the Rafah crossing with Gaza. In a satellite image from February 21, a queue of trucks can be seen stretching out for 4 miles from the crossing.
[…]
Israel has long barred certain items from entering Gaza. In 2007, it imposed a blockade on the strip after Hamas took over. A year later, COGAT released a list of banned “dual use” items, making slight modifications to the document in the years that followed.
[…]
Soeripto, who visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with a UN convoy in January, told CNN she saw several items that Israeli inspectors had turned back.
She said toys were rejected because they were in a wooden box rather than a cardboard box, sleeping bags were denied because they had zippers, and sanitary pads were turned back because a nail clipper was included in the hygiene kit.
Other Useful Information
If you are interested in Palestinian history, culture and people you should be looking at the DecolonizePalestine website.
Visit the UNRWA website to follow the progress they are making in providing aid to Palestinians.
If you want to help Palestinians to get Internet access you can use eSIMs.
Two-State Solution
This would be the best solution – however, Israel wants a demilitarised Palestinian state which doesn’t make sense and would mean that Israel will maintain supremacy over Palestinians, and would be easily able to attack Palestine and its people. How can people think this is acceptable? Surely Israel wouldn’t want to be demilitarised, so why should the others?
Conclusion
I hope you’ll find these links useful. If you have other links you would like to add, let me know!
Love,
TVCL xx
The Vegan Cat Librarian 