This article consists of 16 pages and 6132 words. In order to have full access to this article, email us at thedocumentco@hotmail.co.uk
Is the boycotting of israeli produce having an impact
Contents
Introduction:
Since the Second World War, Middle East has been a place constantly plagued by unnecessary wars. Every country which is a part of modern day middle east, has been a part of war at some point in the history. However, one of the worst crisis in this region is the unjust stand-off between the military might, Israel and a matchless, Is the boycotting of israeli produce having an impact Palestine. While some might suggest that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands is unfair and unjust, it is a sad fact for the humanity at large that there is a massive killing which this conflict has seen and it is about time that the international organizations find a solution to this prevalent crisis which has engulfed numerous innocent lives.
Although, the Palestinian masses and leadership has been engaged in an armed struggle against Israel, it is not possible to force Israel out of the occupied territories with an armed struggle even if the whole of Arab combines. Fortunately for the Palestinians, some intellectuals among their ranks have realized that their only chance to finding a solution the crisis is to involve the international community and the world population at large. And this is where the inception of the BDS Movement can be traced back to.
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions or BDS for short, is a campaign which was started by the non-governmental organizations in Palestine in July 2005. The aim of the organization was to sanction their demand via the forum of United Nations and get international trade sanctions for Israeli products until they comply with the international law. The demand of BDS is quite legitimate and thought provoking. However, it seems a little harsh and unrealistic, Is the boycotting of israeli produce having an impact keeping the global influence of Israel and the business perspective in mind.
The fundamental purpose of this report is to analyze the effectiveness of BDS movement and the extent to which it has been successful in gathering the public support. This support can be measured based on the pressure that some of the organizations have faced and are forced to limit their operational or retail trading relations with Israel. The overall impact in the whole world shall be discussed before narrowing it down to the UK markets especially the recent losses faced by supermarket giant, Tesco. The reasons for these losses shall investigated in relationship with the BDS movement.
Research Background:
The BDS is apparently a very peaceful and non-violent campaign which is meant to win the fundamental rights of Palestinians and force Israel to follow the international laws. The following are the major demands of the BDS campaign:
- The BDS calls for the state of Israel to end the unjust occupation and colonization of the Arab lands which were occupied in June 1967. The demand further iterates to the dismantling of the wall which is a negation of the international laws and a breach of the fourth Geneva Convention.
- The second goal of BDS campaign is to force the state of Israel to recognize the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel and grant them their fundamental rights to full equality. Currently, the Palestinians living in state of Israel are treated as second class citizens. According to Noam Chomsky, the state of Israel doesn’t want the Arab-Palestinian citizens in the occupied territory. They want them gone, out of that particular area. This also makes the condition of Palestinians worse than the black population during the apartheid who according the said scholar, Is the boycotting of israeli produce having an impact were better off in the refugee camps.
- The final aim of the BDS movement is to make the Israeli administration and government to respect, protect and promote the right of Palestinian refugees. It essentially calls for their return to their homes and properties which was also sanctioned by the UN Resolution 194 (Barghouti, O. 2010, Al Shabaka, p. 2).
It is evident from the aforementioned points that none of these demands are unfair. They rather comply with the basic human rights which is also the reason for the fast growing popularity of the BDS movement, not only in the Muslim world but also across EU, Canada, US, UK, Australia and the rest of the world. The BDS representatives call the “people of conscience” to join the campaign and shun the use of Israeli products to damage the Israeli economy to a point where they are forced to accept the demands of BDS National Committee. In the modern world of social media, this campaign might find healthy growth in near future.
Aim and Objective:
The inspiration of the BDS movement against Israel has come from the BDS campaign in Africa against the apartheid regime. But according to some historians, the BDS movement in Africa was not the driving force to end that brutal system. So, the legitimacy and effectiveness of this campaign is in question and amidst these controversies and/or comments that keep coming against the movement, the purpose of this report is to analyze the ability of the campaign to achieve its goals which can be safely defined as curbing the Israeli aggression in the occupied territories and those which are mentioned above.
The report is aimed to question the efficiency of the campaign in the light of Israel’s influential and business oriented role in global economics, its relationship with the most powerful nations of the world and its overall repute among the masses. The public reaction to this movement is to be sighted in the report which can be done by the factual evidence of the alliances of BDS movement with the non-governmental organizations or educational institutions. The research question hence is whether such calls and campaigns can instigate enough of public sentiment to effect the businesses which would then indicate towards the seriousness of the campaign. To analyze this, Is the boycotting of israeli produce having an impact the businesses that will be particularly discussed in the report include the British supermarkets especially Tesco. Tesco is a huge importer of the Israeli agricultural produce and has recently registered a loss of £6.4bn against the last year’s profit of £2.26bn. This will be analyzed in the wake of BDS movement and its increasing popularity among the masses. The reasons for losses of Tesco will answer the question regarding the effects of BDS campaign on the supermarket’s businesses in UK.
Theoretical Framework:
The research questions are supposed to be tackled in a proper order to derive useful and right conclusions. It is to be investigated if the recent losses of Tesco have any relationship to the BDS movement. This can be done by first investigating the level of public support which prevails in the market and among the masses for BDS. This can be done by gathering data from the BDS websites and the articles which have been written previously about the movement and its success in recent times. Some news articles will also help in gathering this data along-with the interviews that the BDS leaders have given to the news channels or any internet blogs or YouTube channels.
Once the support of BDS is identified and analyzed, the research will move to the next step which is to analyze its effects and strength. The support might have enough strength but does that mean the general public can influence huge chains like Tesco to dictate where they import their products from? A business student might agree that the customer is always right but it is to be analyzed whether the current level of support for BDS was enough to force such chains to change their business strategy. And also, would the public be willing to…
Recent Comments