Artists, Nobel Laureates Call for Military Boycott of ’Israel’

Local Editor

"The Guardian" daily reported Wednesday that a group of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, prominent artists and activists have issued a call for an international military boycott of "Israel" following its massacres during the "Pillar of Clouds" aggression against the besieged Gaza strip.

According to the daily, the 52 signatories include the Nobel peace laureates Mairead Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel; the film directors Mike Leigh and Ken Loach; the author Alice Walker; the US academic Noam Chomsky; Roger Waters of Pink Floyd; and Stéphane Hessel, a former French diplomat and Holocaust survivor who helped edit the universal declaration of human rights.

The group said it was "horrified at the latest round of "Israeli" aggression against the 1.5 million Palestinians in the besieged and occupied Gaza Strip and conscious of the impunity that has enabled this new chapter in "Israel's" decades-old violations of international law and Palestinian rights, we believe there is an urgent need for international action towards a mandatory, comprehensive military embargo against "Israel"."
"Such a measure has been subject to several UN resolutions and is similar to the arms embargo imposed against apartheid South Africa in the past," the letter read.

In parallel, the British newspaper stated that the letter accuses several countries of providing important military support that "facilitated the assault" on Gaza.
"While the United States has been the largest sponsor of "Israel", supplying billions of dollars of advanced military hardware every year, the role of the European Union must not go unnoticed, in particular its hefty subsidies to "Israel's" military complex through its research programs," the letter read.
It further viewed that "the growing military ties between "Israel" and the emerging economies of Brazil, India and South Korea are unconscionable given their nominal support for Palestinian freedom."
The letter opens with a quote from Nelson Mandela: "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

The other signatories include John Dugard, a South African jurist and former UN special rapporteur in the occupied territories; Luisa Morgantini, former president of the European parliament; Cynthia McKinney, a former member of the US Congress; Ronnie Kasrils, a South African former cabinet minister; and the dramatist Caryl Churchill.


Source: The Guardian, Edited by moqawama.org