#BDS: A call to the anarchist movement to join the BDS campaign

"The Israeli anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist organization in Israel, Matzpen, of which Anarchists Against the Wall (AAtW) is a worthy heir, was the first to expose Israel as the culmination of a settler colonialist project (which continues to the present day) in spite the endorsement the country's establishment received in 1947 which has still not been retracted by the local communist party.

The first BDS call in Israel was initiated by Matzpen during the first year of the first intifada, in February 1988. It called for a boycott of the products of the colonialist settlements (see http://www.matzpen.org/index.asp?p=kria in Hebrew). Then there was an internet petition initiated by Matzpen members in 2001** for "Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions", to punish Israel (a call that Noam Chomsky refused to join, saying it was "too early").

The development of joint struggle together with the Palestinians against suppression and the Occupation, promoted by Matzpen and later by the AAtW, has not been done in the name of some nationalist urge or the illusion of building a Palestinian nationalist entity (so-called "national liberation"), but for simple "Liberation" - an end to Israeli settler colonialism and occupation.

Anarchists from all over the world have joined the ISM (International Solidarity Movement with the Palestinians) as individuals, and have come here to participate in our joint struggle. Members of the AAtW already participate in the local and international BDS initiative, as do many anarchist activists all over the world."

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