West Bank Palestinians boycott Israeli products

Palestinians of the occupied West Bank refuse to sell or buy Israeli products in protest against Tel Aviv’s aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip.

“We are not going to sell them anymore and it will be forever,” said Yousef Sider, marketing expert at Bravo Supermarket, which supports the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement among other chain stores in Ramallah, on Tuesday.

The store sells Palestinian and international products instead, as long as the Israeli regime is “occupying our home land” and “killing us,” Sider said.

Although the BDS is said to inflict long-term losses on Israel, Palestinian farmers and industrialists are already taking advantage of the internationally known movement.

There has been a 40-percent growth in the sale of al-Banah milk and yoghurt while Palestinian farms in al-Khalil (Hebron) are hiring more work forces.

“Boycott is now a behavior and a culture in small villages, camps, and main cities,” said BDS activist Osama Baker.

The BDS campaign is part of international efforts to pressure Tel Aviv to stop aggression against Palestinians, including illegal constructions in the occupied Palestinian territory and an ongoing assault against Gaza.

Israeli warplanes and tanks have been pounding the blockaded sliver since early July, inflicting heavy losses on the coastal enclave.

At least 2,016 Palestinians, including 541 children, 250 women and 95 elderly men, have lost their lives so far and as many as 10,196 others have suffered injuries in the Israeli attacks.

Nearly 400,000 Palestinian children are in immediate need of psychological help due to “catastrophic and tragic impact” of the Israeli war, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).