Akbayan Representative Calls for Boycott of Products of Illegal Israeli Settlements at UN Meeting in Bangkok

Akbayan Representative Walden Bello called on the Philippines and other governments in the Asia Pacific region to “to support a boycott of goods from the illegal settlements” that Israel has established on the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Philippine legislator made his appeal at the United Nations Asian and Pacific Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace held in Bangkok on July 10 and 11. The conference organized by the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations was attended by around 70 representatives of governments and civil society organizations.

The meeting took place at a time that negotiations for a peace settlement and a Palestinian state are frozen owing to continuing expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank. With some 9.4 of Palestinian territories already incorporated into Israeli settlements and more Palestinian land occupied by military structures and the infamous 708 km “Wall” separating Israel from Palestine, negotiations are becoming “an exercise in futility,” said Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations. He warned that with Palestinians becoming increasingly frustrated with Israeli defiance of United Nations resolutions, “something might happen.”

Mohammad Mahathir, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, asserted that “Israel can get away with defying international law only because it has the full support of the United States.” The controversial statesman asserted, “I am not a racist, but it’s the powerful Jewish lobby that determines US policy on Palestine.”

Bello agreed with Mahathir, saying, “I think we can safely say that both in an out of the United Nations, the Israeli tail is wagging the American dog. President Obama’s promise at the beginning of his term to get the peace process moving has been simply that: a promise that has not been kept, largely due to his fear of losing the Jewish vote.”

Gideon Levy, a prominent Israeli journalist, said Israelis think that the whole international community is against them, so they “don’t care if they violate international law” by constructing settlements on Palestinian land. Levy also said that if one were to compare the well-watered Israeli farms in the Jordan Valley and the waterless Palestinian farms alongside them, it would be difficult not to characterize Israeli rule as “apartheid.”

Palestinian delegates to the conference revealed that 133 countries have already recognized Palestine as a state. This includes the Philippines, which extended recognition as early as 1989. Serving as Ambassador of Palestine to the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei is Abdelaziz Aboughosh, who attended the meeting.

Officials of the Palestinian Authority tried to apply for membership as a state in the United Nations in 2011 but withdrew their application when they realized they could not obtain the necessary 9 of 15 votes at the Security Council when France and Britain said they would abstain from voting.

Aside from Bello, Filipino delegates to the meeting included Nathaniel Imperial, Executive Director of the Office of the Middle East and African Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and Rev. Alan Sarte, who represented the World Council of Churches.
Sabrina Laya S. Gacad
Senior Legislative and Media Officer
Office of Hon. WALDEN F. BELLO
AKBAYAN Party-list Representative
House of Representatives
Quezon City, Philippines
sabrina.gacad@yahoo.com

Press Release
For Immediate Release
12 July 2012

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