PALESTINIANS BOYCOTTING ISRAEL
ONLY BOYCOTTS PALESTINIANS

By Walid Shoebat

Admitting error is rare when Anti-Israel media writes in English, but perusing the Arabic yields treasures beyond your wildest imagination, even confessions on how screwed up this anti-Israel campaign is that is being perpetrated against Israel to boycott anything made by that state. Hiba Lama laments as she expressed her views on Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN): “How much of our campaigns called to boycott Israeli goods, especially those made by settlements, and how much of this slogan [to boycott Israel] we spread in the streets and at the gates of stores and car stickers and how many articles we published in the media, including our government’s decision to boycott, coupled with campaigns; including door to door and from place to place which included visits to houses and shops in the West Bank and carrying out awareness campaigns of the harmful effects of goods made by settlements all calling for boycotting the Israeli goods.”

She then laments that the curse intended on Israel simply bounced back: “But we did not ask ourselves, not even once if such campaigns have the desired results … numbers of Palestinians had abandoned their Palestinian shops after missing several items and went to stores in Israeli areas instead like “supermarket Rami Levy” in the Etzion and Ram, which was packed with Palestinian customers, as if nothing had happened. Hanna Rishmawi owner of a shop in Beit Sahour, suffers from low sales since the boycott was established…Low prices and many special offers including an escape to a different climate from the usual. I spoke to one Palestinian at the Rami Levi supermarket and she explains her reasons for abandoning the Palestinian shops ‘Although it is far and needs more time; Children enjoy the trip and feel they got out of jail, and I can find the goods that I want with low prices, milk in Rami Levy is 9-shekels, while in Palestinian shops for 12 shekels, and this in itself is
a
big difference not to mention other goods and distinctive offers…”

Abeer Taweel went once to see what is this “Rami Levy” everyone is talking about to only find all her relatives and neighbors and acquaintances there purchasing all their needs for the whole week.

Muhammad Lutfi, a Boycott Israel campaign coordinator in Bethlehem also laments of the failure. He explained that the reason of the failure is that people need to have the will to fast from Israeli products.

So how did the Ministry of Economy handle the failure? An emergency meeting was conducted to adopt a policy to inspect all vehicles entering the Palestinian cities with checkpoints based on the borders of cities, such as the point located by the entrance of Beit Sahour and Ram.”
You heard it right, Palestinian checkpoints to prevent their own people to exercise the freedom to shop. One thing is certain, cursing Israel was not a great idea after all.