Joining boycott movement is an antidote to despair over Gaza
A Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign protest march through Cork City centre in February 2024 calling for boycotts of Israel. File picture: Larry Cummins
Optimism and energy aren’t the first words that come to mind around Palestine these days.
For those of us who’ve been following the genocide and long-running occupation there, it’s more common to feel powerless, to wonder how to help but get no answer. But action is a great antidote to despair. Using tools and strategies given to us by Palestinians, businesses can make real change.
Since the end of October, in Cork City and county alone, 20 businesses have declared their commitment to become an Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ) meaning they have committed to cutting all ties with apartheid Israel and its complicit institutions, as well as with corporations that are implicated in its human rights violations.
The AFZ initiative comes from the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, a 20-year, non-violent campaign to pressure Israel to comply with international law and respect Palestinian rights.
Business is in my blood — I grew up in a family business, we had a pub in town. My career has spanned corporate work, entrepreneurship and the circular economy. But it’s only been in the past few years that I fully understood that as both a consumer and a business person, my power lies in where I put my money.
I wasn’t able to connect the dots until I understood the tenets of BDS. Now, I’m part of a dedicated group of volunteers, along with many other working people, students and retirees that drop in to businesses to let them know how to be part of this meaningful and timely movement.
The first step is to sign the pledge to begin the process of divesting from Israeli companies and the companies that support apartheid and genocide in Gaza. Depending on the business this can look quite different.
Businesses can do the same as consumers and look for the products they sell or use using the Boycat app or No thanks app, which keep an up-to-date list of which products and companies are on the boycott list. For a hairdresser that could mean making sure their product lines are not Israeli, putting an AFZ poster on the premises, and educating staff and customers.
Same thing for a cafe, as well as finding substitutes to popular soft drinks or imported food. The next step for organisations is to look at hidden ties to Israeli companies, through software packages or even web services.
We then advise changes where possible and put a plan in place for alternatives. It’s important to support businesses throughout the process because it can seem like a lot at the start.
Not everyone wants to know about it — a small number are hostile, but most people we approach are supportive and want to know more. Creating a network of Apartheid Fee Zones is a very slow piece of work that requires multiple trips and conversations — the business owners and workers want to be fully informed and that’s how it should be.
By pledging to support Palestinians to win their freedom, and publicly declaring themselves to be an Apartheid Free Zone, shops, restaurants, businesses, schools, community organisations and trade unions make an important statement as well as a material difference.
In January of this year, Cork County Council declared its support for the BDS campaign and agreed not to purchase goods or services produced or provided in whole or in part as is practicable by Israeli companies or companies that support the Israeli state.
“Cork County Council declares the county of Cork to be an apartheid free zone, a space of proactive solidarity with the Palestinian people. It commits to encourage and assist all efforts to show solidarity and fundraising for humanitarian efforts in Palestine,” the motion read.
Even with all of this support, we have a major fight on our hands. As reported recently in the , figures from the UN's trade database, Comtrade, revealed that Ireland is Israel's second-most important export market for goods, after the US.
This is so disappointing to me, because Irish people stand with Palestine. We have seen this time and again with protest marches, fundraising and other solidarity efforts that have always been a part of Irish life and have ramped up massively in the past two years.
But that energy has never been matched by our government, who have continuously failed to take any meaningful action against Israel. The most pertinent example of this is the slow-walked and watered down Occupied Territories Bill.
It’s shameful, but by abiding by BDS principles and working toward more Apartheid Free Zones we are doing the work the government can or will not.
So many of us have wondered with a sense of helplessness — what can we do? Making Cork an Apartheid Free Zone is one thing we can do, and we are doing it.
On November 12, Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS movement, will speak at Cork City Hall as a guest of the Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign and SIPTU. Tickets are free but must be booked on Eventbrite.
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