Gaza Stirs World Boycott of Israel Goods
18/01/2009

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The Israeli atrocities in Gaza have sparked campaigns to boycott Israeli products worldwide. (Google)

CAIRO — As their army is continuing its deadly blitz in the bombed-out Gaza Strip, Israeli farmers are reporting a wide-scale boycott of their produce by Arab and European countries over the Israeli onslaught in Gaza. "We export persimmons, and because of the fighting a number of countries and distributors are canceling orders," Giora Almagor, a fruit grower, told the Yediot Aharonot on Friday, January 16.

He said that many fruits shipments to Jordan have been cancelled. "The produce stays packed in warehouses, and this is causing us massive losses. "The longer the fruit waits in storage after sorting, the more its quality decreases. We also have to pay for cooling the merchandise that should have already left, and the cost in considerable."

Many Scandinavian countries have also cancelled fruit shipments from Israel over the ongoing attacks in Gaza. "It's mostly Sweden, Norway, and Denmark," said Ilan Eshel, director of the Organization of Fruit Growers in Israel. "In Scandinavia the tendency is general, and it may come to include all of the chains."

A number of British companies have also halted prospective deals with Israeli firms. "There have been two or three small information technology companies who refused proposals by Israeli companies to do business," Gil Erez, the Israeli commercial attaché in Britain, said Thursday. British writers have also run articles calling for a boycott of Israeli products over attacks in Gaza.

In Turkey, the union of Turkish cooperatives has announced an embargo on financing purchases from Israel. Malaysian traders have also spearheaded a campaign to boycott American and Israeli products.

It's Gaza

Israeli farmers blame the world boycott of the Israeli products on the deadly Israeli attacks in Gaza. "Until the operation began we had excellent business," said Almagor, the fruit grower. At least 1,143 Palestinians, including 355 children, have been killed and 5,130 wounded in a three-week Israeli onslaught in Gaza.

A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was killed early Friday and several people were wounded in an Israeli air strike on the Shabura refugee camp in southern Gaza. Israeli planes also attacked 40 targets across the densely-populated strip on Friday.

Israeli tanks withdrew from the Gaza City neighborhood of Tal Al-Hawa, where clashes leveled parts of the residential area and set a hospital ablaze. At least 23 bodies were pulled from the rubble in Tal Al-Hawa and elsewhere.

Israeli farmers warn that more world countries will boycott Israeli products as long as Israeli attacks in Gaza continue. "It's getting worse, and more voices can be heard calling to boycott Israeli merchandise," said Almagor.


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