Pro-Palestine groups urge for global economic boycott for Gaza

Pro-Palestinian groups are heeding calls by Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda for an international strike in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in response to Israel’s ongoing attacks and starvation of the enclave,  The New Arab reported on August 21st.

Key advocacy groups like the Global Campaign to Stop the Genocide in Gaza and Humaniti Project are echoing Owda’s push for an international economic boycott, urging communities on a global scale to withhold their money by not making any purchases and by holding up planned payments. Whilst pro-Gaza boycotts targeting Israeli-owned and aligned businesses have been ongoing, this is arguably the first time a call for a coordinated global economic shutdown has gained such widespread traction. Activists say the strike is not only a form of protest but a show of unified resistance against what has been described as a genocide in Gaza.

The groups also called for people to avoid public transport, to not buy any fuel and to consider using personal leave, rather than working on August 21st.

On August 18th, Owda posted a video on her Instagram account criticising the international community for failing Gaza and its people, who are finding it difficult to attain food while remaining anxious of Israel’s forthcoming offensive of Gaza City.

As she discussed the injustice Palestinians are experiencing in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Owda said: “And how you’ll ask me, what to do then Bisan”.

She added: “We do what hurts them the most, stop the economy, Khalas, its time for us to be loud to the amount that no news outlets or news media can neglect or ignore anything we are doing.”

Owda is one of Gaza’s best-known journalists, emerging as one of Gaza’s most prominent on-the-ground journalists during the current conflict. Last year, Owda got an Emmy Award for her series on the Al Jazeera Media Network, called “It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m still alive.”

A number of other pro-Palestinian groups, such as “Teachers for Palestine,” “Palestine Solidarity Campaign,” and “No Azure for Apartheid” said they will participate, and called on others to do the same.

Strikes aimed at showing solidarity with Gaza have been conducted since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023. On December 11th of the same year, Palestinian factions and activists called for a boycott and protests in a attempt to affect public life, in response to the UN’s failure to advance a resolution urging for a Gaza ceasefire.

The New Arab, Maghrebi.org