Israeli Attack on Palestinians Prompts International Backlash

French film director Jean-Luc Godard won't take part in French government festivities promoting Israel. (Photo: via Twitter)

Israel’s latest attack on Palestinian protesters in Gaza, which killed over 60 and injured thousands with live ammunition, has generated a widespread backlash.

The attack on Monday was the latest in Israel’s ongoing use of lethal force against Palestinian protesters since the beginning of the Great March of Return, on March 30.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which aims to pressure Israel to end its occupation of Palestine and recognize Palestinians’ right to return, has registered several victories.

On May 15, when Palestinians commemorated 70 years of the Nakba (‘Catastrophe’) unleashed by the creation of the state of Israel, the chief executive of the engineering company Versarin announced a US$4 million loss after its links with the Israeli Aerospace Industries were made public by BDS supporters.

Since May 14, several politicians and major unions in France have urged Emmanuel Macron’s government to take a stance against Israel for its ‘crimes against humanity.’

Earlier this month, in an important victory for the cultural boycott of Israel, 80 French artists – including director Jean-Luc Godard – published an open letter announcing they would not participate in the upcoming France-Israel Season to celebrate Israeli ‘independence.’

The latest BDS endorsement was reported Thursday when the artistic director of the Portuguese National Theater, Tiago Rodriguez, announced he was canceling a presentation in Jerusalem and publicly endorsed the cultural boycott of Israel.  

Rodriguez canceled the show after he learned official communications by the Israel Festival announced this year’s edition celebrates the 70th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel.

Rodriguez also said he was joining the cultural boycott of Israel “convinced that global and collective pressure might produce similar results to the boycott of South Africa during apartheid.”

(TeleSur, PC, Social Media)

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