Israel needs to be isolated and shunned

With Argentina’s cancellation of a friendly, the BDS movement shows it is making a difference

One of the most successful methods of fighting the Israeli regime over the past decade has proven to be the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. Its philosophy and tactics are simple: target businesses, organisations, cultural or sporting groups that might be tempted to have dealings with that repugnant and immoral occupation regime. Now, the organisers of BDS can add the name of the Argentine Football Association as one who have withdrawn from a proposed friendly football game with Israel as part of the preparations for the upcoming World Cup.

In the words of striker Gonzalo Higuain, Argentina had “finally done the right thing”. The decision to cancel the game is right, and it has been greeted with jubilation by all Palestinians who live day-to-day with the repressive and illegal acts of the occupation regime. Indeed, following the recent bloody and murderous turn of events on the illegal fence that separates the Gaza Strip from the rest of Palestine — where scores of Palestinians were massacred by occupation forces and their snipers — the very notion of Argentina and Israel playing football seems incongruent to the use of the word “friendly” itself.

The cancellation of this game should send a loud and clear message that few other than the supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters in Washington have any truck with the shoot-to-kill orders issued to occupation troops. Nor, it needs to be reiterated, is there any support for the grievous decision to relocate the embassy of the US to occupied Jerusalem and confer on it a spurious designation as capital of the Israel.

The BDS movement is effective in that it hits Israel hard, striking at its economy and firms that profit from its illegal occupation of Palestine. The BDS movement too shatters the veneer of normality the Israeli government craves, and its action help heap international condemnation on Israel and its false projection of Zionist agenda.

This high-profile cancellation clearly sends a message that Israel has lost any thread of moral legitimacy around the world, and must be isolated even further. But after this successful cancellation, the BDS movement should now seek to mobilise opposition among Europe broadcasters to boycott the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest that is due to be hosted by Israel. As with the actions of the Argentine Football Association, the European Broadcast Union should follow suit — or individual nations should take a moral step and simply say “No”.