A friend has just been to the Quaker Spring Conference - "Faith in Action". She sent me some of the interesting handouts on Climate, Tar Sands oil extraction & Israeli illegal settlements on Palestinian land. Quakers have always been at the forefront of action on ethical issues & aren't afraid to be political. They are prepared to take a moral stand on important issues in a quiet & purposeful way.
Having been to the West Bank & seen for myself the conditions Palestinian's live in I was particularly struck by the campaign to boycott Israeli dates. Look at www.inminds.com/boycott-israeli-dates.php All our major supermarkets sell Medjool dates year round now. They are expensive and delicious, a real treat. Now I know more about their production I won't be eating them any more, or any other dates produced by Israel. In fact I am seriously considering boycotting other Israeli products, which are surprisingly numerous & sold by some of our biggest retailers in many spheres.
I really had no idea of the clout Israel has with multinational companies & therefore with Western politics. I have increasingly become very unhappy with the methods they use to colonise illegally & repress the Palestinians. That doesn't mean I'm not aware of the wrongs committed by extreme Palestinian groups. I condemn them totally & equally.
Maybe we in the West need to stop sitting on the fence. Each of us can make a difference, however small, through our actions. The Israeli / Palestinian question needs to be resolved for us all to be safer. No one should be treated in the way many ordinary Palestinian people have been.
Having been to the West Bank & seen for myself the conditions Palestinian's live in I was particularly struck by the campaign to boycott Israeli dates. Look at www.inminds.com/boycott-israeli-dates.php All our major supermarkets sell Medjool dates year round now. They are expensive and delicious, a real treat. Now I know more about their production I won't be eating them any more, or any other dates produced by Israel. In fact I am seriously considering boycotting other Israeli products, which are surprisingly numerous & sold by some of our biggest retailers in many spheres.
I really had no idea of the clout Israel has with multinational companies & therefore with Western politics. I have increasingly become very unhappy with the methods they use to colonise illegally & repress the Palestinians. That doesn't mean I'm not aware of the wrongs committed by extreme Palestinian groups. I condemn them totally & equally.
Maybe we in the West need to stop sitting on the fence. Each of us can make a difference, however small, through our actions. The Israeli / Palestinian question needs to be resolved for us all to be safer. No one should be treated in the way many ordinary Palestinian people have been.
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