A new UN published report, “Gaza Genocide: a collective crime,” exposes the complicity of states in enabling Israel’s livestreamed genocide against Palestinians.
The groundbreaking report, authored by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, affirms Israel’s genocide is:
- "A collective crime" made possible by the complicity of states that have "enabled longstanding systemic violations of international law by Israel.”
- Facilitated through "direct support, material aid, diplomatic protection and, in some cases, active participation.”
Here are 4 key takeaways from the report and 4 key ways to escalate BDS now.
(1) From complicity to partnership
When some states’ complicity becomes “direct, indispensable and constitutive,” to the extent that Israel’s crimes “would not have occurred in whole or in part” without it, these states may have crossed the threshold from complicity to direct participation in those crimes.
(2) A comprehensive boycott of Israel is required
The report outlines Israel’s decades long failure to “distinguish between its territory and the [occupied Palestinian territories],oPt,” even following the ICJ ruling that its occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was illegal. Third States must therefore “presume indistinguishability” and impose “a comprehensive boycott of Israel.”
This means immediately suspending “all military, diplomatic and economic relations with Israel, as any such engagement could represent means to aid/assist/directly participate in unlawful acts, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
(3) Colonial dehumanization lies at the heart of the genocide
“Most Western leaders parroted Israeli narratives, disseminated by State and corporate media, repeating debunked claims and erasing core distinctions between combatants and civilians. … Drawing on a long history of the ‘savage’ denied protections of international law, … Western States helped to justify the genocide against Palestinians.”
(4) Justice demands ending the impunity of Israel and its enablers
“Many Third States have operated with the very impunity they have granted
Israel. Their disregard for international law undermines the foundations of the multilateral order painstakingly built over eight decades … within the United Nations.”
“While justice must involve criminal trials … accountability extends beyond prosecutions to include reparations: restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition, by Israel and by Third States that have supported its crimes. The power structures that enabled these heinous crimes must be dismantled.”
The Special Rapporteur concludes by urging “trade unions, lawyers, civil society and ordinary citizens to … continue to press institutions, governments and corporations [with] boycotts, divestments and sanctions, until the end of the Israeli illegal occupation and related crimes.”
We call for escalating BDS pressure on complicit governments and parliaments, including through peaceful disruption, to:
- Impose a comprehensive military and energy embargo on Israel.
- Expel Israel from the UN and push for lawful sanctions against it.
- End all diplomatic, trade, cultural and academic relations with Israel that may contribute to its unlawful occupation, apartheid, or genocide.
- Join The Hague Group and endorse and implement their Bogotá Declaration.