Boycott From Within’s letter to BT

18 January 2011

[See earlier posting Act now: Tell BT to hang up on the Occupation]

Dear British Telecom,

We, Israeli citizens devoted to the promotion of a just peace and a true democracy in the Middle East, are deeply concerned about the potentially irreversible damage inflicted on Palestinians by the brutal Israeli occupation, and about the outrageous international support of such policies.

We are saddened and dismayed by your company’s complicity in severe breaches of international law and the violation of human rights through your relationship with Bezeq International, and call on you to end this relationship at once. While BT has repeatedly stated its commitment to ensuring that it is “not complicit in human rights abuses,” its partnership with Bezeq International proves differently. By partnering with Bezeq, BT is supporting the infrastructure which enables illegal Israeli settlements, built in violation of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, to exist. We maintain that such wilful blindness to Israeli crimes is not only immoral, but is also in contrast to BT’s fiduciary responsibility to its investors, as it may put  the company’s high-regard in the international community at risk.

Furthermore, we wish to emphasize that a critical stance against the occupation, including explicit calls and actions taken by individuals and organizations to divest or sanction companies or institutions complicit in such atrocities, are not Anti-Semitic. On the contrary, only resistance of this kind, as part of the struggle for peace based on justice and equality, will enable a common future for Arabs and Jews in the region.

Inspired by the struggle of South Africans against apartheid, and following the footsteps of other non-violent struggles against discrimination and repression across the world, we call on you to live up to your professed ethical standards and cut all ties with Israel’s occupation.

Sincerely yours,

Boycott From Within – Israelis supporting the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions.