Two weeks ago, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for their atrocious war crimes against humanity that have been steadily directed at the people of Palestine; specifically, for their crimes of mass murder, persecution of the Palestinian people, and purposeful withholding of aid so as to cause starvation and a plummeting quality of life. All three crimes have led to unnecessary pain and suffering for Palestinians as well as targeted attacks against their ways of life and calculated destruction of their infrastructure. The arrest warrants were brought about from the International Criminal Court by way of three judges named Nicolas Guillou, Reine Alapini-Gansou, and Beti Hohler. The warrants are recognized and enforced by 124 countries that are a part of the International Criminal Court. As of the release of the warrants, there have been 44,466+ deaths and 105,358 injured in Gaza and 801+ murdered in the West Bank, though these numbers are likely much higher as Gaza’s Ministry of Health is no longer able to adequately report deaths.

With the destruction and massacres of the Palestinian people, there has also been an ongoing conflict against the people of Lebanon as well. 3,961 Lebanese people have been killed since last year and 16,520 have been injured. A ceasefire was introduced on November 27 that was aimed to last 60 days and would involve the removal of Israeli armies and Hezbollah as well as implementing the Lebanese army to the south of the country to oversee the ceasefire operations. The ceasefire has been backed by the French and the United States, though Israel violated the ceasefire within a day of it being enacted. With both countries being under constant attack from the Israeli war machine, there has been a growing movement of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement to support the Palestinian people and to put pressure on governmental bodies to withdraw support of Israel. The BDS movement is used locally and internationally with multiple successes, such as cutting ties with military arms companies, blocking shipping of arms to Israel, and refusing to support companies that use Palestinian land.

Within Alabama, there has been pressure against the arms companies based in Huntsville, pressure against the University of Alabama from students to cut financial ties with Israel, and a current campaign to boycott the Chevron gas company. The boycott of Chevron aims at stopping the gas giant’s contracts with Israel as it profits from the genocide and enforces the illegal siege of Gaza. To continue the support of the BDS movement locally and to help our Palestinian siblings in and out of state, there is an open invitation to pledge to boycott Chevron and to join the campaign of boycotting its Texaco and Caltex brands. To join in the campaign is to continue to remain steadfast in the face of the oppression of the Palestinian people and their lands as well as supporting an already mounting and successful pressure on agencies to stop interacting with the Israeli war complex.

Sources

https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-state-palestine-icc-pre-trial-chamber-i-rejects-state-israels-challenges

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/21/what-are-the-icc-countries-where-netanyahu-and-gallant-may-face-arrest

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/icc-judges-who-issued-netanyahu-gallant-arrest-warrants

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/12/israels-genocide-day-423-israeli-siege-of-north-gaza-intensifies-as-it-enters-60th-day/

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241201-factbox-number-of-israeli-ceasefire-violations-in-lebanon-reaches-62-with-24-reported-saturday/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/26/ceasefire-between-lebanons-hezbollah-and-israel-what-to-know

https://bdsmovement.net/call