MPACUK Calls for Boycott of Israeli Apartheid Dates
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK) is calling for Muslims to boycott dates from Israel and illegal settlements.
The boycott campaign is part of the larger global ‘Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions’ movement which is a response to Israel’s systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Since 1947, Israel has been using its economy alongside its military to further oppress and occupy Palestine. This is a direct measure to undercut their strategy.
The month of Ramadan is a time when the Muslim community traditionally buy dates to break their daily fasts with. MPACUK is calling on all Muslims to consciously avoid buying, selling or breaking their fasts with Israeli apartheid dates, and to inform shopkeepers of the unethical source of these dates.
MPACUK is also urging all Muslim community leaders, organisations and scholars to convey this message to the wider Muslim and non-Muslim community.
Commenting, MPACUK spokesman Ahammed Hussain said:
“Buying these dates helps Israel to continue its illegal occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people – to buy dates associated with an apartheid regime like Israel is completely against the spirit of Ramadan and our Islamic ethics.
“This campaign follows in the same vein as the boycotts that were organised against the apartheid South African regime to send a message to Israel and its supporters that we will not tolerate their continued oppression of Palestinians.”
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Notes to Editor
To contact MPACUK for further comments, please call 020 8158 5785