Despite the pro-Israeli bias in Australia’s mainstream media, more than 69% of Australia’s population are now critical of Israel’s influence in the world (BBC Poll, 2013) and many of these critics in Adelaide are eager to express that disapproval by employing the time-honoured tactics of BDS.
by Margaret Cassar
For the past four years our group of tenacious activists, supported by the Australian Friends of Palestine Association, has held weekly protests in the heart of Adelaide promoting Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS). In that time we have seen a significant change in public opinion towards Israel and a growing acceptance of the BDS movement.
Despite the pro-Israeli bias in Australia’s mainstream media, more than 69% of Australia’s population are now critical of Israel’s influence in the world (BBC Poll, 2013) and many of these critics in Adelaide are eager to express that disapproval by employing the time-honoured tactics of BDS.
During these four years our campaigns have broadened in scope to include the annual Israeli Film Festivals, the Batsheva Dance Company, Osem products, Naot shoes, SodaStream, and many of the Seacret stores in Adelaide, specifically the Seacret kiosk in the Myer Centre, Rundle Mall.
BDS in Adelaide and Australia has weathered many storms in the last four years encompassing persistent attacks and defamations by Zionists and Christian Zionists, verbal abuse, physical attacks, heavy handed security in Melbourne and Sydney, attempts to criminalize boycotts by the Israeli law firm, Shurat Hadin, prosecution of an individual respecting the academic boycott ( Jake Lynch of Sydney University) and a court order denying permission for a protest outside the Israeli Film Festival (IFF) in Sydney.
These blatant attempts to stifle free speech and the individual’s right to vote with their shopping and entertainment dollars were doomed to failure and have served to strengthen the resolve of Australian activists as seen in our recent You Tube Resurgence of BDS in Australia which celebrates a selection of creative protests in all of Australia’s major capital cities. These took place over just one month, August 2014.
Since the start of our protests in 2010, we have seen two major massacres in Gaza: the 2011 Operation Pillar of Cloud and the recent Operation Protective Edge. It does make you wonder who is advising Israel on their public relations strategy. Every bombardment of Gaza influences thousands, even millions to commit to BDS. We notice, at our weekly protests, whenever there is an attack on Gaza, shoppers in the Mall actively seek us out asking for information on BDS and want instruction on what they can do to help the Palestinians.
Operation Protective Edge has also created a resurgence of pro-Palestinian activism in Australian campuses and the emergence of young, enthusiastic flashmob groups like the Adelaide group which is remarkably effective in attracting attention to the Palestinian cause.
Our initial protests focussed almost exclusively on the Seacret kiosk in the Myer Centre, Rundle Mall. This high profile Israeli business, staffed by young Israelis applying high pressure sales techniques to sell cosmetics made from minerals stolen from Palestine, has provided us for four years with the opportunity to educate the general populace about Palestine and promote BDS as a peaceful consumer choice action.
It is interesting to see Seacret’s response to our quiet and low key protests. It has twice changed the design of their kiosks and that suggests our protests have been effective. Initially the booths were fitted out in the easily identifiable blue Seacret colour. After more than a year of our protests, the colour was cleverly restyled to a green similar to our protest T-shirts. Its latest incarnation sports a silvery white colour scheme with the name Seacret subtly blended into the background. They are not exactly trumpeting the Seacret name.
The Seacret company appears to be even more secretive about their brand in an Israeli Dead Sea cosmetics store which has been set up in the new Rundle Place shopping mall. This kiosk sells Seacret products but under the name of ‘Premier’.
On the 8 October 2014 we are not only celebrating the longevity of our protests and the successful awareness raising about Palestine through the handing out of 60,000 leaflets, but also that BDS has captured the imagination of many South Australians who are becoming active in BDS and spearheading their own actions.
The four year span of our activism is testimony to the depth of commitment found in the pro-Palestinian movement in Adelaide and to the breadth of BDS activities we have been involved in, and are planning, for the future. And, as always, we dedicate our actions to the courage of our friends in Palestine who resist Israel’s illegal and brutal occupation.
Margaret Cassar 17 September 2014