The war in Gaza has been going on for over 10 months and has claimed nearly 40,000 Palestinian lives – the vast majority of them women and children.
From the outset, there have been many calls for a total boycott of Israeli goods – but so far these seem to have had little effect on trade.
The city council of Gothenburg, for example, decided to boycott Israeli goods along with products from Morocco and Russia, stating that it did not want to financially support “states that illegally occupy other states”.
– Israel is engaged in an illegal occupation of the West Bank, which has only been exacerbated by the widespread killing of civilians in Gaza. Our tax money should not be used to financially support occupying powers, said Jonas Attenius (S), chairman of the city council, in a press release.
However, the announcement was halted the administrative court, which ruled that the council did not have the authority to make such a decision and that the boycott could be illegal.
Many others, not least on social media, have also called for or urged a boycott of Israeli goods, but according to Statistics Sweden’s statistics on Swedish-Israeli trade, there is no clear change.
“Of the total imports to Sweden, Israel accounts for 0.1 percent, and of these goods, food and other items that can be bought in stores account for less than ten percent, and it is unclear how much influence the consumer has on trade with Israel”, notes the state broadcaster SVT.
Competing issues
Emma Blom, described by the network as a “social media expert”, says it’s difficult to create a “huge trend” out of Israel boycotts because there are so many other issues to get involved with.
– Issues like #metoo and black lives matter have made more people want to make these kinds of calls. But there are so many issues to get involved in that there is no one that stands out, she says.
Lisa Nåbo, president of the Social Democratic Youth Union (SSU), believes that private boycotts can be effective – but only “as part of a larger toolbox”.
– I don’t think it’s the whole solution, but you shouldn’t underestimate the will of the people, which can sometimes be seen through their wallets, she says.
