Save Palestine: Who says boycott campaign won’t work?

I just copy & paste what I have written in my another blog..Memorabilia. I am pleased to share my opinion with everyone, particularly the IIUM community. Comments are most welcomed.

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I was called to give response to a letter entitled “Boycotting US products won’t work”, sent by a reader, which appeared here. Personally, to some extent, I don’t agree with him. It’s up to the readers to judge it. But everyone has his/her own opinion.

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Boycotting US products won’t work

DOES former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad seriously think that boycotting US products will work?

(Yes, I agree that the boycott campaign will definitely work, provided that everyone unites for it. And Tun Dr. Mahathir was not the first and the only one who initiated the move. Many international Muslim scholars have given the fatwa that boycotting the enemies’ products is necessary, at least to weaken them, err..but no fatwa from Malaysian scholars yet, particularly from JAKIM, National Fatwa Council, or Mufti of each state)

I say his suggestion, though noble, will never work because Malaysians, especially the young, love the US too much for the boycott to work.

(How can he’s very sure that the young Malaysians love the US to much? Prove it. Or perhaps the writer is one of those who love the US very much. As long as the information is delivered, and proper explanation is given, it’s impossible that everyone will just close their eyes. If one of every 10 person supports the boycott, it will still make difference and small change. Maybe the writer has never heard about the Starfish story)

There is also a call to boycott Israeli products. Unless I have been asleep all these years, as far as I know Malaysia does not have direct trade with Israel, least of all diplomatic ties. So what products are we supposed to boycott?

(I think the writer has been asleep all these years. The boycott campaign states that we should boycott all the products and companies that had track record of financially supporting Israel. And of course, when they support Israel financially, they support the killing of innocent people too, particularly Muslims. And not all products that contribute to the development of Israel come from the US. Some of them are from Switzerland, France,  Finland, etc. So read, listen and think carefully before giving any comments)

I know of products that are marketed in Malaysia that are manufactured by American Jews, British Jews, French Jews, Russian Jews and so on. But they are not Jews who live in Israel and, as the unwritten rule goes, they are exempted and can trade with Malaysia.

Or is Dr Mahathir also referring to them too? If that is so, then I can tell you our country will be totally crippled overnight. The reality of it all is that we are too dependent on the US. It is our No. 1 trade partner, and we have no other choice but to be dependent on the US.

(I agree that US is one of the main trade partner of Malaysia. But who says that we have no other choice but to be dependent on the US? Opps..the writer said so. For certain categories of products, yes it’s true. For the moment, we may not have alternative for Intel (the microprocessor). In fact, the whole world is depending on it. But instead of Dell, there’re many other alternatives. We can still buy and use Toshiba, Acer, Asus, Fujitsu, Compaq, Sony, BenQ, etc. Look at the list of the brands that financially supports Israel. Is it true that we don’t really have alternatives? Unless you love their products very much, of course you don’t want to use other brands, it’s your own choice. I don’t have to list down all the products here since they’re being spread everywhere now)

We must be realistic and use the means at hand to get the world to unite against the US and Israel. We must be more forceful and vocal in the United Nations, NAM and OIC. We must bust their veto power.

(Yeah, be realistic. It means that we have to wait till all Palestinians be killed or chased out from their land, and Palestine will be erased from the world map. Only at that time the world will unite against the US and Israel. Who will listen to us? UN, NAM, OIC, Arab League are all no use now. They take months to meet and make decision, and by the time they agree on certain decisions, the Zionists have succeeded in killing Muslims and conquering the world)

Malaysia may be a small country but with proper planning and support of all UN members it can work. I think Wisma Putra should be able to initiate this move. Forget boycotting US and Israeli products as it is a waste of time and energy.

(Boycotting is not a waste of time and energy. It’s one of the actions that we are merely capable of, other than praying, donating money, joining the protest, signing the petition, etc. If someone thinks that it’s a waste of time and energy, then he doesn’t need to join it. But don’t disturb others who are willing to do it. Another alternative, he can wait until he becomes the Prime Minister of Malaysia, or the chairman of OIC, or the Secretary General of UN so that he can get the world to unite against the US and Israel. I pray that the day will come very soon)