RAMALLAH: Nobel Prize winners and several artists and activists signed an open letter calling for a military boycott of Israel following the country's bombardment of the Gaza Strip last month, Jerusalem Post reported. The letter decried the United States and the European Union for supporting Israel militarily despite a massive 8-day military campaign that killed around 170 Palestinians and injured over a thousand. Among the signatures were Nobel peace laureate Aldofo Perez Esquivel, American academic Noam Chomsky, author Alice Walker, musician Roger Waters (Pink Floyd), and Stephane Hassel, a holocaust survivor and former French diplomat, the Guardian said. The letter stated: Just a few days before Israel began the military offensive on Gaza (named Operation Pillar of Defense),Craig Corrie, father of slain American activist Rachel Corrie, declared his support for the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Corrie was killed in 2003 after an Israeli soldier ran her over with a bulldozer while she was attempting to protect a Palestinian home from demolition in the Gaza Strip. “I was sort of slow coming to BDS," Corrie said in an interview with Gaza-based activist and Electronic Intifada contributor Joe Catron. “I've talked to some people, actually on this trip, who helped me with some of the well-thought-out ways, when you look at the actual call, how targeted it is." “I used to work in insurance, which involved some investing. So in terms of divestment, that to me was a no-brainer. If you own the stock, like in Caterpillar, then you're profiting from things that are immoral. It didn't seem to me that it takes a discussion. It takes a call to your stockbroker to get out. Why talk about it? Especially if you're a Christian church. You can't have the values of a church, then go profit from people's suffering." Under pressure from BDS activists, last week American musician Stevie Wonder cancelled a scheduled performance at a fundraiser for the Israeli military.
