Jom Complain#2: Can boycotts really help Palestine?

Hi everyone, my name is Zahim Salimone, I'm a social media activist and a representative of PDS Malaysia. Oi! Hey, hey, hey, hey! Eh, eh, leh. You know like, originally from Malaysia, that is absolutely wrong because PDS Malaysia is just a chapter of PDS National Committee. It is actually a Palestinian-led organization. We include like 170 Palestinian civil societies. And these civil societies basically set the guideline for us like chapters worldwide to follow, like to know which companies or what kind of action that we should take To execute what PDS stands for. A lot of people assume that it started during the genocide, which is very wrong. It started long time ago with three clear purposes. First, we want to end the occupation of Palestine. We want Israel to stop the occupation from the West Bank to Gaza. Even like they said they withdrew from Gaza in 2006, for example, they actually put blockade around Gaza. That is not like, you know, ending of the occupation. So that's the first purpose of PDS, like to end the occupation. Secondly, we know that, you know, from the river to the sea, the area from the river to the sea, a lot of Palestinian citizens of Israel or basically Arabs, they don't have equal rights like what the Jewish citizens do. A lot of them have trouble buying houses, buying land and they are not even treated like as human beings in most cases. PDS want to work on that. We want to encourage people to realize that this is not right. If you are supporting freedom, we should promote equal rights, obviously. And lastly, PDS, our main target is also to promote the right of return of Palestinians. When the Nakhbar happened in 1948, like a huge number of Palestinians actually had to leave their home in the modern day Israel, which is like the, you know, the 1948 territories. A lot of Palestinians, they had to leave their houses in Tel Aviv, which was called Yaffa. And then a lot of them had to leave, Haifa, a lot of them had to leave like, you know, by to mark this itself, which is like Jerusalem. So we want them to be able to return to modern day Israel. Or even like, you know, the diaspora of Palestinian like in America or in Canada or in Europe or all over the world to be able to return to at least West Bank and to live normally where their grandmothers or grandfathers used to live back then. So that's basically the history of PDS. Basically, PDS National Committee, we, I think they are actually doing the research part. So we are just following the list that they give us. Like, there are certain companies in Malaysia that, you know, like, probably have ties with Israel. PDS National Committee might, you know, advise us to make a statement to even like, amplifies our situation here to the broader PDS National Committee audience. Like, when apartheid happened back then, like, South Africa was actually boycotted. Like, they were not allowed to participate in the Olympics for many, many years. And people stopped doing business with South Africa. Eventually, because of that, like occupations, no, the apartheid system become too costly for the white oriented government to sustain. And eventually, the apartheid government in South Africa was abolished. I think it's just a perception. Like, if you are actually following Palestinian from the ground, like Palestinian and Gaza, you will realise that they are actually getting more and more support. And then you can see, like, the movement is getting stronger. Like, last week, I think the European government, they are starting to, you know, making statements. Like, they are trying to, they are trying to threaten Israel, you know, to start putting sanctions and all that. And then, I think even the mainstream liberal media are starting to, you know, correct the framing of the situation. They are actively using active voice, like, you know, Israel killed instead of Palestinian being murdered. They are starting to highlight that, you know, like. I also want to highlight, like, a lot of celebrities, they are starting to be brave enough to shift their tone and actually speak up. Like, something that I thought was quite remarkable was recently Imogen Reagan. They waived Palestinian flag after their concert in Milan was over. This was something quite huge to me, because previously, Imogen Reagan, they refused to comply to be the escort, to boycott, to cancel their concert in Tel Aviv. I think people are quite desensitised, to be honest. Like, because Israel keep killing Palestinian every day, people start to, you know, like, have activism fatigue. Like, they start to feel exhausted to, you know, keep sharing, keep talking. But I think they are still actively boycotting. And I can see from my post on Palestine, they are still being shared by a lot of people. And people just, you know, silently hitting Israel at the moment. Like, they maybe don't talk about it as much, but they just will never forget what Israel did. Throughout, like, 19 months of genocide. They got a call from LiveM, and then they asked me about Bruno Mars, whether we should support his concert here or not. And then, knowing that he actually proceeded with his concert in Tel Aviv, on a venue that was actually a Palestinian village, was basically asking Bruno Mars to speak up. Like, if you look at my post, like, last year, I basically do not want celebrities to be quiet about this. Like, even Bruno Mars, he is a very powerful influencer. Like, he is a celebrity, so naturally, he is just an influencer as well. And his silence is just deafening. Like, and sadly, even after my call for him to speak up when viral, it was actually shared for 22,000 times on Instagram. And I think it was one of the most viewed videos on LiveM account as well. It's about, like, are you feeling okay with, like, witnessing children being killed? Are you, like, at peace whenever you see pregnant mothers being bulldozed? Are you, like, happy, you know, when people's houses are being bombed? Like, it's no longer about my interest in Bruno Mars songs. Like, it's much bigger than that. Yeah, it's just disappointing as a fan. Actually, if you look at the data from 2024, the debt to GDP ratio in Israel is actually increasing. Like, it increased by, I would say, 7.7%. It was previously 61.3%. And 2024, it became 69%. So, basically, the government of Israel, the Ministry of Finance, they are trying to reduce the debt to GDP ratio. They don't want the, you know, the ratio to become 71%, because if it goes to 71%, because of the war, they predict if the war continues, the debt to GDP ratio will increase to that amount. And the economy of Israel can actually be in danger. Yeah. And then we also have to take note of the deficit in the budget of the Israeli economy. Like, for your information, I think if I'm not mistaken, like, last year, the deficit goes from 5% to 6.9%. Yeah, so this is actually not good. And if the wars continue with, you know, the expenses on military spending is already, I think it's 100 billion Israeli shakers, which is like 30 billion US dollars. That's the military expenses. And this is actually very bad for Israeli economy, because they are spending a lot of money on, you know, killing people, which is like crazy and pointless. Alhamdulillah, like, thank God, like, in Malaysia, our government is very pro-Palestine. It's just that I recall, like, there was one time some of my fellow activists, they were called to Balai Police. They were being questioned for a certain God knows what reason. But BDS, we always comply with the local law. We follow the Peaceful Assembly Act. So we never really face any resistance from the government. Yeah, like, any real resistance or, you know, any bad things from the government. Because the government basically, obviously, supports Palestine. But it's just that I can say, like, what happened? There are other activists outside BDS who went protesting outside US Embassy for example. And I heard stories, like, they were being escorted by the police to Balai Police. And they were also questioned. So this is kind of like, you know, threatening and saddening to me, like, you know, these people are protesting against genocide. But somehow, you know, they are being questioned, which is like, you know, not really pleasant experience for these people to encounter. But the main question is not about the government in Malaysia, I would say. It's about, like, what will happen if you travel outside? Yeah, because actually, I know a fellow BDSS member who was actually detained in border control in Singapore. Yeah, I was actually asked to go to some special room in South Korea, like, for goodness' sake. Like, I don't think, like, it's about the government here. It's about, like, the border control when you are traveling probably. Because it's no surprise that people are doxing activists and stuff like that. But it's much bigger than the Malaysian government. Yeah, and I think, fortunately, I have traveled a lot, so I don't really care anymore. I notice a lot of people out there, they like to follow white people. Like, white leftist activists. And sadly, like, some of their ideologies or their beliefs don't align with what Palestinians believe. Like, we have to remember, this is a Palestinian cause. Like, we must always center Palestinians. It's not about how you feel. It's about how Palestinians feel, how Palestinians think about this. And again, BDSS is a Palestinian-led movement. So, always listen to the victims, always listen to Palestinians.