Campaigners against Israel, having found the Methodist Church a pushover, are now setting their sights on BT.According to the Reverend Richard Hall:
"In January 2010, BT welcomed Israeli company Bezeq International into its Global Alliance. Bezeq International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bezeq, which provides telecommunication services to illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (sic). The settlements are not just illegal under international law – they violate the human rights of Palestinians living under military occupation. Settlements are also an obstacle to a just peace."
Well for one Palestinian, disconnection can't come fast enough. Let Associated Press take up the story:
Walid Husayin — the 26-year-old son of a Muslim scholar...... Known as a quiet man who prayed with his family each Friday and spent his evenings working in his father's barbershop, Husayin was secretly posting anti-religion rants on the Internet during his free time.
Now, he faces a potential life prison sentence on heresy charges for "insulting the divine essence." Many in this conservative Muslim town say he should be killed for renouncing Islam, and even family members say he should remain behind bars for life.
"He should be burned to death," said Abdul-Latif Dahoud, a 35-year-old Qalqiliya resident. The execution should take place in public "to be an example to others," he added.
Unlike neighbouring Israel, which supposedly "occupies" Qaliqiliya, the West Bank has no tradition of legally enforceable religious freedom. Husayin is an atheist, a position with which a Methodist would disagree, but for which we would not want imprisonment or death.
For Husayin it is a tragedy that his cover was blown on the internet. If BT get an opportunity they should disconnect him for his own safety.
BT is a great company (declaration of interest I have worked for BT and members of our family benefit from the BT pension scheme) which I hope will not be intimidated by this campaign. We should welcome a British company investing in one of the most dynamic economies in the Middle East. Good communications was an essential ingredient of the Oslo Accord and a new telecommunications infrastructure will benefit all, both Jew and Arab.
However the way things are developing it is only going to be a matter of time before we have picket lines outside Jewish owned businesses. Will they be wearing their snazzy brown shirts and polished jackboots again?
