LONDON: More than 20,000 leaflets urging Muslims to #CheckTheLabel and boycott Israel are being distributed at mosques across the UK, coinciding with the last Friday before the fasting holy month of Ramadan, organizers said on Friday.
The initiative is part of a campaign launched by the UK-based Friends of Al-Aqsa — concerned with defending the human rights of Palestinians and protecting the Al-Aqsa sanctuary — to “Check The Label,” and is calling on Muslims in the UK and Europe not to break their fasts with the “taste of apartheid.”
The boycott campaign has gained huge momentum in the run-up to Ramadan this year, with press coverage from the UK to Morocco and Malaysia, FOA said in a statement.
“Running since the early 2010s, #CheckTheLabel has had an unprecedented impact on the British public’s understanding of the connection between the products they buy and Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine (and) many individuals have become ethical consumers who avoid buying Israeli produce as a result of this campaign,” FOA said.
“This Ramadan, it’s more important than ever that we boycott Israel,” said Shamiul Joarder, head of public affairs at FOA. “By checking the label and avoiding Israeli dates, we can send a clear message: We won’t give our money to an apartheid state that breaks international law and kills Palestinian children.”
The organization says that Israel has killed at least 83 Palestinians in the first 76 days of 2023, including at least 16 children.
“The first 3 months of 2023 have seen some of the worst Israeli violence against Palestinians in decades and there are concerns about Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan,” the statement said.
