As it now stands, Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories is lucrative rather than costly. No nation in possession of territory it seized from another has been known to give up that territory merely because of a change of heart. The Israeli people will not support withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories unless the continuation of the Occupation causes them to suffer, whether materially or in terms of their standing in the world.
One way in which the continuation of the conflict benefits Israel is that it helps Israel test and sell more of the weapons and security systems it manufactures. If activists across the globe can convince the Israeli public that peace will be more lucrative, then the shift toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict, rather than its perpetuation, will become possible.
Boycott is certainly one way of achieving this. Another is the approach Tikkun is...
