News / Palestine

BDS says Israel behind cyber-attacks on its pro-Palestinian website

Friday, 03 June 2016 10:35 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 03 June 2016 10:44 AM ]

A tourist photographs a sign painted on a wall in the occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem on June 5, 2015, calling to boycott Israeli products. ©AFP

The leading international campaign advocating anti-Israel economic boycotts says its website came under cyber-attacks for several times this year, suggesting the Tel Aviv regime was involved in the attacks.

The Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement said in a report on Thursday that its website was attacked six times in February and March.

The report, which was compiled by an online security service, eQualit.ie, said the cyber-attacks had a level of “sophistication and commitment” and knocked out the website for several hours each time.

It also said that the websites of six BDS organizations in Europe and the US as well as a website of an Israeli human rights group were also attacked at the same time, showing that there was a “common adversary.”

“Advanced technology used in the attacks and the size of the botnets involved may show that Israel was directly involved,” the BDS said in a statement.

The BDS movement was initiated in 2005 by over 170 Palestinian organizations that were pushing for “various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets its obligations under international law.”

Thousands of volunteers worldwide have joined the BDS ever since to help promote the Palestinian cause.

Mahmoud Nawajaa, general coordinator of the BDS, said the latest attacks on the anti-Israel movement’s website was part of “a full-fledged Israeli war on the movement that includes use of intelligence services and yet more funding for ‘brand Israel’ propaganda. These attacks smack of Israel’s despair at its growing isolation.”

He also noted that Israel has shot itself in the foot through launching the cyber-attack campaigns against the BDS, as three European countries and human rights organizations have supported the BDS movement.

“Israel today admits that it has failed to stop the impressive growth of BDS in mainstream circles, mainly due to the inspiring collective action of thousands of dedicated, conscientious activists and organizations around the world,” Nawajaa also said.

“But Israel’s shift to the racist far-right, dropping its mask and revealing its true face as a regime of occupation, colonization and apartheid like never before, has certainly accelerated BDS support worldwide,” he added.

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