Islam Times - Israel reputation tarnished over Gaza war

Islam Times - The viciousness of the Gaza attacks and the number of people killed along with better communication through social media have tarnished Israel’s reputation in the world, says an activist.

“Partly because of the viciousness of the attacks and the number of people killed in all of this but also because of better communication, people are in touch with social media that brought out the truth that Israel is trying to hide, all of this has affected Israel’s reputation in an important way and that is continuing to happen,” Paul Larudee, co-founder of the Free Palestine Movement, said in an interview.

Hundreds of anthropologists, some of them from top American universities, have called for an academic boycott of Israel to condemn the regime’s crimes against Palestinians.

Over 500 anthropologists signed a petition to publicly join the boycott, while another 77 enrolled anonymously.

The signatories oppose "the ongoing Israeli violations of Palestinian rights, including the Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem (al-Quds)."

The activist also noted that the associations and groups are having a very powerful effect on the Israeli boycott and that this declaration by the anthropologist is a major part of that.

Israel unleashed aerial attacks on Gaza in early July and later expanded its military campaign with a ground invasion of the Palestinian territory. Over 2,130 Palestinians lost their lives and some 11,000 were injured. Gaza Health officials say the victims included 578 children and nearly 260 women.

According to Israeli sources, more than 70 Israelis were also killed. Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, puts this number at more than 150.