FIGHTING THE FOSSILS
PALESTINE
‘Our campaign starts from the principle that the vast gas resources discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean during the last decade should remain underground – fossil fuels are not the future,’ says Manal Shqair, climate activist and the International Advocacy Officer of the Stop the Wall campaign based in Palestine.
Palestinian activists in the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign are challenging Israel’s use of the occupation and blockade of Gaza to drill offshore and export gas. They point out that Israel is withholding money due to Palestine for gas transported across and extracted from its waters.
The Mari-B gas platform is 13 nautical miles from the Gaza Strip and the EMG gas pipeline from Israel The protection of gas interests has driven the naval blockade of Gaza, say activists, preventing Palestinian use of the waters beyond six nautical miles offshore.
