By Hadi Yahmid, IOL France Correspondent

PARIS, June 18 (IslamOnline.net) – Some 30 Palestinian and Swiss organizations are championing a campaign to boycott Israeli products, protesting incessant Israeli aggressions on the armless Palestinian people.

In a statement released in the Swiss city of Bern on Tuesday, June 17, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net, the spearheading organizations called for boycotting all products carrying the paracode no. 729, the international paracode for Israel-made commodities.

"Boycotting the Israeli products serves as a bargaining chip on political leaders," the statement read.

"It is not an attempt to pressurize the Jewish community in Switzerland or the Israeli people, but rather the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon," it explained.

The statement further called on all Swiss vacationers who got used to spend their summer holidays in Tel Aviv, Elat and Haifa to choose other tourist destinations.

It also denounced the Israeli crimes and violations against the Palestinian people over the past few moths, particularly after Aqaba summit between Sharon, Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. President George Bush.

Swiss leftist organizations and movements are vocal supporters of the Palestinian cause and organized a myriad of pro-Palestinians marches, including those held during the 2002 G-8 summit.

They usually take "Justice and Peace in Palestine" as their mantra during anti-globalization rallies.

In Paris, up to 30 French organizations – affiliated to an organization coordinating calls for a just peace in Middle East – are sponsoring boycott of Israeli food products as long as the Israeli occupation persists.

During a conference in June 2002 attended by a number of intelligentsia, such as Israeli actor Eyal Sivan, the organization chairperson charged Israel of practicing real racial segregation against the Palestinians.

In an article published in Sweden's largest daily on Saturday, January 18, a group of 73 Swedish luminaries and public figures called for a boycott of Israeli goods produced in occupied Palestinian territories.

On September 22, the Israeli Ha’aretz newspaper reported that the Plaid Cymru party in Wales, Britain, is carrying out a wide-ranged campaign among the British population to boycott Israeli products and to raise awareness regarding the plight of the Palestinian people.