GLOBAL Israel Travel Bans Leave Netanyahu Flailing!

Right, so nothing quite cheers the soul these days like Benjamin Netanyahu having a no good, very bad day does it and global resistance towards the atrocities he is overseeing in Gaza is making sure that in the last few days he is having an absolute mare, because the world is becoming not just a smaller place for him, but for Israel as a whole. Sure, the West still supports him, still arms him, for as long as they can anyway as tariff war with China could well change that, but for other countries, solidarity with Gaza means restrictions and bans coming for the genocidal blue and white state, from heads of state that believe in doing the right thing, all the way down to grassroots movements of ordinary working class people demanding a shift against Israel from the ground up, so here’s a story to cheer you up amidst all of the negativity surrounding Israel’s genocide, actually three stories to cheer you up, I’m spoiling you somewhat and with any luck these three will be just the start.
Right, so as Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza is now in its 18th month, the world is witnessing not just the systematic slaughter of Palestinians but also the slow unravelling of Israel’s international impunity. A growing number of nations, trade unions, and grassroots movements are taking concrete steps to isolate Israel, disrupt its military supply chains, and hold it accountable for its crimes.
So let’s start with this first story and this one concerns Bangladesh, currently with an arrest warrant out against UK Labour MP Tulip Siddiq in relation to alleged corruption, she the niece of the former despotic ruler Sheikh Hasina as I covered in a video the other day, but this is about Israel.
Bangladesh has never formally recognised Israel as a state, a principled stance rooted in its own history of liberation from genocide followed by its independence in 1971. And for decades, Bangladeshi passports carried an explicit disclaimer:
‘This passport is valid for all countries of the world except Israel.’
This restriction was lifted in 2021 under Sheikh Hasina’s increasingly authoritarian regime, a move that sparked outrage among Bangladeshis who saw it as a betrayal of Palestine, however it was done merely to meet international standard and travel to Israel remained banned in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has always stood on the side of Palestine, on the side of Gaza throughout Israel’s atrocities. But now the Bangladeshi government, under the rule of the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, have reinstated this phrase in all Bangladeshi passports, "This passport is valid for all countries of the world except Israel."
The Times Of Israel covered the move, and notably demonstrations in support of this move in Bangladesh, an excerpt stating that:
‘Nilima Afroze, a deputy secretary at the home ministry, told Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news agency on Sunday that authorities had “issued a directive last week” to restore the inscription.
“The director general of the department of immigration and passport was asked to take necessary measures to implement this change,” local newspaper The Daily Star quoted Afroze as saying Sunday.
The Bangladeshi population’s support for an independent Palestinian state was visible on Saturday when around 100,000 people gathered in Dhaka in solidarity with Gaza.
Demonstrators beat the images of US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi because of their support for Israel.
Symbolic coffins and effigies representing civilian casualties in Gaza were also carried during the rally.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, headed by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, and other Islamist groups and parties expressed their solidarity with the rally.’
Now this might just be seen as a bureaucratic act, its not really changed anything, Bangladeshi’s were banned from travelling to Israel anyway, but it still a show of who’s side Bangladesh is on at a time when it does the most damage; it is political warfare. By underlining the fact that travel to Israel and recognition of Israel is banned for its citizens, Bangladesh ensures that no Bangladeshi can unknowingly or willingly aid the occupation. It also sends a message that collaboration with genocide will not be tolerated.
Now while Bangladesh bars its own citizens from traveling to Israel, the Maldives have kind of done the reverse—banning all Israeli passport holders from entering its territory.
Again, there is a familiar theme here, insofar as recognition of Israel goes. There have been no diplomatic ties between the Maldives and Israel since the 1970’s – The Maldives has long refused relations with Israel, but now it is enforcing that stance materially, by banning Israeli citizens from travelling to the islands.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu passed comment on this directive being implemented by saying that:
‘The ratification reflects the government’s firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people …[and]… reaffirms its resolute solidarity with the Palestinian cause.’
This will, naturally come as a further blow to Israeli tourism – The Maldives is a luxury destination, goodness knows many of us would like to be so lucky as to go there one day, so blocking Israelis is both an economic strike as well as a symbolic one in solidarity with Palestine.
It can be argued that as a Muslim state, perhaps its no surprise the Maldives have done this, but if that were the case, agreat many more Muslim nations would do so and they simply haven’t, not that being a Muslim state should be a prerequisite for copying what the Maldives are doing. Make the world a smaller place for Israel, its a model that I would argue should work for plenty of other nations and if more states follow suit, Israelis could face increasing global isolation.
The ban is being framed as resolute solidarity with Palestine
And a direct challenge to the normalisation deals being pushed by the likes of the US and UAE.
Of course we’ve seen other nations acting in a similar way to that of the Maldives, but that comes along with the risk of an arrest warrant too, because some travel restrictions are not just about passports—they are also about justice. The Hind Rajab Foundation, or HRF, named after the 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli snipers, has been documenting war crimes and pushing for international arrest warrants for IDF soldiers having travelled abroad on holiday.
As a result several Latin American and African nations have begun denying entry to Israelis with military service records, European activists are pressuring governments to enforce universal jurisdiction laws against visiting IDF personnel and of course arrests have been made, notably in places like Brazil, but the HRF have also sought the apprehension of Israeli soldiers in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Chile.
This is really important work, because if Israeli soldiers know they may face arrest abroad, their sense of invincibility crumbles and again, the world gets that tiny bit smaller for them.
The third story I want to cover though, is proper grassroots stuff, the sort of stuff that is within the power of all of us to exercise and it picks up on a story I covered last month, where shareholders of Dutch shipping giant Maersk brought forward a motion to end arms sales, as the Boycott, Divestment and sanctions movement worldwide, was hitting them in the dividends. As it happened the motion fell, the board saying it wasn’t necessary, that they didn’t ship military gear to Israel.
Well lets pick this story up in Morocco shall we? In Morocco, the Union of Port Workers, an affiliate to the very powerful Moroccan Labour Union, big trade union out there, has called on dockworkers to refuse to unload the Maersk Nexoe, a cargo ship suspected of carrying military supplies to Israel, all flagged up by the4 brilliant work of Declassified UK, an excerpt of their research on this vessel stating that:
‘Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk is quietly transporting fighter jet equipment to Israel, new documents suggest.
The information is contained within cargo data reviewed exclusively by Declassified and The Ditch.
The data indicates how goods from US Air Force Plant 4 in Fort Worth are being transported to Haifa port in Israel on two Maersk container ships between 5 April and 1 May, and then a separate company will courier them by land to Nevatim air base.
Air Force Plant 4 is a US government-owned facility which is operated by Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor in the international consortium that produces F-35 jets.
It hosts a mile-long factory where F-35 fighter jets and components are produced before being dispatched to NATO partners and allies including Israel.
Nevatim air base is home to Israel’s squadron of F-35s, which have been used to commit war crimes in Gaza…
Maersk did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication but a representative later told Declassified that Maersk Detroit and Nexoe Maersk “are carrying containers with F-35 parts. However, these shipments are destined for other countries participating in the F-35 program”.’
And yet Declassified UK reports the Maersk Nexoe’s cargo destination is Nevatim Air Base, which as many of you watching will no doubt know, is a key Israeli military site and is home to all of Israel’s F-35s.
Did Maersk’s board protest too much therefore? Seems they might have.
As a result, the Moroccan dockworkers union has called on its workers in the ports of Casablanca and Tangiers Med to boycott the ship and refuse to offload or service the vessel in any way, shape or form, Morroccan unions now following Spain in boycotting ships carrying military hardware for Israel and it’s a powerful message to send to other ports in the Mediterranean. With the Red Sea no longer passable for such shipping thanks to the Houthis, the Mediterranean being cut off too, if more ports get on board with this, would completely screw Israel over, with no way of getting the necessary military gear to Israel via sea, but we’ll have to wait and see if more get on board with that.
This is workers’ power in action—using their leverage to enforce a de facto arms embargo, BDS in action once more.
So we have travel bans both to Israel and also from Israel, along with dockworker blockades, and arrest campaigns too against IDF soldiers are not just gestures, are not just happy stories of taking on Israel on a small scale, they are escalating tactics in a global struggle against Israeli impunity and solidarity with Gaza.
More nations should work now to implement travel bans and work with the HRF in seeking arrest warrants for travelling Israelis if they are still able to travel to a given destination
More port unions worldwide must block arms ships, as the Moroccan example should inspire dockworkers in Europe, Asia, and Africa as well to really isolate Israel until and unless it ends its genocide.
And more pressure on airlines & shipping companies must keep happening too. Shareholders at firms like Maersk have had the willies put them, even if their board isn’t yet fazed, but if they face enough disruption, Israel may no longer be a profitable destination for them, especially if docks refuse to service their vehicles as may happen yet in Morocco.
Solidarity with Palestine is no longer just words and rhetoric, it is being followed up more and more by deeds—it is policy, it is labour action and it is justice. Lets hope we see more of this.
For more on Maersk’s BDS inspired woes that they might well have been telling fibs about in light of Declassified’s findings, check out this story here as your recommended next watch. Please do also hit like, share and subscribe if you haven’t done so already, so as to ensure you don’t miss out on all new daily content as well as supporting the channel at the same time, which is very much appreciated, holding power to account for ordinary working class people and I will hopefully catch you on the next vid. Cheers folks.