Some of us never knew him personally and never did we meet him. But many of us have been touched by Israeli activist and BDS supporter Renen Raz’s love for life and commitment to justice. We are sad that he left us this week, at the age of 28.

Raz’s story began as a boy growing up in an Israeli Kibbutz near Gaza. At the age of 18 he refused to serve in the Israeli army saying: “I realized that there was something wrong in joining the [Israeli] army. My conscious wouldn’t have been clean if I did.”

Raz was a member of “Boycott From Within,” an Israeli group supporting the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel campaign.

During the 1980s some white South Africans like Beyers Naude, Bram Fisher, Joe Slovo, Ruth First and others who supported the anti-apartheid struggle were branded as traitors and sell-outs.

Likewise, as a result of his support for the Palestinian struggle and his criticism of Israel’s occupation Renen Raz was ostracised and labelled, among others, as a self-hating Jew and a traitor. He graciously wrote: “I could not pick the place where I was born, but I can choose between walking the path of light or the path of darkness.”

To peace and justice loving peoples of the world and those in support of the Palestinian struggle against Israeli Apartheid Renen Raz is and will remain a courageous hero for truth, justice and love. (Read More)