48 thoughts on “As BDS Rises, Anti-BDS Rhetoric Falters – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. Thank you for writing this piece, Richard. I have often thought but never expressed in writing the idea in your concluding paragraph: “P.W. Botha understood this [that the status quo cannot possibly last forever] when he negotiated the end of apartheid. Whatever shortcomings he may’ve had, he was smart enough to understand that the white minority had little choice but to concede and reach a suitable compromise. Israel’s leaders have yet to get to this point. That’s the final stage of grief: acceptance.”

    Your extended analogy with the stages of mourning and grief (aren’t there five stages, rather than four?) is inspired. The terminal disease of the Zionist settler-colonial state has, at long last, been diagnosed and exposed. It’ll take more than BDS to effect change, as you point out, but, ultimately, there is no regaining control for Israel.

  2. Due to lack of time for a post, allow me a link to my diary – Scarlett Johansson’s Image As SodaStream Ambassador. I wanted to visualize exactly where the Palestinian village of Azzariah was located and why there were no opportunities for work within the enclave.

    “Before boycotting, they should think of the workers who are going to suffer,” says a young man shivering in the pre-dawn darkness in el-Azzariah [El ‘Eizariya], a West Bank town cut off from work opportunities in Jerusalem by the concrete Israeli separation wall. Previously, he earned 20 shekels ($6) a day plucking and cleaning chickens; now he makes nearly 10 times that at SodaStream, which also provides transportation, breakfast, and lunch. [Israeli law requires employers like SodaStream to pay the minimum wage, which they do not]

  3. The Israeli NGO “Who Profits” has a 32-pages report on SodaStream: it includes a historical overview on the land confiscation for the industrial park Mishor Adumim, the economical advantages proposed by the State for settling down in the OPT, the conditions of the Palestinian workers and the deliberate mislabeling of goods produced in the SodaStream plant in the West Bank (Israeli products are exempt from custom taxes when exporting to the European Union, goods from the colonies are not, best argument for a total boycott of all Israeli goods)
    http://www.whoprofits.org/sites/default/files/WhoProfits-ProductioninSettlements-SodaStream.pdf

  4. “This scandal proves we are wrong ”

    A scandal? Really?
    Scarlett obviously did this for the money, but if her PR press release is to be believed, she also feels that economic cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis is a positive, and so do I.

    BTW. When is BDS going to get Palestinian laborers from the West Bank to refuse to build settler’s homes, as they’ve been doing for 40 years?

    1. The apartheid wall, settlement encirclement, apartheid roads etc leave Palestinians in the occupied territories little choice. WE have a choice.
      If the settlements remain, and this regime has made it abundantly clear that they will (actions and words), I suppose that the two-state solution is dead, and the one-state solution is the eventual outcome.

      Thankyou, Richard Silverstein, for an objective and logical article.

      1. PS. I do agree that economic cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis is a positive. It must, however be based on equitable treatment among peoples. This is exploitation of apartheid and theft of land.

    2. Shoshana how do you call people who had/have to work the slave owners/occupiers? Palestinians have no option than to continue building the Jewish settlements, clean their toilets and wash their laundry. Not because they want, because it is the only way left for them and their families to survive. Just like the Jews in Warsaw Ghetto had to work for German and Polish “lords” for (little) bread. The notion of Palestinian economy is in their own hands is as worthy as claiming Warsaw Ghetto’s economy as an independent Jewish controlled economy. Is the PRESENT economical cooperation between Israelis (Jews) and Palestinians a good thing? Certainly for Jews, hardly for Palestinians. If masses of Jews would work for Palestinian (domestic and occupied) employers we could speak about mutual equal based co-operation. But that is not the reality.

      RT showed a documentary some months ago how many Palestinians earn their small living in an large (illegal) Israeli dump on Palestinian land in West Bank collecting everything that could be recycled and sold. Rather disgusting to watch the life of those poor people. Adult men and young boys, who should be in school, fighting to find useful garbage the Jews have thrown away in their towns. That Jewish dump is a part of the Palestinian real “economy”.

      Palestinian economy exists only when Palestine exists as an independent country and only they can control their own economy. Before that Palestinian “economy” is only pure propaganda. Now Israel controls everything that comes in and goes out. If something that Israelis see as competing with their economical that part of Palestinian “economy” is destroyed. And that they have done (and will do) many times in West Bank and Gaza.

      It is hilarious how US political “system”, which loves sanctions and boycotts against basically everybody, who doesn’t do what USA orders (Cuba, Iran, N-Korea, Hamas, Syria, Hezbollah, present leadership of Ukraine etc), are fiercely against boycotts as a mean to make Israel to do what the whole world wants. US blasts European banks’ decision to blacklist Israeli firms. In their minds boycotting prevents/delays Iranian nukes but obviously doesn’t force Israel to solve the problem. By the way Danske Bank and Nordea are not small banks. They are market leaders here in Nordic and Baltic countries.

    3. @ Shoshana: There is NO “economic cooperation” between Israelis and Palestinians in the Sodastream colonial enterprise. Sodastream exploits cheap colonial labor while it also exploits state subsidies which encourage such colonial efforts. That’s not cooperation. Calling it such indicates you’re an apologist for Israeli colonialism.

      As for building settler homes, you’d like to take the one form of labor which Israel allows Palestinians to do to feed their families and tell them to shun it? What would you have their families eat? Grass? Do you want to turn the West Bank into North Korea? You are truly a mean, cruel human being. Totally unfeeling and willing to do or say anything if it will defend the indefensible.

        1. @ Shoshana: I don’t care for your smug, self-satisfied snark. You’re moderated.

          Anti BDS rhetoric rises in the voices of ordinary Palestinians.

          The article called the person who spoke of “1000 Sodastreams” an ‘outside contractor.’ In fact, I’m virtually certain that was an Israeli Jew quoted. The reporter certainly didn’t specify the ethnicity of the speaker. Not to mention, that generally Palestinian employees aren’t interviewed alone. They’re interviewed with a supervisor or PR flack supervising the interaction. Certainly not a venue for frank conversation. Further, you neglected to acknowledge the stranghold Israel has on Palestinian economic development in the West Bank, which in turn guarantees that the best jobs, if not the only ones, are offered by settlements & settlement enterprises like Sodastream.

          But I did so love to hear Sodastream’s president boast about taking his employees to the beach. I’ll bet he takes all 500 of his Palestinian employees to the beach at Tel Aviv after passing through all those checkpoints at which the police just wave them on through with a smile on their face. Right? Wrong.

          As usual only skin-deep, Shoshie. But you keep trying.

        1. @ Shoshana: It figures you’d quote the Jewish neocon, Washington Free Bacon. What I love about that idiotic article you linked to is that it claims that Coca Cola gave $2.5 million to Oxfam to fund Latin America programs in order to harm Sodastream. The problem with hasbaristas like you is that you don’t even bother to try to make your arguments persuasive.

          I also love the fact that Bacon quoted my favorite settler lapdog, Aussie Dave Lange. It reminds me of the time Aussie Davey accused a brother of mine he made up of being a welfare cheat. That tickled me.

          You all are excellent bedmates & deserve each other.

  5. RS: “Fisher, for example, says that BDS calls for a boycott of “all Israel.” BDS actually calls for a boycott of Israeli state institutions especially those which serve or maintain the Occupation.”

    Well, I don’t know what the official BDS calls for, but I doubt that “sanctions” (state-level BDS) could be only against state level institutions and not against TRADE which would target a lot of corporations and other non-government entities. And “boycotts” are mostly against companies, against buying products.

    My own stance — which does not purport to reflect the official BDS stance — is that boycotts and (when they finally come) sanctions should be against all Israeli products, services, culture, sports, the works. and my reasoning is that that is the only way that I can see to make the “pain” so wide-spread that Israel’s well-known democracy can kick-in as a mechanism for turning things around. I really do not imagine the present government calling the settlers home (to pre-1967 Israeli territory) unless and until there is wide-spread public and also corporate pressure to do so. DITTO removing the wall and dismantling the settlement buildings.

  6. RE: “My strongest objection to such arguments is that they project a settlement between Israel and Palestinians as a zero-sum game. Either one group wins or the other. There is no scenario by which both win. This is a fatally flawed concept.” ~ R.S.

    MY COMMENT: No matter how favorable towards Israel an agreement negotiated by the U.S. is, Likudnik Israel will ALWAYS feel like it is being made a “frayer” of (being suckered). It is virtually impossible for Likudnik Israel to see anything as a “win-win”.

    FROM quora.com [frayer]:

    [EXCERPTS] There is one correct definition of the term frayer. It means “sucker” or “mark,” in the sense that somebody is a sucker if he goes along with the rules when nobody else is following them, or a mark if he’s a naive target for thieves. . .
    . . . In Israeli life and society, the worst thing anybody can ever be is a frayer, and most people will do anything and everything they can at all times to avoid being a frayer. The only way to be certain at any given moment that you are not a frayer is to make somebody else a frayer.

    SOURCE – http://www.quora.com/

    ALSO SEE: “It’s a Sin to Be a Sucker in Israel, by Marjorie Miller”, L.A. Times, 7/25/1997

    [EXCERPT] JERUSALEM — Why does an Israeli driver speed up when another car signals its intent to enter his traffic lane? Because he doesn’t want to be a freier–a sucker. . .
    . . . So does the fear of being a sucker bear upon peace negotiations?

    Israel’s bottom line in a peace accord with the Palestinians will be determined by “the sense that they are making decisions governing the existence of the Jewish state and future of the Jewish people,” said a U.S. diplomat in Israel. Not by the fear of being a sucker.
    And yet, peace negotiations are affected by the fact that neither Israelis nor Palestinians want to risk being a sucker by making concessions before the other side does.
    In negotiations, an American generally will put his cards on the table, expect the other side to do the same and assume that a happy compromise lives somewhere in the middle. But Israelis and Palestinians do not bargain in this way.
    “Both sides believe anything offered up first will be pocketed by the other side,” said the diplomat, who asked not to be identified.
    “Whenever things break down, this is usually the problem. They will hold out carrots but do not want to give one up until they are sure the other side will give.”
    Lucy Shahar, co-author of the book “Border Crossings: American Interactions With Israelis,” explained that, in the case of Israelis, this is because they do not share the American belief in win-win negotiations. “In his heart of hearts, an Israeli believes that is impossible,” Shahar said. “In the Middle East, usually someone loses badly. Nothing in the Israeli experience suggests that everyone wins here or in the diaspora.” . . .

    ENTIRE COMMENTARY – http://articles.latimes.com/1997/jul/25/news/mn-16208

  7. Kerry Slammed for Trumpeting anti-Semitic BDS

    This is the 4th time Obama or Kerry has been accused of anti-Semitic actions versus Israel in recent weeks.

    Kerry slammed by right for ‘encouraging’ Israel boycott

    (JPost) – Economy Minister Naftali Bennett slammed US Secretary of State John Kerry Saturday night, saying he should be supporting Israel rather than encouraging boycotts against it.

    “Let’s make clear to all those giving advice: A nation has not been born – including us – that will give up its land because of economic threats,” Bennett said in a Facebook post. “The Jewish people is stronger than the threats against it.”

    Bennett’s post – coming weeks after Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon was quoted as calling Kerry “obsessed” and “messianic” about the Israeli- Palestinian conflict – was in response to comments that the secretary of state made Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.

    “Today’s status quo, absolutely to a certainty, I promise you 100 percent, cannot be maintained,” Kerry said of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “It is not sustainable. It is illusionary. You see for Israel there is an increasing delegitimization campaign that has been building up. People are very sensitive to it, there is talk of boycott and other kinds of things. Are we all going to be better with all of that?”

    Bennett, on his Facebook page, said that only security would bring economic stability, not a terror state next to Ben-Gurion Airport.
    “We expect our friends in the world to stand by our side against anti-Semitic boycott efforts against Israel, and not be their trumpet. Either way, we knew in the past, and will know today, how to remain strong.”

  8. BDS has already spread.
    Who can say whether or not the BDS activist around the world influenced the EU in denying any loans or grants to Israel that are used in the occupied territories –or on the gaint Dutch fund recently devesting from Israeli associated companies—-but these are not small BDS examples liilke prvate consumers refusing to buy Soda Stream—-these pack a real punch.
    And as I expected to happen eventually, various governments and financial concerns are now warning companies that do business with Israel by providing anything used for their occupation of Palestine to consider the possibility of future lawsuits —-just as the Holocaust groups have sued many corporations for cooperating with the nazis.

    Israel canot win this, they have in fact delegitimized themselves. But they are so deep into a hubristic belief in their power being unlimited’ that they are indeed playing a zero sum game—so they will lose.
    Excellent example of ..”who the Gods would destroy, they first make mad”….thats whats going there…suicide by hubris.

  9. Foreign Ministry: We can’t fight against European boycotts

    (Ynet News) – The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem is closely following developments in Europe, claiming that Israeli diplomacy has limited tools to deal with commercial firms that choose to sever ties with Israeli entities.

    “We cannot truly fight against the will to boycott us,” said the Foreign Ministry official. Following the announcement of Danish bank Danskebank in regards to pulling out its investments in several companies, including Israeli firms, an inquiry conducted by the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen revealed that the Danish bank has no investments with any body related to Africa-Israel Investments Limited (AFI).

    Amid dealing with dangers of boycotts, the war between the Foreign Ministry and Yuval Steintz’s Ministry of Intelligence and Strategic Affairs is heating up. Steinitz demands that millions of shekels will be allocated to his office, so that he can deal with the boycott against Israel, but the Foreign Ministry rejected his plans. “This office only intensifies the problem. They already received many millions, and nothing happened. Those who think they can fight boycott are using the wrong terminology. We know how to operate in the political arena against governments and earn achievements. Regarding the boycott, this is not the way.”

    Danish bank boycotts Bank Hapoalim, Swedish bank asks for clarification on settlements

  10. Beating. Disastrous. Settlerism. (BDS)

    Lately and belatedly even some of the more open-minded pro two-state thinkers have come to understand and accept that some punitive measures are needed in order to prod Israel away from the status quo and from its short-sighted yet long-endured repressive occupation. However, they claim that since the paradigm is two states for two peoples, both logically and logistically any punitive measure must be based on a distinction between Israel proper and the post 1967 occupied territories.

    As a (U.S. born) Israeli ex-pat who grew up, served, fought alongside in 73, studied, or worked in Jerusalem with many of those that have emerged into Israeli leadership, I fully expect that in due course the above thinkers and others will come to realize that punitive measures, including BDS (boycotts, divestiture, sanctions), that distinguish between Israel proper and the occupation will not work. This is due to the underlying political and social dynamics which are at the heart of Israel’s relentless expansionism, with occupation being its forever-temporary enabler.

    Less than 10% of all Israeli Jews live in the occupied territories. Many of them do so out of ideological, nationalist, and religious motivations. Though some do so also for government-provided economic incentives, most are true believers in a “Greater Israel”. To them, that end will always justify the means, as demonstrated time and time again. Israel-external generated punitive measures targeting the occupation will not deter them. They will find ways to resist, insist, and persist as they have successfully done for the last 46 years. The occupation’s status quo can not be changed by trying to bring outside putative measures on the settlers alone – for the settlers simply will not be impressed.

    The remaining 90% of Israeli Jews living within the Green Line have long conducted their lives with blissful ignorance of the goings-on and the multi-decade suffering of the occupied and oppressed. They have an underlying century long land-grab related dispute with the Palestinians whose welfare, even under their own occupation, is of no real concern to them. As they emerged as the solidly established beneficiaries of this dispute they have moved on, and are now too busy just trying to procure, achieve and consume the material-driven “good life”. They pay little attention and spend little energy on the settlement project or the settlers. Thus, in this context too, the occupation’s status quo can not be changed by trying to bring outside putative measures on the occupying settlers alone – for Israel’s majority non-settlers will simply not be impressed either.

    The long enduring settlement project’s secret sauce is that a relatively small and radically dedicated minority will trump a quasi-indifferent majority every time – especially a majority with a leadership class long-dipped in modern Zionism’s century old and successful three prong core formula of land Capture-Settle-Defend.

    The sad but true is thus: Only when the economic elite and the quasi-indifferent majority in Israel proper feel the significant pinch and pain of putative measures – including BDS – will they begin to assert a majority’s prerogative over Israeli occupation politics and social priorities, and this miserable status quo and the immense global ill-will it radiates can finally begin to change.

  11. Zionist logic dictates that Palestinians must roll over and die – in Syria and Palestinian refugee camps everywhere, in the West Bank, on the Gaza Strip and, if at all possible, within Israel itself – so that Jews from all over the world could take their place.

    It’ll never happen. They’ll have to shoot every last one of us first, just as they shot 22-year-old Muhammad Mubarak in Al Jalazon refugee camp, West Bank, in the back a few days ago. Zionism is a sick and indefensible ideology. The Jewish/Zionist state has no right to exist, let alone continue its punishing brutality against the Palestinians who are not Jews, because they are not Jews! To Ari Shavit (writing a couple of days ago in Haaretz), a “flood of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians” will “dramatically” weaken Israel – because these Palestinians are not Jews – never mind that they were expelled from their homeland to make it possible for the Jewish state to exist. But Palestinian loss and their fundamental rights must be swept away for the grand, sick Zionist vision to stay alive. Zionists are sick people who cannot reason beyond their own self interest. What a shame that Zionists are also “branding every Jew on the planet as a bigot and a racist”, as someone wrote in response to Roger Waters recent fantastic pro-BDS note addressed to Neil Young and Scarlet Johansson.

    For Zionists here who appear to be very “concerned” about Palestinians and their economy, I recommend the following two articles:
    1. “There is recognition that a new development paradigm must reduce Palestinian dependence on Israeli products, services, and imported aid-related food and reconstruction goods.”
    http://al-shabaka.org/policy-brief/economic-issues/new-model-palestinian-development
    By Samer Abdelnour, who is completing a PhD in Management at the London School of Economics.

    2. “A powerful group of Palestinian capitalists are exercising political influence and social control through economic normalization with Israel. what to do?” Tareq Dana, an assistant professor of political science at Hebron University, goes on to suggest what must be done.

    http://al-shabaka.org/policy-brief/economic-issues/palestinian-capitalists-have-gone-too-far?utm_source=Al-Shabaka+announcements&utm_campaign=4ef07ecc01-Policy_Brief_Announcement+7_19_2011_PA&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a9ca5175dc-4ef07ecc01-413385833

  12. BDS may be growing, but Israel is already in responding to it in a way most people don’t know about; diversifying its trade. It’s nudging its way into emerging markets all around the world, gradually replacing trade with Europe and even closing down trading missions in Europe in favor of Asian ones.

    The fact is, that there is zero chance of BDS working in the near future. It’s very possible that BDS might begin to work in Europe 10-20 years from now, but by then Israel won’t really depend on trade with Europe to the extent it does now.

    Here’s a good article on it: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/045dca8a-6725-11e3-a5f9-00144feabdc0.html

    1. @ David W.:

      The fact is, that there is zero chance of BDS working in the near future.

      BDS isn’t meant to topple Occupation in the “near future.” It will take time: a year, maybe two. But it doesn’t matter where Israel tries to find trade. Eventually those outlets will be cut off too. No one wants to trade with a moral pariah. Eventually, even the hardest nosed traders understand the commercial calculus. Of course, that will leave Israel with North Korea and similar crooked regimes as trade partners.

      1. A year or two? Try 10 years or 20.

        The fact is, right now, the BDS movement has accomplished almost nothing. Perhaps one success here and there with this or that company or performer, but so far, their effect on Israel’s economy has been almost nothing. Israel’s economy continues surging. And they never will achieve anything unless a government imposes sanctions on Israel. People today often buy products without caring where they come from. For example, the disinvestment campaign against South Africa had nearly no effect until Western governments began putting sanctions in place in the mid-80s.

        And the fact is, there is no chance of a Western government sanctioning Israel in the near future. The most that will happen is that the Europeans will sanction the settlements.

        And your claim that wherever Israel tries to find trade will be cut off is unrealistic. First off, I vehemently disagree that Israel is immoral, and many others agree with me. And even if Israel was the most evil country on Earth, it would still find trade. The West trades with China with the full knowledge of what goes on in Tibet and what happens to political prisoners. The West began trading with Libya and even sold the Gaddafi regime weapons as Gaddafi continued to imprison and torture dissidents in the years before the Arab Spring. Trade is based more on making money than morals.

        The most that will ever happen is EU sanctions on Israel. Europe is the only region of the world where public opinion is heading in that direction. Most people around the world just don’t care, and it’ll likely stay that way. And Israel still has many supporters, and that won’t change. And as stated before, if European sanctions ever come, by that time it’ll be too late for it to inflict an economic catastrophe on Israel.

        The BDS movement is simply not going to bring down Israel.

        1. @ David W: It seems you’re our new habara intern (or are you paid staff?) recently assigned to monitor our humble abode. Welcome. Can’t say you’ll last very long. But you bear all the tell tale traces of the semi-professional hasbarist.

          The fact is, right now, the BDS movement has accomplished almost nothing.

          If that were true there would never have been a full cabinet meeting devoted to this subject alone. Nor would there be a proposed $30 million allocation specifically to fight BDS, not to mention the hundreds of millions the MFA already spends fighting delegitimization, of which BDS is considered a part. No, the facts belie your vacant claims. Not to mention the increasing list of financial institutions, businesses and government pension funds who’ve joined BDS.

          their effect on Israel’s economy has been almost nothing.

          You completely, and unsurprisingly misunderstand BDS’ goal. It isn’t to single-handedly destroy Israel’s economy. That would be foolhardy. But it is intended to shape the moral debate and make Israel pay a steeper & steeper price for every victory it wrings out of the system, till eventually the cost will be too high. Eventually, BDS & other tools will take a serious bite out of Israel’s economy. By then it will be too late for you to stop it because you were as smug as you show yourself to be in this comment.

          they never will achieve anything unless a government imposes sanctions on Israel.

          That’s coming my friend, it’s coming.

          there is no chance of a Western government sanctioning Israel in the near future.

          There he goes again! The old “near future.” Will a western government cut off Israel in the next month or 6 months? No. But it will happen. And you will be shocked & dumbfounded when it does, and won’t know what to do.

          I vehemently disagree that Israel is immoral, and many others agree with me.

          That comment means almost nothing. Your personal opinion is that Israel is moral and all the Likudists, settlers, and Israel lobbyists in the rest of the world agree with you. Bravo! Quite an accomplishment!

          As for who and whether anyone will trade with a nation that is a moral pariah: I’m glad to see you compare Israel to those other serious human rights violators China and Khaddafi’s Libya: that about sizes things up right I think.

          Israel still has many supporters, and that won’t change.

          Israel has fewer and fewer supporters around the world and will gradually lose even those.

          The BDS movement is simply not going to bring down Israel.

          You didn’t read my post. I never said it would. But in concert with other anti-Occupation efforts it will bring the current Israeli regime to its knees.

          1. In economic terms, the BDS movement has accomplished almost nothing. Israel is worried, because it could grow in the future, but as of now, the economic effect has been nil.

            And I actually won’t be surprised if a European government sanctions Israel. The signs are already there, and it’s slowly heading in that direction. The key word is slowly. Israel’s policy of economic diversification is working, and all it needs is some more time to find other areas to trade.

            I was using China and Libya as an example out how even regimes that the world considers immoral can still find trade. The fact is, right now, Israel is well aware that its trade might not last. It’s trade and economic cooperation with China is set to continue increasing, and China is building a railway from Eilat to Haifa that can serve as an alternative to the Suez Canal, it’s negotiating free trade agreements with India and Russia (both which have staunchly pro-Israel public opinions), trade with Latin America is growing, and Israel is increasing cooperation with Sub-Saharan African countries which are now moving out of poverty and growing economically and seeing the rise of a new middle class.

            And let’s not forget that North American friends like the USA and Canada show no sign of succumbing to BDS in the future. Public opinion in the USA remains firmly pro-Israel, and Canada will soon sign a free tradeAccording a recent poll, 61% of Americans still have a favorable view of Israel, 26% unfavorable, and the rest don’t care.

            The BDS movement can slowly create an Israel boycott in Europe and perhaps eventually have sanctions passed, and even that will take many years. But Israel has plenty of other options.

            And yes, the goal of BDS is to bring Israel down. Allowing the “right of return” risks or outright eliminates the Jewish state. Yeah, I see you’ve cited studies that claim only 400,000 refugees would return, but the truth is, nobody really knows. And even if 400,000 or so refugees “returned”, it could put Israel on the road to binationalism.

    2. @ David

      I dont think you understand the ‘economics’ of Israel. First, 70% of all investment and ‘financing’ of Israeli companies icomes from European and US sources. 60% or better of all Israel trade (exports) is with the EU countries. Israel’s largest IT ’employers’ are foreign owned corporaitons like Intel and Microsoft.
      I dont think you understand the Asians either. If you are counting on China to save you in the event the US and Europe turn away from you you will be looking at a whole new ball game—one in which there is no Israel Lobby in China to secure favorable trade deals and strongarm other countries for Israel’s economic benefits as the US has done many times in the ME with countries like Egypt and Jordon in ‘free trade zones’ set up to favor Israel by requiring Egypt and Jordon to include a % of Israel produced material in their exports if they want to maintain their free exports—-the mafia equivilent of Israel ‘dipping its their beak” into neighborhood businesses.
      I however as an American and taxpayer would welcome turning Israel over to China or Russia as their new protector—I can assure you that instead of the current US relationship of the US serving Israel–Israel would find itself serving China’s needs. Israel has come far by being the scorpion riding the US frog—-but if the scorpion tried to sting the China frog the way it has the US—the scorpion would be stepped on very quickly by the Asians.

      1. Your key mistake is treating Europe and the USA as one. There is zero chance of US sanctions against Israel in the foreseeable future. US public opinion is still very much on the side of Israel, and this is reflected in the massive bipartisan support Israel reflects from Congress. The US is going to remain staunchly behind Israel for the foreseeable future.

        Now moving on to Europe, one-third of Israel’s trade is with the EU. The loss of that market currently would be severe, but it would not be an economic death blow. As I’ve said previously, the EU is not yet close to doing so. The most that can be expected anytime soon is a complete ban on settlement goods.

        My whole point is that Israel has plenty of time to diversify its trade and open up new markets, and it’s making good use of that window of time. Israel is gradually reducing it’s dependence on trade with the EU, to the point where being cut off by Europe will not be all that bad.

        And so what if there’s no Israel lobby in China? That whole thing about the US strongarming Middle Eastern countries for Israel’s benefit is irrelevant. The whole point is that Israel will find it’s way into other markets, and is not going to be crippled by sanctions as the BDS movement is hoping.

        1. I wouldn’t say that US public opinion is very much on the side of Israel. Certainly there is massive bipartisan support for Israel within the U.S. Congress, but that does not reflect public opinion, nor in my opinion does it reflect what many members of Congress truly feel about Israel. Apparently too many members of Congress have been persuaded they are working for Israel’s interests rather than for America’s. Most average Americans are too concerned about domestic issues, particularly their own, to care much about what goes on in Israel and Palestine. But most average Americans do care about injustice. I consider it my responsibility to speak out about Israeli apartheid, Israel’s violations of human rights, the tragedy of the Palestinian Nakba, and the embarrassing amount of US taxpayer money handed to Israel every year. I am encouraged to see the extent to which Israel is losing friends and not gaining new ones. I BDS starting to go mainstream, even as Israel desperately tries to downplay its effects and even use lies and subterfuge to stop its growth.

          1. Opinion polls show that a majority of Americans still have a favorable view towards Israel. A recent poll showed Israel is the 6th favorite country of Americans, with 61% viewing Israel favorably and 26% unfavorably. And that is likely to stay the same for the foreseeable future.

            And the only place BDS is going mainstream is in Europe, particularly Western Europe. And even there it’s had minimal impact on Israel’s economic growth. But the BDS movement cannot spread all that far beyond Europe.

          2. @ David W: You remind me of the boy whistling past the graveyard. You’re desperate to believe what you say, and perhaps you even do. But that doesn’t make you any less deluded. You’re done in this thread. If you have further comments make them in other threads about other posts. But this is your last comment in this thread.

        2. David W. February 2, 2014 at 2:25 PM
          Your key mistake is treating Europe and the USA as one. There is zero chance of US sanctions against Israel in the foreseeable future. US public opinion is still very much on the side of Israel, and this is reflected in the massive bipartisan support Israel reflects from Congress. The US is going to remain staunchly behind Israel for the foreseeable future.”>>>>>>>>>

          Obviously you dont understand ‘publics” either. Your average citizen in this country ‘thinks about’ Israel about once in a blue moon and only then when its brought to their attention…iow, they dont really care one way or another unless its made into an ‘issue’. The support among the public that Israel had due to the promotion of the holocaust and the 65 years of media efforts by organized zionist has in fact declined. Activist, the internet, a lot of factors have contributed to this decline.
          The sole thing that has saved Israel’s bacon with the US public is the media blackout on the activities and tactics of I-Lobby in the US and the actual facts of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
          Right now ‘bomb Iran’ is associated with Israel…every time Iran comes from the mouth of a politician so does ‘to protect Israel.’
          I dont know where you live but I can tell you one thing….You can count on the US public to follow the ‘latest trend” on anything—-just as they adopted the propaganda of pro Israel after WWII, they will adopt the anti Israel trend when the worm turns.
          As I keep saying—Hubris—its the flaw that will destroy Israel.

  13. Richard is 100% right, BDS has a momentum of its own and no amount of detractors can stop this action. I do not deny that some Palestinians will lose when BDS succeeds, but what else can one do? Palestinians don’t have a choice but to work for Jewish companies because that is where the food comes from so, when a company is shut down, Palestinians will lose their jobs, while the Jews working there will simply relocate. Nevertheless, supporting ANY Israeli company (not just the ones in Occupied Territories) is directly supporting Israel’s ability to oppress, dispossess and destroy Palestinians, even more decisively than bombing Palestinians does.

    I do not believe there is any alternative to a ONE-state solution, short of completeing the genocide of the Palestinians. A one-state Israel can have more than one name, after all, Switzerland has as many as four different nemaes for each place because of the four different linguistic cultures that form Switzerland. Jews need not fear being reduced to a powerless minority, a future Israel can have a Senate based on 20% Christian, 40% Jewish and 40% Muslim representation and a house based on populations like in the US. There can be further protections that say no legislation may pass without 65% of Senate vote, thus Jews can always have a swing vote in all matters.

    Integration can start immediately, starting with Police and military (in all ranks). The Right of Return can be preserved for the next 25 years as long as the ration of Jews coming to Israel remain in the same proportion as the numbers of Christians and Muslims. Kick out any immigrant who destructively opposes the new order for the first two years of their “return”.

    Who said change is easy?

  14. EU Court decision plus UN Report makes B-Divestment-S for large European corporations, banking and pension funds imperative as RS has covered in an earlier article: Catastrophic Dutch State Visit to Israel.

    Dutch Boycott Enforced Based on UN-OHCHR Report OPT

    Chapter 5. CONCLUSIONS

    100. The facts brought to the attention of the Mission indicate that the State of Israel has had full control of the settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) since 1967 and continues to promote and sustain them through infrastructure and security measures. The Mission notes that despite all the pertinent United Nations resolutions declaring that the existence of the settlements is illegal and calling for their cessation, the planning and growth of the settlements continues both of existing as well as new structures.

    101. The establishment of the settlements in the West Bank including East Jerusalem62 is a mesh of construction and infrastructure leading to a creeping annexation that prevents the establishment of a contiguous and viable Palestinian State and undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

    102. The settlements have been established and developed at the expense of violating international human rights laws and international humanitarian law, as applicable in the OPT as notably recognised by the 2004 ICJ Advisory Opinion.

    Etc., etc.

    My post: Israel ignores EU’s anti-settlement sentiment at its own peril, an analysis

    (JPost) – Most people in Israel paid no attention to paragraph 4 of the conclusions issued by the European Union’s foreign ministers following their meeting on 10 December 2012 in Brussels, chaired by Catherine Ashton.

    The paragraph read:
    “The European Union expresses its commitment to ensure that – in line with international law – all agreements between the State of Israel and the European Union must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, namely the Golan Heights, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.”

    International law caught up with Israel, its binding economic package with the European Union and illegal occupation/annexation of Palestinian Territory. It’s not the old testament that establishes states or boundaries. Years ago, Secretary Panetta warned Israel is becoming ‘Isolated’.

  15. By all means you can jion BSD or what ever you want to call it.
    Just get your facts right.
    The Arab boycott on Israel did not start in 1967, nor does it has anything to do with Samaria or Judea.
    It started as far back as 1945, yes before Israel was a state. The Arab league declared boycott on the Jewish people in Palestine.
    This boycott for many years had been much much stronger than it is today.
    Many Israelis remember it still. Many companies across the globe would not have business in Israel due to it.
    Just to name a few: Pepsi, Toyota, Shell.
    So you can join the Arab boycott if it makes you feel good.
    Israel has thrived before, and it will continue to do so anyways.

    1. Hey free man! It looks like YOU are conveniently forgetting a few details.
      It was the Early Jews (1920s and later) who launched boycotts of the Arab (Palestinian) merchants and farmers, they destroyed products and produce, they poured gasoline on produce and they even resorted to bullying the Jews who did buy stuff from Palestinians.
      “Many Israelis” may remember only the details (embellished or fantasies) they choose to in order to justify their behavior towards the Palestinians in Israel and the OT.

      1. Yep, and David Ben Gourion the secretary of the Jewish-only labor union, Histadrut, was the bully-in-chief ……

    1. What’s hilarious about that poster is that TIP means it to be pro-peace, but it really summarizes beautifully the absolute bankruptcy of the peace process. Bibi & Mahmoud drinking from Sodastream’s straw. With Scarlett’s pulchritude joining them together. It’s a perfect avatar really.

  16. Why did you censor my response you pseudo liberal ?
    Gaging others is fine by you, if they don’t say what you want them to say.
    Even hypocrisy has limits…

    1. @ free man: You’re moderated or did you forget? I had to check the queue to find your comment, which I approved. Next time, instead of whining, a polite request to check the queue would be appreciated.

  17. Are we supposed to believe MSNBC’s Chuck Todd (NBC News political director and chief White House correspondent) is unaware of the controversy over Scarlett Johansson’s Super Bowl commercial? He just commented that this year’s ads were non-political and uncontroversial, with the possibie exception of mild disagreement over the Coca Cola “America the Beautiful” ad which featured Americans singing in different languages?

    Hello? Are you that frightened of the zionist mafia, Chuck?

  18. Canada is going to change…Stephen Harper’s criminality had started to light a fire here in Canada..Canadians are already starting to boycott Israel…and make no mistake, the hasbara crowd are well aware of this…and they are very concerned( David W’s theatrics aside) I expect some of the more fanatical amongst them to make it even easier in the long run…remember this conversation..

  19. a postscript: David W. February 2, 2014 at 3:12 PM

    “Opinion polls show that a majority of Americans still have a favorable view towards Israel. A recent poll showed Israel is the 6th favorite country of Americans, with 61% viewing Israel favorably and 26% unfavorably. And that is likely to stay the same for the foreseeable future.”

    Having made an informal study of newspaper political thread hasbara over the past few years and having recently taken to “outing” them (a practice which I sometimes wonder about in myself) it is my opinion that this is indeed a professional propagandist likely drawing a salary from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The use of these “opinion polls” is textbook hasbara, used by the clumsy as well as by the more proficient practitioners of the dark art. The clumsy hasbara do us a service by showing the hand. Not that I doubt the poll numbers, but it has to be remembered that the numbers are based on a very successful propaganda campaign — most Americans are still hearing only one side of the story, the Israeli side. As the issue gains traction in the American press I think these numbers are UNLIKELY to stay the same for the foreseeable future.

    Also, in spite of these numbers showing broad support for Israel in the American general public, oddly those ordinary pro-Israel Americans are not showing up on the political threads to push back against the Americans who are fed up with Israel. The push back is coming from Israelis. If there is broad American public support for Israel it is exceedingly thin, my opinion FWIW.

    1. I think it was Mark Twain who is supposed to have said, “There are lies, damned lies and there are statistics”.So-called “opinion Polls” can be skewed in just about any direction, depending on the question asked and the questions preceding the question highlighted in reports.

      Statisticians (pollsters) then meger several answers in one because the answers do not oppose the main question thus, responses to support for Jews to live in Israel, can be merged with the responses to Israel as a Jewish state, Israel as having the right to exist etc., and all these can be classified as being favorable to Israel.

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