36 thoughts on “Boycotts Have an Honored Status in Jewish History – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. This young woman scrubbed her Facebook and Twitter accounts of any reference to her support of BDS. The government had information that she had previously posted her intent to attend BDS events in 2018 and later erased the posts.

    https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Court-hearing-begins-on-detention-of-alleged-BDS-student-activist-Alqasem-569144

    What was she (clumsily) trying to hide?

    “Alqasem, in the meantime, is in a detention facility under prison-like conditions. ”

    Alqasem is free to get on a plane and fly home, or any other place in the world she chooses.

    She has chosen to remain in the detention facility, with it’s bedbugs, in order to appeal the government’s decision. When she appeared in Court, she did not speak to reporters during the session, but smiled giddily when she was surrounded by journalists and photographers.
    https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5368698,00.html

    BTW, in the 1930’s, Jews urged a boycott of Germany in protest of the Nazi’s violent and discriminatory treatment of Germany’s Jewish citizens.

    BDS, as it’s leader Omar Baghouti, has made clear, seeks to end the existence of a Jewish State altogether.
    Your comparison, therefore, is not apt.
    “[Israel] was Palestine, and there is no reason why it should not be renamed Palestine.”

    –Omar Barghouti, Founder, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

    “[Palestinians have a right to] resistance by any means, including armed resistance. [Jews] aren’t indigenous just because you say you are….[Jews] are not a people…the UN’s principle of the right to self-determination applies only to colonized people who want to acquire their rights. ”

    –Omar Barghouti

    “Going back to the two-state solution, besides having passed its expiry date, it was never a moral solution to start with.We are witnessing the rapid demise of Zionism, and nothing can be done to save it, for Zionism is intent on killing itself.”

    -Omar Bargouti

    “Good riddance! The two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is finally dead. But someone has to issue an official death certificate before the rotting corpse is given a proper burial and we can all move on and explore the more just, moral and therefore enduring alternative for peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Mandate Palestine: the one-state solution.”

    -Omar Bargouti

    “(The one state solution means) a unitary state, where, by definition, Jews will be a minority.”

    -Omar Bargouti

    “I am completely and categorically against binationalism because it assumes that there are two nations with equal moral claims to the land.”

    1. @ Li Hung Lo: In this comment you have violated yet another comment rule. Do not add long quotations from external sources. Summarize those sources. Long comments with boring, repetitive quotations make the eyes glaze over and no one will read them but me. And I do only because I have to, not because I want to. And read the damn comment rules so you don’t violate them in future!

      As for Omar Barghouti, you make the classic error of the Israeli government propagandists and apparachiks regarding BDS. Barghouti is not a BDS commisar. He doesn’t lead the BDS Politburo. There is no central authority issuing directives on BDS policy. There are 3 principles of BDS and that is it. Barghouti may have any opinion he wants about any subject. But he does not speak for BDS in issuing those opinions and I dare you to find any statement he has made that says the one-state solution is the official policy of BDS.

      Further, who cares if the one-state solution is the official policy of BDS. I note that you quite cleverly did not say that Barghouti is in favor of destroying the Israeli state, since he isn’t. You claimed he was in favor of destroying the “Jewish state.” In one sense that is true, but only one sense. And that is not a sense that is convenient to your argument. He is in favor of ending a Jewish supremacist state which privileges Jews above non-Jewish citizens. He is in favor of realizing the values of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which Ben Gurion wrote and then threw into a cabinet to gather dust. He is in favor of a state in which all citizens have equal rights. That is most definitely not the state that exists now. I consider this a transformation, not a destruction nor an ending of existence as you put it.

      What’s more, there are many Israeli Jews who either advocate for a one-state solution or warn that this is where the current Likud fasicst regime is headed. John Kerry even warned of this. So you should include these Jews as enemies of the state and start planning to round them up and put them in jail along with Alqasem.

      As for Alqasem, there is no reason that anyone supporting BDS should be refused entry to Israel. BDS does not endanger Israel in any way. It certainly does endanger an Israel based on anti-democratic, theocratic principles which violate its own Declaration of Independence and make it an outlier among all western nations, especially those which are democracies. But it does so in a non-violent fashion which any reasonable democracy would tolerate.

      Second, considering that Israel has become a police state hunting for enemies under every bed, it was judicious of Alqasem to seek to expunge any material which the secret police would use against her. It was perhaps naive of her not to realize that in a police state the Inquisitors have nasty tools like Canary Mission at their disposal to ferret out disloyalty and use it to root out dissent, even from those who are seeking to engage with Israel on the state’s terms (and choosing to attend a state educational institution as she did IS doing so).

      As for her imprisonment in the Zionist police state, she does not want to leave Israel. She wants to test the democratic bounds of this supposedly democratic state. She wants to force that state to confront, if it denies her entry, its violation of those principles. She has every right to do so. And it is Zionists themselves who are encouraging her to do so. When you deny her you deny the democratic principles of your own state and show them to be a sham. I’m glad you’ve done so btw. Had you acceded to her wishes, it would’ve shown there is a faint flicker of democracy lurking somewhere deep inside the belly of this beast.

      I’m amused that a political prisoner detained in jail who sees her supporters in court and smiles “giddily” at them is an indication of being a traitor to the values of the state, and hence an enemy of the state. WHere did you learn this tell-tale trait of traitors? In a Shin Bet training course?

      In terms of comparing the Jewish anti-Nazi boycott and BDS: the Nazis ended up exterminating Jews. You seem to be implying that BDS attempts to do the same thing and hence is as dangerous as the Nazis. This is a bogus and idiotic comparison which other BDS opponents have made as well. It shows how ridiculous the anti-BDS campaign is since BDS is a non violent movement which will not kill or even muss a single hair on the head of a single Israel Jew.

      1. “Officials have portrayed this Palestinian human rights activist and leader of the BDS movement — which he co-founded a decade ago and now leads — as a threat to the State of Israel.–972Mag

        Barghouti, ‘the man behind the BDS movement’.
        https://972mag.com/interview-the-man-behind-the-bds-movement/107771/

        Barghouti writes for The Nation.https://bdsmovement.net/news/palestinians-1967-war-remains-enduring-painful-wound

        Barghouti wrote the handbook for the BDS movement.
        http://www.palestinechronicle.com/bds-boycott-divestment-sanctions-book-review/

        ‘You claimed he was in favor of destroying the “Jewish state.”

        No. I did not say that. I said that Barghouti, “seeks to end the existence of a Jewish State altogether.”
        .
        What I’m doing in Taiwan, is my business, and mine alone.

        When SumoHurta tells you what he’s doing in Finland, or Deir Yassin tell you what he’s doing in France, or Elisabeth tells you what she’s doing in Holland, then, maybe, I’ll tell you what I’m doing in Taiwan.

        Until then, I don’t like being singled out.

        Stop threatening me.
        My thoughts are free, no matter what you try and do to me.

        1. @ Li Hung Lo:

          “Officials have portrayed this Palestinian human rights activist and leader of the BDS movement — which he co-founded a decade ago and now leads — as a threat to the State of Israel.–972Mag

          This is pathetic. The fact that “officials” have designated BDS as a “threat to the State of Israel” means what precisely? That he is? Or that BDS is? We know what these anonymous officials think. Who cares what they think. THe only people who value their views are hasbaroids apologists like you.

          There is no difference between saying someone seeks to “destroy” a state and “end its existence.” Although there may be a difference in your head. That’s a place I have no interest in going.

          I wanted you to verify where you are physically located. You have claimed you are in Taiwan. If I ever find out you are not, you will be permanently banned.

          I don’t need to know what those other commenters are doing in those countries. They are the countries of their birth. They are citizens of those countries. You are a settler apologist probably with some sort of Israeli official status. What you are doing in Taiwan is very much pertinent to what you’re doing here. I mistrust the motives and bona fides of people like you. If you and your motives weren’t so suspicious you wouldn’t be singled out. But they are, so you are.

          I will do what I want and say what I want to you. If you don’t like it, go elsewhere.

        2. You have been here before, One Hung Low, many times under different names. That I have known from the start. But some of your tricks now shine through enough to point to specific previous aliases. The “Richard? Richard?” gimmick, and the posing as victim of harassment (“no matter what you try to do to me”). That was from when you posed as a woman a couple of times. (An 80+ grandmother was one of your more notable inventions.) And so now you are Chinese… Get a real life, buddy.

          1. @ Elisabeth: THe actual IPs he uses do geo-locate to Taiwan. But of course anyone can use IP proxies from specific countries if they choose. That’s why I asked him to explain why he’s in Taiwan and posting about these subjects. That would’ve been at least somewhat transparent. But he chose not to do so. That leaves us to speculate on the oddness of what he’s doing.

            As for his “being here before,” it reminds me of that trippy vintage Crosby Stills Nash song, We Have All Been Here Before. Except in the case of these hasbaroids, it’s THEY who’ve all been here before.

        1. @ Li Hung Lo: First, you don’t use a pejorative term like “crony” to describe BDS activists. If you want to describe Bibi and his corrupt gang as “cronies,” that’s accurate and fine. But try that here again and I’ll delete your comment and it may be the last one you post here.

          I rejected Alqasem’s case here too. And I’m not a crony, jackass.

          I figured the Court would save Israel’s ass by undoing this idiotic decision by Erdan and his cronies. Otherwise the world would think Israelis like Deri and Erdan were utter fools, which they are. Now liberal Zionists can trumpet Israel as a bastion of the rule of law and all that.

  2. Would you say Palestinians who receive money from Israeli social security shouldn’t buy instead, boycott it?
    It is similar to HaAvara (which you severely misrepresented)

    1. @ Jen: This is very odd comment. An Israeli Palestinian citizen of Israel is entitled, as a citizen, to state benefits. He is a citizen. He earned the benfits through the sweat of his own brow and by virtue of being a citizen. Are you saying that a citizen of the state should boycott the state? Why?

      This has nothing whatsoever to do with Haavara, which I represented entirely accurately based on numerous sources I researched.

      Please don’t waste our/my time with such bizarre analogies. It’s insulting even to have to deal with them.

      1. You misrepresented haavara by completely ignoring the Jews who wanted to flee the Nazi regime with more than the cloth on their body and haavara wasn’t the mechanism that allowed them to move at least some of their assets out of Nazi Germany.

        1. @ Jen: To say that German Jews who escaped from Nazi Germany “wanted” the Haavara arrangment is ludicrous. Nor did they necessarily personally get any benefit from it. German goods went to Palestine. They didn’t go into the hands of the same German Jews who emigrated to Palestine. It is you who doesn’t understand the protocols of the deal, not I.

          1. German Jews got most of the proceeds from selling the goods. Are we arguing the facts now??
            Read Wikipedia and look in the many sources at the bottom.

            One of them which I thought you might find interesting bc it touches on the boycott aspect is reformjudaismmag.net/rjmag-90s/999eb.html

          2. Whose money paid for these goods?
            I assume you’re sensitive and wouldn’t want to hurt your feelings but obviously you didn’t spend a second reading about the subject even after I challenged you.

            German Jews deposited money which was used to buy German goods then ship and sell them in mandatory Palestine. 2/3 of the money belonged to the original owner. It was a way to get money out of Germany.

          3. @Jen: The property and valuables of All Jews who left Germany were confiscated by the Reich. That plundered wealth was then transferred into German goods which were shipped to the Yishuv. The individual benefit to the German Jews was not 2/3 as you claim, but 43% according to this article. But regardless, Haavara was a devil’s bargain which provided essential economic assistance to the Nazis and enabled them to consolidate power. It was a dark stain on the Yishu and Zionist movement as a whole.

            Of course, everyone needs to consider their own welfare and that of their family. But if I were a German Jew and knew that my new home in Palestine was bought and paid for by the Reich, I’d never forgive myself.

            You are done in this thread. No further comments are welcome from you here.

          4. [comment deleted: when I say that was your last comment in the thread, I mean it. I don’t mean: why don’t you try again and see if another comment wouldn’t be OK… I give most commenters 2 or 3 cracks at a comment. This would’ve been your 4th. It’s too much. Move on…]

          5. where did you get the 2/3 figure? that seems just something you plucked out of thin air. It’s not a figure Edwin Black or anyone else who has written on the subject such as David Yisraeli uses.

          6. This is not true. Jews who escaped via Ha’avara, about 20,000 i.e. 1/3 of those who went to Palestine, obtained a fraction of their assets once the Jewish Agency had taken their cut. See Edwin Black’s book The Transfer Agreement

          7. Tony has fumbled.

            Sixty-thousand German Jews were saved, along with $1oo million, equal to $2.7 billion in today’s terms.

            See, Transfer Agreement, Edwin Black, intro to the 25th Anniversary edition.

          8. @Li Hung Lo: No you fumbled. Tony clearly stated that 1/3 of German Jews were saved by Haavara. A total of 50 to 60,000Jews were saved overall. Haavara did not save all of them.

            Your touting the amount of funds stolen from German Jews appears to mean you believe that the $100 million plundered and sent to Palestine as goods from German industry, thus pumping much needed revenue into the Nazi economy, was a reasonable trade for some of those 6 million Jews the Nazis killed, thanks in part to Haavara.

          9. “…pumping much needed revenue into the Nazi economy, was a reasonable trade for some of those 6 million Jews the Nazis killed, thanks in part to Haavara.”

            Richard.
            It’s all so clear…..with the gift of 20/20 hindsight.

          10. @ Li Hung Lo:

            It’s all so clear…..with the gift of 20/20 hindsight.

            Nope, again. THere was fierce resistance at the time at the highest level of the Yishuv. But those voices were drowned out by Ben Gurion and his apparachiks who plowed ahead regardless of future consequences, and despite the warnings from peers and colleagues.

        2. If German Jews love Ha’avara so much why did the Zionist Federation and the Jewish Agency lobby for Jews using Ha’avara to only be able to escape to Palestine and nowhere else? In fact it was quite possible to leave with the same amount of money after emigration taxes as with Ha’avara. If anything Ha’avara, which only benefitted rich Jews, limited their choice

  3. “Meaning that the most effective tool that world Jewry devised to combat the Nazis was torpedoed by Ben Gurion. ”

    A bit misleading, if you mean invented.

    The boycott was invented by the Irish and name after it’s first victim, Captain Boycott.

    You are entirely correct in saying it is a political tool, basically populist/democratic sanctions where individuals, rather than government institute sanctions.

      1. @ Jen: I doubt you intended to, but you just made my point. Cherem is an ancient tradition and used to control, moderate or change behavior deemed objectionable, immoral or aberrant by the community.

        1. Jews gave TZDAKA for thousands of years and Jews also believe that HABA LEHORGECHA HSHKEM LEHORGO.
          So, the fact boycotts existed for a millennia doesn’t mean all of them are ok. The argument of those screaming antisemitism is that many conflicts and injustices exists and the popularity of the Palestinian support doesn’t come solely from humanitarian ideal but also (if not solely) from antisemitism and the proof is, most of those people won’t be involved at all in any other conflict/suffering.
          IF INDEED the involvement comes from antisemitism, then the boycott is illegitimate IF!
          Obviously this has many different angles.

          1. Everything good in the world was first invented by Jews. Everything bad in the world was first used against Jews. The supremacist Israeli worldview in a nutshell. (And the average Israeli sincerely believes this, as these notions even ooze out of the pages of a newspaper like Haaretz.)

          2. My comment didn’t remotely suggested that. It is the favorite weapon to assert a notion that wasn’t intended then reducible it.

          3. @ Jen: So much nonsense. That argument that no one can support Palestinian rights until they correct all the other injustices in the world first, is just plain stupid. Or alternatively, the argument that singling out Israel for criticism while not denouncing other injustice is anti-Semitic, is equally preposterous. There are no hierarchies or rules in terms of which injustices must be addressed and when, for campaigns against them to be legitimate.

      2. Well today Israeli Jews and their local lobbies try to force other countries to make BDS illegal with some success. It means that private persons and their organisations could not protest against Israel’s actions using that “1000 year old Jewish methode”. An Israeli government minister Yisrael Katz openly demanded BDS leaders to be assasinted. Should we see it so that in Jewish moral Jews are allowed to boycotts and sanctions, but non-Jews are not allowed to protest against Israeli actions using boycotts?

          1. I fail to see the point of your comment, Jen. How does this answer SimoHurtta’s question? Or are you just trying to change the subject?

          2. As a non-Jew it is basically irrelevant for me if Jews begin to stone each others after their religious laws. So long Finnish Jews do not begin to use here that their law against other Jews and Finnish citizens. Actually Jews on West Bank are stoning without being hindered by police and laws all the time as we can read from the news. What is absurd for Palestinians throwing stones is a severe crime, but it seems for settler Jews it is a legal right (social, religious and cultural). Just a couple of days ago Jews began to destroy a school of hundreds of Palestinians because they claimed some pupils had been throwing stones. Some days before that settlers killed a Palestinian women by throwing stones on her car. Nobody found, nobody punished = no efforts even to solve that crime. As usual.

            Quiz Will these Jews spend a couple of years in prison for what they are doing?

            My point was that Israelis see no problems with boycotting and sanctioning others (Iranians, Arabs, Palestinians, Germans, Poles etc), but demand with some success, that western countries limit their citizens democratic rights to express their disgust towards Israeli actions and what Israel has become using boycotts. Demanding countries to make laws, which deny citizen’s boycotts against Israel is a really serious matter. Also when a governmental minister demands leaders of BDS to assassinated is not a trivial matter.

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