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"Boycott, Divest and Sanction Israel" is the rallying cry of the useful idiots
of the world. This call for a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel has been
running for several years now.
Interestingly, the Palestinian Authority (PA) also comes under attack from
the BDS movement whenever it appears that the PA is about to negotiate an end to the very issues that
Palestinians hate the most. The checkpoints, settlements, IDF patrols and all other elements of the
“occupation” could be a thing of the past were the PA to feel secure enough to negotiate honestly
with Israel. The BDS movement, focused as it is on Palestinians being victims, could never accept
the concept of the PA sitting across the table from Israel and negotiating. When the “Palestine Papers”
were leaked in early 2011 and it became clear that Palestinian negotiators were near finalizing a deal
with Israel, the BDS faithful greeted this news with horror and indignation, instead of with happiness
that the hated “occupation” of the West Bank might soon be ending. The BDS movement is, in fact,
helping to ensure that an eventual peace becomes harder rather than easier to achieve. The BDS campaign
isn’t about campaigning for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, nor about an eventual agreement
that results in a state of Palestine. This is a fight to the last Palestinian for Israel’s
destruction.[1]
When Israel was born, Jews around the world rushed to get into it. The
population skyrocketed from 650,000 to over 2 million in a little over 10 years and to 3 million, 20
years later. The BDS movement hates this fact. But even as it argues that Jewish immigration to
Israel must be forced to stop on the grounds of racism, it advocates that Palestinians all over the
world be able to do exactly the same thing. The BDS movement essentially calls on the world to forget
the Jews, disregard that there are 6 million of them living in their own country, that they have
legitimate needs and rights, and that they only exist in the State of Israel because the world had
savagely attacked them for centuries. Israel is attacked by BDS today because it exists in
the first place. This is the BDS movement. It cannot be bargained with, it cannot be appeased,
and it is fighting heart and soul to destroy
Israel.[1]
The so called BDS movement is nothing but a thinly disguised version of modern
anti-Semitism and many of the followers of the BDS movement are among the most duped & deluded people
(after the so called Palestinians) in the world. Many of the BDS crowd simply want Israel destroyed
and its Jews either expelled or murdered so that another “peace-loving, moderate, tolerant and
democratic Arab state” can replace it. The BDS supporters are essentially soul-mates of Hamas
and Hezbollah.
While BDS rants and raves about Israeli check points, hardships suffered by
the residents of Gaza and the West Bank, and other supposed calamities imposed on these territories,
they pay no attention to other more horrific events perpetrated in the name of Islam.
“Islamic militants attacked a boarding school before dawn Saturday (July 6, 2013),
dousing a dormitory in fuel and lighting it ablaze as students slept, survivors said. At least 30 people
were killed in the deadliest attack yet on schools in Nigeria's embattled northeast.
“Authorities blamed the violence on Boko Haram, a radical group whose name
means 'Western education is sacrilege'. The militants have been behind a series of recent attacks
on schools in the region, including one in which gunmen opened fire on children taking exams in a
classroom.
- - -
“Islamic militants from Boko Haram and breakaway groups have killed more
than 1,600 civilians in suicide bombings and other attacks since 2010, according to an Associated
Press count.” (Ref. 2)
And still the cry is - “Divest from any company doing business
with Israel!” After all, according to the BDS movement, that criminal country, Israel, has
the audacity to keep the Palestinian murderers of innocent Jews locked away in their prison.
“Muslims are killing Copts in Egypt for siding against {Egyptian President,
Mohamed} Morsi. Most Christians in Syria support the Assad regime, knowing that something worse awaits
them if Assad falls. The U.S. government is funding the jihad against Assad. Any idea what the jihadists
will do to Christians when Assad is toppled? Just watch what's happening in Egypt.
“Reuters - Gunmen shot dead a Coptic Christian priest in Egypt's lawless Northern
Sinai on Saturday in what could be the first sectarian attack since the military overthrow of Islamist
President Mohamed Mursi, security sources said.
“The priest, Mina Aboud Sharween, was attacked in the early afternoon while
walking in the Masaeed area in El Arish.
“The shooting in the coastal city was one of several attacks believed to be
by Islamist insurgents that included firing at four military checkpoints in the region, the sources
said.
- - -
“Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood has fiercely criticized Coptic Pope Tawadros,
spiritual leader of Egypt's 8 million Christians, for giving his blessing to the removal of the
president and attending the announcement by armed forces commander General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
suspending the constitution.” (Ref. 3)
And still the cry goes out - “Boycott all products produced in
Israel!” The BDS crowd ignores the persecution and Jihad against Christians that is going on
in Muslim-controlled countries and, instead, calls Israel - the only country in the Middle East
that allows complete religious freedom - an Apartheid nation.
Since 2001, nearly 4,800 rockets have hit southern Israel, just over
4,000 of them since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in August 2005. The range of the
rockets has increased over time. The original rockets had a range of about 6 miles, but more
advanced rockets have hit Israeli targets 25 miles from
Gaza.[4]
And then there’s that peace-loving group ensconced in Lebanon – Hezbollah.
For more than 30 years, Hezbollah has waged jihad or “holy war’ against the West, Israel, and other
Jewish targets. In 2012, Hezbollah murdered 5 Israeli tourists and their bus driver in Bulgaria.
In the 1990’s, Hezbollah-linked terrorists bombed a Jewish cultural center and the Israeli embassy
in Argentina, killing more than 110 people. And in the 1980s Hezbollah was responsible for the
bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon that killed 241 Americans.
“All the Palestinian armed groups carry out rocket and mortar attacks, with
varying frequency. The main groups are Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine, the Popular Resistance Committees, Fatah, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation
of Palestine. Hamas is the de facto governing authority in the Gaza Strip, while Fatah holds the
presidency of the Palestinian National Authority.”
(Ref. 4)
And the useful idiots of the world that support the BDS movement
carry their signs proclaiming - “Boycott, Divest and Sanction Israel!” These supporters
of the BDS movement ignore the atrocities committed by Hamas and Hezbollah around the world and,
instead, rail against the inhumanity of the Israelis for daring to set up check points to keep these
murderers from committing more acts of terror against Israeli civilians.
“Throughout the Muslim world, women are treated as second-class citizens who
are inferior to men in terms of intelligence, morals, and faith. This arrangement derives from the
Qur'an itself, which states unambiguously: ‘Men have authority over women because God has made the
one superior to the other’ (Qur'an 4:34).
“The Qur'an likens a woman to a field (tilth), to be used by a man as he wills:
‘Your women are a tilth for you [to cultivate], so go to your tilth as ye will’ (2:223). Such a view
is consistent with the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, who emphasized that women were little
more than possessions of, and objects of sexual pleasure for, their husbands: ‘The husband is only
obliged to support his wife when she gives herself to him or offers to, meaning she allows him full
enjoyment of her person and does not refuse him sex at any time of the night or day.’
“The Qur'an instructs husbands to beat their disobedient wives:
‘Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and
because they spend of their property [for the support of women]. So good women are the obedient,
guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish
them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them’ (4:34).”
- - -
“The Islamic court system relegates women to a most lowly status. According
to the Qur'an, a woman’s testimony is worth only half that of a man. In cases of rape, no conviction
can occur in an Islamic court unless four male eyewitnesses testify to having seen the act occur. This
is in keeping with a 7th-century edict issued by Muhammad.
“The Muslim world also features the widespread practice of accusing rape
victims of having engaged in illicit sexual relations (zina), an offense which carries punishments
ranging from imprisonment and flogging to death by stoning.”
(Ref. 5)
How often do we read of Muslim women being flogged, stoned, murdered, doused
with acid, beaten and treated as mere possessions. Where is the outrage and the moral revulsion against
such behavior in our modern world? For many, sadly, the answer is that Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions against Israel are of far greater importance. Yet, what country in the Middle
East provides true equality to women – even to the point of having elected a woman as its Prime
Minister?
Five members of an Israeli family were murdered at Itamar on the West Bank,
on Friday night, March 11, 2011. The murdered members of the family were the father (36); the mother (35),
their two sons (11 and 3) and their 4-month old daughter. The family moved to Itamar from the Gaza Strip
in 2007 as part of the Israel’s Gaza disengagement. Hamas websites hailed the murders as a “heroic
operation.”[ 6]
“For more than a year, {Israel’s} Prime Minister . . . and Defense
Minister . . . acceded to relentless US and European pressure to grant West Bank Palestinians
almost unrestricted freedom of movement and generous aid for their economic development as a means
of persuading PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table. This policy failed in
its purpose while leaving Israelis vulnerable once again to terrorist attacks.”
(Ref. 6)
In carrying out this “heroic operation”, the terrorists slit the throat of the
11-year old-son. They then entered the bedroom and cut the throats of the father and the 3-month old
newborn baby girl. The mother was stabbed multiple times. The terrorists completed their “heroic
operation” against the unarmed family by stabbing the 3-year old son in the
heart.[6]
And what was the response to such an act of unmitigated barbarism?
“Boycott, Divest and Sanction Israel!” The BDS movement is nothing but an example
of blaming the victim and making the victim the scapegoat in place of the real criminals. Charitably,
it is a case of ignorance and stupidity. Realistically, it is a case of anti-Semitism, coupled with
hatred and/or envy of a successful Israel.
“The BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) presents itself as a pro-peace
initiative but in reality is a thinly-veiled, anti-Israel and anti-Semitic ‘poison pill,’ whose goal
is the demonization, delegitimization, and ultimate demise of the Jewish State. Taking a page from
the late twentieth century worldwide campaign against the South African Apartheid regime, BDS casts
a global anti-Israel net on campuses, among unions, entertainers and Churches.
“BDS claims to be a peaceful movement whose goal is to use ‘punitive economic
means’ to pressure Israel to rectify the wrongs done to human rights in the Palestinian territories.
In reality, BDS is a thinly-disguised effort to coordinate and complement the violent strategy of
Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim ‘rejectionists’ who have refused to make peace with Israel for over
six decades, and to pursue a high-profile campaign composed of anti-Israel Big Lies to help destroy
the Jewish State by any and all means.
“Over and over again—whenever and wherever it emerged—the BDS Movement quickly
threw off any trappings of moderate criticism of Israeli policies.
Its true essence matches Natan Sharansky’s ‘three Ds’ test for when legitimate
criticism crosses the line into anti-Semitism:
FIRST: Double Standards - singling out Israel for criticism while ignoring
the more egregious behavior of major human rights abusers in the Arab and Muslim world and beyond.
SECOND: Demonization of Israel - distorting the Jewish State’s actions by
means of insidious and false comparisons with the Nazis and/or South Africa’s Apartheid regime.
THIRD: Delegitimization - when Israel’s fundamental right to exist is
denied—alone among all nations in the world—this too is anti-Semitism.
- BDS claims to be peaceful or to favor “nonviolent punitive measures” (while refusing to denounce
anti-Israel, anti-Jewish violence).
- BDS often downplays its programmatic commitment to the unlimited “right of return” of millions
of Palestinians, not born in Israel but claiming refugee status that would spell the end of the Jewish State.
- BDS ostensibly wants to right the specific wrongs done to Palestinians, yet attacks the
foundations of Israel’s entire economy and society: all (Jewish) Israelis are collectively guilty.
- BDS is fueled by and reinforces a one-sided historical narrative denying any responsibility of
Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim “rejectionists” for destroying chances for peace and reconciliation—from
before Israel’s establishment in 1948, to the 1980 Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, to the 1993 Oslo
Accords, to the 2000-2001 Camp David and Wye Summits, to the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and to
this very day.
- BDS slanders Zionism and supporters of the Jewish State by falsifying the profound differences
between Apartheid South Africa and democratic Israel.
- BDS claims that Jews and Israel have lost divine favor because of the Jewish People’s alleged
sins and as result Jews no longer have legitimate historic or moral claims to the Holy Land.”
Ref. 7)
The BDS Movement relies on the many-faced Big Lie.
“The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Campaign against Israel has long
roots going back to the Arab League Boycott designed to snuff out the nascent Jewish State and the even
earlier to the bloody 1929 Arab Riots against the Holy Land’s Jews. Indeed, it has been argued
convincingly that the Campaign resonates with the medieval Judeophobia that fueled the expulsion of
the Jews from England in 1190.” (Ref. 7)
“BDS’ public goal is to ‘end occupation in the territories,’ but Israel had
already unilaterally withdrawn from Gaza in 2005 and committed to a two-state solution, if only it had
a peace partner willing to accept a Jewish, democratic neighbor. Indeed, unlike South Africa—or Assad’s
Syria—Israel is not a minority regime lording it over an internal majority denied its rights. The Jewish
State grants full rights to its internal Arab minority, and wants nothing more than to fulfill its
democratic and Jewish national destiny within secure borders. Still, critics of Israel insist on
stigmatizing Israel as a ‘pariah state’ rather than a normal member of the international community
with territorial disputes.” (Ref. 7)
The BDS Movement is really a public relations stunt designed to
prepare the ground for the ultimate goal of the destruction of Israel.
In Israel, Arabic as well as Hebrew is an official language. Not only
Arab men but also Arab women have the right to vote (still not universal in Arab countries).
Israeli Arab citizens are regularly elected to the Knesset where they denounce government policies
in no uncertain terms. Israeli Arabs have served in Cabinet posts as well abroad as ambassadors and
on the Supreme Court.[7]
Under the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords, Israel turned over civilian control of
Palestinian communities on the West Bank while retaining military jurisdiction. These territories
had become Israel’s responsibility only after it defeated Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in another Arab
war with Israel in 1967.
Are the Israeli people and government serious about withdrawals from territory
as part of a negotiated two state solution? Actions speak louder than words. Israel
has turned over civilian control of the West Bank and military as well as civilian control of Gaza by
unilaterally withdrawing its military and evacuating all 9,000 Jewish residents in 2005. In return,
Israel has received suicide bombings and 8,000 rockets. From the Fatah Movement in the West Bank,
Israel has gotten words — but the wrong ones, in the form of vitriolic barrages of hate propaganda
against Jews and the Jewish State from mosques to the Palestinian media.
College campuses and towns have been the focus of BDS activities even before
there was a formal BDS. Some of the responses to the BDS campus campaign have been the following:
Alan Dershowitz: “People who advocate boycotts and divestiture will literally have blood on their hands,
. . .. They encourage terrorism and discourage the laying down of arms.” “Divestiture is really not the goal.
It’s a campaign to miseducate and misinform the next generation. It’s a variation of Goebbels’ Big Lie.
If you repeat something often enough, it will be
true.”[7]
Thomas L. Friedman: “Singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction—out of all proportion
to any other party in the Middle East—is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is
dishonest.”[7]
“The BDS Movement has already fulfilled part of its potential—as a stalking
horse for those seeking to destroy Israel by other means. It is a key component of the global
asymmetrical war on the Jewish State. It’s committed not to peace but to a piecemeal elimination
of Israel—not to non-violence but to blackmail. It doesn’t believe in its own distinctions between
'targeted' and 'total' boycotts. Nor is it really interested in the economic welfare of Palestinians.
“Above all, it lacks the one virtue that Hamas possesses: credible honesty about
its intention to replace by any and all means Jewish Israel with (Islamist) Palestine.
Those truly committed to a “Two State Solution” will never serve the cause of
peace by embracing the anti-Semitic BDS. Honest people have a choice between two options only: a return
to currently unfashionable, always difficult, peacemaking to forge two viable, peaceful states or the
grim alternative, stripped bare of pretenses, of a deadly specter astride a Pale Horse.”
(Ref. 7)
Leaders of the effort to boycott, divest from and apply sanctions
against Israel — the so-called BDS movement — say they stand for an “end to the occupation
of the Palestinian territories,” “justice in Palestine” and “freedom for the Palestinian people.”
But what are the real motives of BDS leaders — do they really want peace between Israel and the
Palestinian people? What are the real facts?
“While the BDS movement uses highly emotive language in their appeals
for support—such as ‘ending repression’ and ‘Israeli war crimes’ — a closer look at the real
motives of the movement reveals a more sinister goal.
“First, note that the BDS movement focuses only on alleged war crimes
and repression by Israel—and ignores real war crimes and tyrannical repression by other Middle
Eastern nations and terrorist organizations. When Hamas and Hezbollah target thousands of rockets
at Israeli civilian populations in violation of international law, BDS utters not a word of criticism,
let alone a call for boycotts or sanctions. When Iran’s government violently crushes peaceful
protests and Egypt stifles its press and political opposition with a dictatorial hand, BDS is
likewise silent. Why?
“By singling out Israel for criticism and economic pressure,
BDS employs a double standard—a hypocritical and dishonest tactic frequently used by anti-Israel and
anti-Semitic hate groups.
“The . . . BDS movement is not really interested in alleged war crimes or
repression. Rather its purpose is to delegitimize and then destroy Israel.
“The second critical fact about the BDS movement is that while it masquerades
behind words like ‘freedom' and 'occupation,’ one need only listen closely to its rhetoric to realize
that these are code words for the elimination of Israel.”
(Ref. 8)
“When BDS supporters talk about ‘the occupation of Palestine,’ they refer
not to disputed West Bank territories, but to all the land between the Jordan River and the
Mediterranean Sea—including all of Israel. When they talk about ‘freedom,’ they don’t mean freedom
from security roadblocks, they mean freedom from Jews in their midst. When they talk about
‘occupation,’ they mean not just Israeli security forces in the West Bank, they also mean Israelis
‘occupying’ the state of Israel.
“The third telling fact about the BDS movement is that it consistently
and vehemently opposes any efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians together to work in peace
and on peace. For example, BDS leaders advocate boycotting cultural exchanges between Israelis
and Palestinian artists. They condemn educational cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian
universities. Most revealingly, they oppose peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian leadership,
calling them ‘collaborationist.’
- - -
BDS’s goal: 'Extinguish Israel as a Jewish state.' BDS unequivocally rejects
Israel’s many peace offers—including numerous land-for-peace proposals supported by the United States—and
rejects Israel’s willingness to sit down to direct peace talks without preconditions.
“Thus, the facts make BDS’s intentions clear: Rather than being a movement
that seeks peace and freedom, it is a movement motivated by an obsessive hate of Zionism and Jews
and opposition to the Jewish state—one bent on fomenting strife, conflict and enmity until Israel
is utterly defeated.” (Ref. 8)
“The BDS movement hides its ultimate goal of dismantling the Jewish state
behind its public rhetoric. As a result, it has co-opted numerous individuals—and quite possibly
donors — who desire to see both a Jewish and Palestinian state flourish into supporting its campaign.
Although some members of the movement might actually support the Jewish state’s continued
existence, . . . the Palestinian BDS National Committee—the ‘reference and guiding force for the
global BDS movement’ — cannot do so under any circumstances.”
(Ref. 9)
The BDS movement will not broadcast its ultimate aims. The truth is, if you
support the BDS movement, you are supporting an organization that is actively working to undermine the
Jewish state. Utilizing the vocabulary of international norms, the movement actually systematically
attempts to undermine the international consensus that recognizes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish
state. And if you support this right of Israel to exist, then there is only one moral option. Boycott
the BDS movement.[9]
So, is Israel an Apartheid state as BDS vociferously claims? “In Israel,
Palestinian citizens of Israel (or Israeli-Arabs) share the same exact facilities as non-Arab citizens,
have the right to vote, and hold Israeli citizenship. Though Israel is unfortunately not free of
discrimination, there is not a single democracy in the world that is. Whatever forms of discrimination
that exist in Israel are essentially no different than those in any other Western democracy.
“Recently, University of Chicago Friends of Israel (UCFI) invited Ishmael
Khaldi to speak to the university community. Khaldi was born in a Bedouin tent, voluntarily served in
the Israel Defense Forces, and eventually rose to become Israel’s Deputy Consul General in San Francisco.
He is the first Muslim diplomat, let alone Bedouin, in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Khaldi
considers himself living proof that Israel is not an apartheid state and said, ‘Israel may be the only
country in the Middle East, if not the world, where a Bedouin shepherd can become a high-tech engineer,
a scientist, or a diplomat. The sky’s the limit.’
“Arabs hold many other prominent positions in Israel. A few years ago an
Israeli Arab Supreme Court Justice, Salim Joubran, sentenced Israel’s former president to prison.
In 1999, Rana Raslan became the first Arab Miss Israel. This past year it was an Ethiopian-Israeli.
There are many Arabs who hold high ranks in the Israeli military, and the recently appointed director
of emergency medicine at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem is also an Israeli-Arab.
Furthermore, Arabic is taught in Israeli schools, is on Israeli signs and, as an official language,
is provided via subtitles on the state television channel.”
(Ref. 10)
Is BDS the solution to fighting Israeli apartheid? Well, we’ve already
established that Israel is not an apartheid state—but let’s look at what BDS ultimately does. It
would force individuals to boycott Israeli products, musicians, sports teams, companies, and even
academics. The BDS movement is nothing but a hypocritical movement aimed at the destruction of the
State of Israel.
Boycotting Israeli products is also a challenge when one considers that
Israel has made major contributions to many areas of technology, including the cell phone, text
messaging, and the Intel chip in the computer I am using to type this. Even Stephen Hawking’s refusal
to fill the role of honored speaker at an event hosted by the Israeli president is hypocritical, as
his boycott does not extend to the computer system that gives him the ability to talk. The computer,
which is built around an Intel Core i7 Processor, was designed by Israel’s Intel
team.[10]
The BDS movement is nothing but a hypocritical movement that aims to
destroy the State of Israel via economic warfare. BDS will not solve the conflict—it will only
prevent peace.[10]
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References:
- BDS uncovered, Marc Goldberg, Jerusalem Post Magazine, 6 June 2013.
- Nigeria: Islamic Militants Attack School, Killing 30, Adamu Adamu and Michelle Faul,
Huff Post World, 6 July 2013.
- Jihadists Murder Coptic Priest Mina Aboud Sharween in Egypt, David Wood,
Answering Muslims, 6 July 2013.
- Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, Wikipedia, Accessed 7 July 2013.
- WOMEN AND RADICAL / FUNDAMENTALIST ISLAM, discoverthenetworks.com,
Accessed 7 July 2013.
- Five Israelis murdered by Palestinians at Itamar were Gaza evacuees,
crethiplethi.com, 13 March 2011.
- BOYCOTT DIVESTMENT SANCTIONS (BDS) AGAINST ISRAEL AN ANTI SEMITIC, ANTI PEACE POISON PILL,
Dr. Harold Brackman, Simon Wiesenthal Center, March 2013 (Accessed 9 July 2013).
- The Truth about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement,
FLAME (Facts & Logic About the Middle East), 2010.
- Understanding the BDS Movement, Avishai D. Don, The Harvard Crimson,
26 January 2012.
- BDS a hypocritical movement, Blake Fleisher, The Chicago Maroon,
4 June 2013.
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