Communist
24th August 2009, 13:08
==============================
Boycott Israel
An Israeli comes to the painful conclusion that
it's the only way to save his country.
By Neve Gordon
Los Angeles Times
August 20, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-gordon20-2009aug20,0,1126906.story
Israeli newspapers this summer are filled with angry
articles about the push for an international boycott of
Israel. Films have been withdrawn from Israeli film
festivals, Leonard Cohen is under fire around the world
for his decision to perform in Tel Aviv, and Oxfam has
severed ties with a celebrity spokesperson, a British
actress who also endorses cosmetics produced in the
occupied territories. Clearly, the campaign to use the
kind of tactics that helped put an end to the practice
of apartheid in South Africa is gaining many followers
around the world.
Not surprisingly, many Israelis -- even peaceniks --
aren't signing on. A global boycott can't help but
contain echoes of anti-Semitism. It also brings up
questions of a double standard (why not boycott China
for its egregious violations of human rights?) and the
seemingly contradictory position of approving a boycott
of one's own nation.
It is indeed not a simple matter for me as an Israeli
citizen to call on foreign governments, regional
authorities, international social movements, faith-based
organizations, unions and citizens to suspend
cooperation with Israel. But today, as I watch my two
boys playing in the yard, I am convinced that it is the
only way that Israel can be saved from itself.
I say this because Israel has reached a historic
crossroads, and times of crisis call for dramatic
measures. I say this as a Jew who has chosen to raise
his children in Israel, who has been a member of the
Israeli peace camp for almost 30 years and who is deeply
anxious about the country's future.
The most accurate way to describe Israel today is as an
apartheid state. For more than 42 years, Israel has
controlled the land between the Jordan Valley and the
Mediterranean Sea. Within this region about 6 million
Jews and close to 5 million Palestinians reside. Out of
this population, 3.5 million Palestinians and almost
half a million Jews live in the areas Israel occupied in
1967, and yet while these two groups live in the same
area, they are subjected to totally different legal
systems. The Palestinians are stateless and lack many of
the most basic human rights. By sharp contrast, all Jews
-- whether they live in the occupied territories or in
Israel -- are citizens of the state of Israel.
The question that keeps me up at night, both as a parent
and as a citizen, is how to ensure that my two children
as well as the children of my Palestinian neighbors do
not grow up in an apartheid regime.
There are only two moral ways of achieving this goal.
The first is the one-state solution: offering
citizenship to all Palestinians and thus establishing a
bi-national democracy within the entire area controlled
by Israel. Given the demographics, this would amount to
the demise of Israel as a Jewish state; for most Israeli
Jews, it is anathema.
The second means of ending our apartheid is through the
two-state solution, which entails Israel's withdrawal to
the pre-1967 borders (with possible one-for-one land
swaps), the division of Jerusalem, and a recognition of
the Palestinian right of return with the stipulation
that only a limited number of the 4.5 million
Palestinian refugees would be allowed to return to
Israel, while the rest can return to the new Palestinian
state.
Geographically, the one-state solution appears much more
feasible because Jews and Palestinians are already
totally enmeshed; indeed, "on the ground," the one-state
solution (in an apartheid manifestation) is a reality.
Ideologically, the two-state solution is more realistic
because fewer than 1% of Jews and only a minority of
Palestinians support binationalism.
For now, despite the concrete difficulties, it makes
more sense to alter the geographic realities than the
ideological ones. If at some future date the two peoples
decide to share a state, they can do so, but currently
this is not something they want.
So if the two-state solution is the way to stop the
apartheid state, then how does one achieve this goal?
I am convinced that outside pressure is the only answer.
Over the last three decades, Jewish settlers in the
occupied territories have dramatically increased their
numbers. The myth of the united Jerusalem has led to the
creation of an apartheid city where Palestinians aren't
citizens and lack basic services. The Israeli peace camp
has gradually dwindled so that today it is almost
nonexistent, and Israeli politics are moving more and
more to the extreme right.
It is therefore clear to me that the only way to counter
the apartheid trend in Israel is through massive
international pressure. The words and condemnations from
the Obama administration and the European Union have
yielded no results, not even a settlement freeze, let
alone a decision to withdraw from the occupied
territories.
I consequently have decided to support the Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions movement that was launched by
Palestinian activists in July 2005 and has since
garnered widespread support around the globe. The
objective is to ensure that Israel respects its
obligations under international law and that
Palestinians are granted the right to self-
determination.
In Bilbao, Spain, in 2008, a coalition of organizations
from all over the world formulated the 10-point Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions campaign meant to pressure
Israel in a "gradual, sustainable manner that is
sensitive to context and capacity." For example, the
effort begins with sanctions on and divestment from
Israeli firms operating in the occupied territories,
followed by actions against those that help sustain and
reinforce the occupation in a visible manner. Along
similar lines, artists who come to Israel in order to
draw attention to the occupation are welcome, while
those who just want to perform are not.
Nothing else has worked. Putting massive international
pressure on Israel is the only way to guarantee that the
next generation of Israelis and Palestinians -- my two
boys included -- does not grow up in an apartheid
regime.
_____
Neve Gordon is the author of "Israel's Occupation" and
teaches politics at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba,
Israel.
Copyright c 2009, The Los Angeles Times
_____________________________________________
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------------------------------
-------------------------
---------------------
-----------------
-----------
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.
Boycott Israel
An Israeli comes to the painful conclusion that
it's the only way to save his country.
By Neve Gordon
Los Angeles Times
August 20, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-gordon20-2009aug20,0,1126906.story
Israeli newspapers this summer are filled with angry
articles about the push for an international boycott of
Israel. Films have been withdrawn from Israeli film
festivals, Leonard Cohen is under fire around the world
for his decision to perform in Tel Aviv, and Oxfam has
severed ties with a celebrity spokesperson, a British
actress who also endorses cosmetics produced in the
occupied territories. Clearly, the campaign to use the
kind of tactics that helped put an end to the practice
of apartheid in South Africa is gaining many followers
around the world.
Not surprisingly, many Israelis -- even peaceniks --
aren't signing on. A global boycott can't help but
contain echoes of anti-Semitism. It also brings up
questions of a double standard (why not boycott China
for its egregious violations of human rights?) and the
seemingly contradictory position of approving a boycott
of one's own nation.
It is indeed not a simple matter for me as an Israeli
citizen to call on foreign governments, regional
authorities, international social movements, faith-based
organizations, unions and citizens to suspend
cooperation with Israel. But today, as I watch my two
boys playing in the yard, I am convinced that it is the
only way that Israel can be saved from itself.
I say this because Israel has reached a historic
crossroads, and times of crisis call for dramatic
measures. I say this as a Jew who has chosen to raise
his children in Israel, who has been a member of the
Israeli peace camp for almost 30 years and who is deeply
anxious about the country's future.
The most accurate way to describe Israel today is as an
apartheid state. For more than 42 years, Israel has
controlled the land between the Jordan Valley and the
Mediterranean Sea. Within this region about 6 million
Jews and close to 5 million Palestinians reside. Out of
this population, 3.5 million Palestinians and almost
half a million Jews live in the areas Israel occupied in
1967, and yet while these two groups live in the same
area, they are subjected to totally different legal
systems. The Palestinians are stateless and lack many of
the most basic human rights. By sharp contrast, all Jews
-- whether they live in the occupied territories or in
Israel -- are citizens of the state of Israel.
The question that keeps me up at night, both as a parent
and as a citizen, is how to ensure that my two children
as well as the children of my Palestinian neighbors do
not grow up in an apartheid regime.
There are only two moral ways of achieving this goal.
The first is the one-state solution: offering
citizenship to all Palestinians and thus establishing a
bi-national democracy within the entire area controlled
by Israel. Given the demographics, this would amount to
the demise of Israel as a Jewish state; for most Israeli
Jews, it is anathema.
The second means of ending our apartheid is through the
two-state solution, which entails Israel's withdrawal to
the pre-1967 borders (with possible one-for-one land
swaps), the division of Jerusalem, and a recognition of
the Palestinian right of return with the stipulation
that only a limited number of the 4.5 million
Palestinian refugees would be allowed to return to
Israel, while the rest can return to the new Palestinian
state.
Geographically, the one-state solution appears much more
feasible because Jews and Palestinians are already
totally enmeshed; indeed, "on the ground," the one-state
solution (in an apartheid manifestation) is a reality.
Ideologically, the two-state solution is more realistic
because fewer than 1% of Jews and only a minority of
Palestinians support binationalism.
For now, despite the concrete difficulties, it makes
more sense to alter the geographic realities than the
ideological ones. If at some future date the two peoples
decide to share a state, they can do so, but currently
this is not something they want.
So if the two-state solution is the way to stop the
apartheid state, then how does one achieve this goal?
I am convinced that outside pressure is the only answer.
Over the last three decades, Jewish settlers in the
occupied territories have dramatically increased their
numbers. The myth of the united Jerusalem has led to the
creation of an apartheid city where Palestinians aren't
citizens and lack basic services. The Israeli peace camp
has gradually dwindled so that today it is almost
nonexistent, and Israeli politics are moving more and
more to the extreme right.
It is therefore clear to me that the only way to counter
the apartheid trend in Israel is through massive
international pressure. The words and condemnations from
the Obama administration and the European Union have
yielded no results, not even a settlement freeze, let
alone a decision to withdraw from the occupied
territories.
I consequently have decided to support the Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions movement that was launched by
Palestinian activists in July 2005 and has since
garnered widespread support around the globe. The
objective is to ensure that Israel respects its
obligations under international law and that
Palestinians are granted the right to self-
determination.
In Bilbao, Spain, in 2008, a coalition of organizations
from all over the world formulated the 10-point Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions campaign meant to pressure
Israel in a "gradual, sustainable manner that is
sensitive to context and capacity." For example, the
effort begins with sanctions on and divestment from
Israeli firms operating in the occupied territories,
followed by actions against those that help sustain and
reinforce the occupation in a visible manner. Along
similar lines, artists who come to Israel in order to
draw attention to the occupation are welcome, while
those who just want to perform are not.
Nothing else has worked. Putting massive international
pressure on Israel is the only way to guarantee that the
next generation of Israelis and Palestinians -- my two
boys included -- does not grow up in an apartheid
regime.
_____
Neve Gordon is the author of "Israel's Occupation" and
teaches politics at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba,
Israel.
Copyright c 2009, The Los Angeles Times
_____________________________________________
------------------------------------
------------------------------
-------------------------
---------------------
-----------------
-----------
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.