Posted on 09/25/2015 6:31:46 AM PDT by SJackson
The one saving grace about anti-Semites is that, contrary to Barack Obama’s famous claim, they generally are irrational and, therefore, they often overreach. The anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement has been doing exactly that recently. In the past month alone, it has suffered three resounding and damaging failures.
The first, of course, was its “success” in pressuring a Spanish reggae festival to disinvite American Jewish singer Matisyahu unless he issued a statement backing a Palestinian state. Matisyahu, to his credit, didn’t merely refuse; he also made sure the world knew why he wouldn’t be appearing as scheduled. The subsequent public outcry not only made the festival hurriedly backtrack and reinstate Matisyahu in his original slot, but also exposed the truth of the BDS movement’s anti-Semitism, which it has long tried to hide. After all, Matisyahu isn’t Israeli; he was asked to issue that statement, alone of all the artists at the festival, simply because he was Jewish.
Next came last week’s decision to boycott Israel by the mighty municipality of Reykjavik (population about 120,000). Having naively expected applause for this display of moral indignation, the municipality was stunned to be met instead by an outpouring of condemnation, including from Iceland’s own prime minister, and quickly reversed course. But the damage, as Haaretz journalist Asher Schechter lamented, was already done: Reykjavik had provided further proof that the BDS movement, contrary to the widespread belief that it merely targets “the occupation,” is simply anti-Israel.
Then there’s my personal favorite, which occurred this week: the BDS protest against a Pharrell Williams concert in South Africa. When I first read about the planned protest, I couldn’t believe BDS was serious. A black American singer goes to South Africa to perform for black South Africans, and BDS wants to ruin the audience’s fun? Just because Williams’ corporate sponsor is a Jewish-owned retailer (Woolworths) that already boycotts produce from “the occupied territories”? But BDS evidently couldn’t see how bad this looked. It rashly promised some 40,000 demonstrators, “the largest protest event in South African history against any musician or artist.” And it wound up with a measly 500, as many South Africans suddenly discovered that BDS might not be their best guide to international morality.
Finally, as icing on the cake, the lawfare crowd also suffered an embarrassing defeat this month: After it painstakingly gathered the 100,000 signatures needed to force a debate in the British parliament on a motion to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, parliament unceremoniously refused to debate it anyway on the grounds that the motion itself flagrantly violated both British and international law with regard to diplomatic immunity.
But all of the above are merely the tip of the iceberg of what could be done against BDS. As Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, has repeatedly stressed, one of the most important steps is pressuring Europe to stop funding anti-Israel hate groups by showing decision makers what their money is really being used for. This may seem like mission impossible, but as Steinberg wrote last week, the past year actually brought some significant progress:
Under the “Partnership for Peace Program”, the European Union did not renew grants for NGOs that promote BDS and lawfare, including for violent activities, marking the most significant change in over 15 years. A number of European embassies in Israel also reduced or ended grants for anti-peace NGOs. While there are still tens of millions of Euros and Pounds and Krona going to BDS, the trend is down, for the first time.
Legal action is another promising and underutilized tool. As I wrote last year, BDS has already suffered major setbacks in European courts. But the real legal game-changer, as professors Eugene Kontorovich and Avi Bell of the Kohelet Policy Forum argued recently, could be an Israeli challenge in the World Trade Organization against EU sanctions on settlement products. The EU plans to finalize a directive on labeling Israeli settlement produce next month, the latest in a series of directives targeting such produce. But as Kontorovich and Bell noted, the EU hasn’t imposed similar measures on other territories it deems occupied, such as Western Sahara or Kashmir, and WTO rules explicitly prohibit discriminatory trading policies.
The movement to Besmirch, Demonize and Slander the Jewish state is so hydra-headed and so venomous that it can often seem overwhelming. But in reality, it is big and strong enough to win only if nobody else is in the ring: As the past month’s events amply demonstrate, pushback works. Now it’s time to accelerate the pushback and put BDS where it belongs – on the defensive.
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would've helped me
Another stake in the heart of BDS support will be all of these Moslem “refugees” coming into the heart of Europe. When the average person and the average politician figure out who BDS is helping, there will be lots of second thoughts.
Ah, yes! The “Juden Raus!” movement.....
The reality is that once government money is removed from the equation, there is no more money to buy “grass roots” demonstrators to give the impression that thousands of people “just like me” are so outraged as to take the day off to demonstrate. Once that happens, the whole movement shows how marginal it is.
The same applies to Global Warming. It’s all powered by government money. Once Obama is replaced by a non-RINO Republican, and something similar happens in Europe (perhaps as a response to the islamization that is being forced on them by the leftists), you’ll see how well that movement survives the lack of (gasp) proof or evidence for the last few decades.
I thought this was about “Bush Derangement Syndrome”.
LOL!
Today’s “Jerusalem Thread”, in our character study of Queen Esther, was Chapter 7, in which Haman is exposed in his wicked plot against the Jews and ends up being hanged on his own pole!
Fitting.
The movement to Besmirch, Demonize and Slander the Jewish state
Not a joke! When I’ve visited family in Sicily I’ve often seen “Juden Raus” graffiti.
Question: Home grown anti-Semitism or imported anti-Semitism?
A lot of overlap there. A lot!
I think it was left-wing Sicilians or Italians. I don’t really know the immigrant makeup of Sicily. Walked into my my husband’s elderly communist uncle’s bathroom and there was a pix of him dressed as a 1930s fascist.
Thanks!
I could not fathom what this had to do with Bush Derangement Syndrome.
I asked because Sicily is right in the middle of the trade routes and immigration routes, meaning that a lot of muslims pass by and maybe land there. So it could be imported, but it sounds like there might be a healthy dose of home grown as well.
One half of Sicily is considered Greek. The other half (around Palermo) is considered Arabic - certainly the Islamic architecture, which is quite beautiful, points to that. But I do think the Jew-hatred (not everyone, of course) is left-wing. They also hate America. Don’t get them started!
Or it might have the opposite effect with the politicians who cower before terrorists.
We can still have Girlcotts, Investments and Bonuses.
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