[rad-green] 2020 BDS: The unstoppable spread of moral judgement threatens Israel

*https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/bds-unstoppable-spread-moral-judgement-threatens-israel
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/bds-unstoppable-spread-moral-judgement-threatens-israel>Middle
East Eye          31 December 2019*





*2020 BDS: The unstoppable spread of moral judgement threatens IsraelIt
will be 15 years since the launch of BDS whose “strategic threat” is not to
Israel’s economy, but rather, to its imageBy Nada Elia*

Palestinians call for a boycott of Israeli goods at the Ofer checkpoint
near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on 6 August (AFP)

When the call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) was issued in
July 2005, almost 15 years ago, those of us who promoted it spent literally
years explaining what the three components were.

B is for boycott, meaning an individual consumer restraining from
purchasing an Israeli product or a product by any company that benefits
from Israel’s oppression of Palestinians. Products such as SodaStream,
initially
manufactured in an illegal settlement
<https://bdsmovement.net/news/sodastream-close-illegal-settlement-factory-response-growing-boycott-campaign>,
were to be boycotted, along with Caterpillar, a US product whose D9
bulldozers are retrofitted
<https://electronicintifada.net/content/caterpillar-making-killing-palestine/5522>
by
the Israeli military with a special blade to be used for Palestinian home
demolitions.

D is for divestment, which means not investing your money in the
stocks of companies
that benefit from Israel’s oppression <https://whoprofits.org/> of
Palestinians. S stands for sanctions, which individuals cannot engage in,
but must ask their political representatives to impose. We knew this would
be the hardest, and certainly the last one to happen, if indeed it were to
happen.
An existential threat

The underlying assumption behind BDS is that it is a form of economic
activism. Most progressives are delighted at the opportunity to make
political choices as they shop - to “vote with their wallet”, as the
expression goes.

But the reality is, while BDS is a form of activism that may take on an
economic guise, it is not “all about the Benjamins”. We could boycott every
Israeli consumer item in every supermarket around the country, and we would
not make much of a dent in Israel’s economy.

What BDS has achieved ... is a complete transformation of the public
perception of Israel, putting the country on the defensive

Yet BDS is viewed as an existential threat to Israel, even though the
Israeli co-owned Sabra hummus has grown to have the  lion’s share
<https://forward.com/life/433902/big-hummus-is-watching-it-wants-you-to-eat-more-hummus/>
of
the market for chickpea dips, while most food co-ops and grocery stores
around the world still stock Israeli products, despite repeated pleas by
activists to de-shelve them. Indeed, as early as 2007, the highly
influential Israeli think tank Reut Institute declared BDS “a strategic
threat with potentially existential implications
<http://www.reut-institute.org/en/Publication.aspx?PublicationId=4224>”.

That “strategic threat” is not to Israel’s economy, but rather, to its
image. As BDS activists and organisers explain why we are calling for a
boycott of Israeli products, we have had a greater effect on the discourse
about Israel, than on Israel’s sales abroad.
Human rights violations

When we discuss the Sabra boycott
<https://wagingnonviolence.org/2010/11/the-boycott-against-sabra-hummus-gains-momentum/>,
for example, we speak of the Israeli army’s human rights violations, not
the economics behind the pricing of the culturally appropriated dip. As we
explain to artists that their performances in Israel normalise apartheid,
we are denouncing Israel’s discriminatory policies, and its violent
treatment of the indigenous people whose land it occupies.

We tell artists who perform in Tel Aviv that their music cannot convey a
universal message if Palestinians in Ramallah or Gaza City cannot attend
the concert because of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and illegal
siege of the Gaza Strip
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180807-israels-siege-of-gaza-is-anything-but-legal/>
.

When we call for an academic boycott of complicit Israeli universities, we
use the argument that the region’s self-proclaimed “only democracy” is not
an equal opportunity educator, and will turn away US applicants of Arab or
Muslim origin.
[image: Palestinian protesters run from tear gas canisters fired by Israeli
forces in Gaza on 1 November (AFP)]

*Palestinian protesters run from tear gas canisters fired by Israeli forces
in Gaza on 1 November (AFP)*

What BDS has achieved, which can never be measured in dollars, euros or
shekels, is a complete transformation of the public perception of Israel,
putting the country on the defensive.

Even though many are celebrating the fact that a handful of US politicians,
even presidential candidates, are contemplating conditioning aid to Israel
<https://mondoweiss.net/2019/11/more-democrats-are-talking-about-conditioning-aid-to-israel-but-activists-want-to-see-some-action-in-the-senate/>
-
in effect, broaching the possibility of sanctions - what we must celebrate
is the fact that US politicians who have so far provided complete immunity
to Israel are finally understanding that we, the voters, wish to hold
Israel accountable. And we are making that very clear.
Demanding action

Just about every progressive politician in the US today is receiving calls,
letters and visits from activists, demanding that they hold Israel
answerable for its violations of international law and the human rights of
the Palestinian people.

Bernie Sanders, the favourite presidential candidate of progressive
Democrats, knows full well that his base wants accountability from Israel,
rather than the carte blanche President Donald Trump has offered. And
activists in groups such as IfNotNow are confronting politicians
<https://mondoweiss.net/2019/11/pro-palestine-activists-keep-showing-up-at-rep-jan-schakowskys-office-to-demand-action-will-she-listen/>
at
various stops on the campaign trail, demanding that they take political
action against Israel’s transgressions.

In a capitalist economy, we can only do that through economic means. But
behind our economic demands is a moral judgement. And as 2019 draws to an
end, with the 2020 US presidential election ramping up, the unstoppable
spread of this moral judgement threatens Israel.

*Nada Elia is a Diaspora Palestinian writer and political commentator,
currently working on her second book, Who You Callin' "Demographic Threat?"
Notes from the Global Intifada. A professor of Gender and Global Studies
(retired), and is a member of the Steering Collective of the US Campaign
for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI)*

-- 

--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sid-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sid-l/CACKppcza7y0hcu95go9Wypia8Z4WQ6mMYRPvG_DvPqTxQtontQ%40mail.gmail.com.

---
To unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
List help: <https://riseup.net/lists>