BDS: Permanent Address for Palestinian Solidarity
30 December 2013
By Ramzy Baroud
The intellectual dishonesty of Israel's supporters is
appalling. But in some odd way, it is also
understandable. How else could they respond to the
massively growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
campaign?
When a non-violent campaign - empowered by thousands
of committed civil society activists from South Africa
to Sweden and most countries in between - leads a
moral campaign to isolate and hold into account an
Apartheid country like Israel, all that the supporters
of the latter can do is spread lies and
misinformation. There can be no other strategy, unless
of course, Israel's friends get their own moment of
moral awakening, and join the BDS flood that has
already broken many barriers and liberated many minds
from the grip of Israeli hasbara.
According to their logic, and that of the likes of
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, writing in the New York
Observer on Dec 12, legendary musician and human
rights champion Roger Waters is an ‘anti-Semite'. In
fact, according to the writer, he is an ‘anti-Semite'
of the worst type. "I've read some heavy-duty attacks
on Israel and Jews in my time, but they pale beside
the anti-Semitic diatribe recently offered by Roger
Waters, co-founder and former front man of the
legendary British rock band Pink Floyd."
Of course, Waters is as far away from racism as
Boteach is far away from truly representing the Jewish
people or Judaism. But what has earned Waters such a
title, which is often bestowed without much hesitation
at anyone who dares to challenge Israel's criminal
policies, military occupation and insistence on
violating over 70 United Nations resolutions, is that
Waters is a strong critic of Israel. In a recent
interview with CounterPunch.org, Waters stated the
obvious, describing Israel as a ‘racist Apartheid
regime', decrying its ‘ethnic cleaning' of
Palestinians, and yes, refusing to perform in a
country that he saw as an equivalent to the "Vichy
government in occupied France."
Boteach is particularly daring to go after Waters, a
person adored by millions, and not only because of his
legendary music, but also of his well-known courageous
and moral stances. But once again, the panic felt in
pro-Israeli circles is understandable. What Israeli
officials describe as the de-legitimization of Israel
is reaching a point where it is about to reach a
critical mass. It is what Palestinian Gaza-based BDS
activist Dr. Haidar Eid referred to in a recent
interview as Palestine's South Africa moment.
In an article in the Israeli daily Haaretz published
on Dec 12, Barak Ravid introduced his piece with a
dramatic but truthful statement: "Western activists
and diplomats are gunning for Israel's settlements in
the Palestinian territories, and if peace talks fail,
the rain of boycotts and sanctions could turn into a
flood." Entitled "Swell of boycotts driving Israel
into international isolation," Ravid's article
establishes a concrete argument of why the boycott
movement is growing in a way unprecedented in the
history of Israel.
I am writing these words from Spain, the last stop on
a European speaking tour that has taken me to four
European countries: France, Switzerland, Luxembourg
and Belgium. The purpose of my tour was to promote the
recently published French edition of my last two
books, the second being: My Father Was a Freedom
Fighter, Gaza's Untold Story (Resistant en Palestine,
une histoire vrai de Gaza). But at the heart of all my
talks was the promotion of what I call ‘redefining our
relationship to the struggle in Palestine,' based
first and foremost on ‘moral divestment' from Israel.
Only then, can we change our role from spectators and
sympathizers to active participants as human rights
defenders. The main address of such activities can be
summed up in the initials: BDS.
What I learned throughout my tour, well attended and
also covered in French media, was even to surprise me.
The BDS debate is at such an advanced stage and it has
indeed surpassed my expectations. In my last European
tour of 2010, many of us were attempting to push the
boundaries of the debate facing much resistance, even
from groups and movements that were viewed as
progressive. The situation has now changed in such an
obvious away that on occasions I was compelled by the
audience to discuss the most effective BDS strategies,
as opposed to defending the very virtue of the tactic.
And within the two weeks of my travels, there was a
flood of news of western governments, companies and
academic institutions either joining the boycott or
deliberating the possibility of doing so. The Romanian
government, for example, is refusing to allow its
labors to work in illegal Jewish settlements. A few
years ago, this kind of news was simply unheard of.
But what changed? In some respects, nothing, and that
is the crux of the argument. The Israeli occupation is
more entrenched than ever; the illegal settlements are
increasing and expanding; and the so-called peace
process remains a charade maintained mostly for
political self-serving reasons – a cover for the
colonial policies of Israel, and a condition for
continued US-western financial and political backing
of the Palestinian Authority – and so on. But other
factors are changing as well. BDS activists have found
a common strategy and are formulating a unifying
narrative that is finally liberating the Palestinian
discourse from the ills of factionalism, empty slogans
and limiting ideology. The new platform is both
decisive in its morality and objectives, yet flexible
in its ability to encompass limitless groups,
religions and nationalities.
Indeed, there is no room for racism or hate speech in
BDS platforms. What is equally as important is that
there can also be no space for gatekeepers who are too
sensitive about Israel's racially-motivated
sensibilities, or those ever-willing to manipulate
history in such a clever way as to prevent a
pro-active strategy in being advanced. The ship has
sailed through all of this, and the boycott is vastly
becoming the new and permanent address of the
international solidarity with the collective
resistance and struggle of the Palestinian people.
Of course, when Roger Waters took the stances that he
did, he knew well of the likes of Boteach who would
immediately denounce him as ‘anti-Semite.' The fact
is, however, the number of ‘Roger Waters' out there is
quickly growing, and the power of their moral argument
is widely spreading. Israeli smear tactics are not
only ineffective but also self-defeating.
- Ramzy Baroud is an internationally-syndicated
columnist, a media consultant and the editor of
PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is "My Father
Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story" (Pluto
Press, London).
©
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