The return of the Israel Apartheid Week cult

[shira]

In Syria, the Assad regime continues to rain artillery on rebel positions in the city of Homs, killing journalists and innocent civilians alike. Iran’s mullahs are set to execute a Canadian citizen for the crime of operating a web site they don’t like. The new Libyan regime is torturing Gaddafi loyalists. And Egypt’s rulers are prosecuting NGO leaders on trumped-up charges. And so next week, Canadian left-wing activists will congregate in Toronto to express their hatred of … you guessed it: Israel.

The events of March 5-9 will take place as part of the 8th annual Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), and will feature presentations such as “Cutting the Ties to Israeli Apartheid: Cultural and Academic Boycott,” and “Rhymes Of Resistance And The Sounds Of Existence — with poets Remi Kanazi, Red Slam and Chand-nee.” The IAW website is full of the usual rhetoric about Israel’s “criminal” actions. There is not a word of acknowledgement about how utterly ridiculous it is to run a week-long event vilifying Israel when right next door in Syria, the government has just exterminated more Arabs than were killed in both Intifidas, the 2008 Gaza conflict, and the 2006 Lebanon war combined.

The timing of IAW this year truly does represent something of a farce. The eyes of the entire world are focused on Syria and the Strait of Hormuz. Even West Bank Palestinians themselves now seem more concerned with building up their economy than with grand international gestures aimed at the Jewish state. And in the “occupied” Golan Heights, Druze Muslims have been stirring — not against Israel, but against the Assad regime that many once looked to for “liberation.” In the streets of Cairo, Sana’a and Tunis, no one is talking about Israel — only about when they will get the democracy they were promised. Only among cultish, single-minded anti-Israel activists has the news of the Arab Spring failed to circulate.

The word “cultish” is used here advisedly — because even some veteran anti-Israel activists are getting tired of the false mantras that circulate at IAW events. This includes no less an anti-Zionist than Norman Finkelstein (who has called Israel a “vandal state” that “relentlessly and brutally and inhumanly keeps these vicious, murderous wars”). Speaking to an interviewer earlier this month, he attacked the animating philosophy behind IAW — the movement for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel (BDS) — as a “cult,” and an unsuccessful one at that.

.....

Of greater concern to Mr. Finkelstein, a former university professor and the author of many controversial books, is the sheer dishonesty that permeates the BDS movement.

“We have to be honest: They (BDS activists) don’t want Israel. They think they’re being clever. They call it their three tiers. ‘We want to end of the occupation,’ ‘We want the right of return (for Palestinian refugees),’ ‘And we want equal rights for Arab citizens.’ But they know the result of implementing all three is — what? You and I both know: There’s no Israel. (If you ask them about it, they say) ‘Oh we’re agnostic about Israel.’ No. You’re not agnostic. You don’t want it (to exist).”

more...
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/02/25/jonathan-kay-the-return-of-the-israel-apartheid-week-cult/

[marmar]

1. One man's cultist is another man's truth-teller.....

...... Just sayin'

And how am I not surprised that this comes from the rabid right wing National Post?

[shira]

3. Norman Finkelstein doesn't speak on behalf of the rabid rightwing, but rather...

...the rabid leftwing. He was just recorded on tape calling the BDS movement cultists.

Now OTOH, the rabid left works very closely with the rabid right in their demonization/delegitimization campaign against Israel. They not only work with the very rightwing totalitarian parties like Hamas and the PLO, but use the same antisemitic language and memes as the David Duke crowd - like "Israel firsters", "Jewish supremacists", "Jews control the media", etc. It's so bad that it's very difficult distinguishing between the hard right Israel haters and their hard Leftist allies.

[aranthus]

5. I still can't believe that Norman Finkelstein said this.

I know it's on tape. I know it's from reputable sources. Still don't believe it. Had you asked me a year ago, I would have told you that Finkelstein not only supported BDS, but that he supported it in part because it meant the destruction of Israel. Norman, I hardly knew ye.

[snagglepuss]

6. Finklestein's comments has been taken out of context

Here is a link to the full 30 minute interview. In the first minute his position is made abundantly clear so unless you're interested you needn't listen to the full half hour.


http://vimeo.com/36854424

[shira]

7. I watched the first 3 minutes. How is Finkelstein taken out of context? n/t

[snagglepuss]

8. He makes clear that the settlements are illegal, and that East Jerusalem, Gaza and

the West Bank are also illegally occupied meaning that these areas are not part of Israel. He says he wants to follow International Law which acknowledges Israel right to exist however not with its present boundaries.

He says that BDS does not accept International Law because it doesn't want Israel to exist but doesn't want to admit that publicly.

[aranthus]

9. Well yes, but anyone who has ever heard Finkelstein knows he believes that.

So I don't think the comments have been taken out of context. What I did not suspect was that he was in favor of Israel existing at all. International law doesn't necessarily mandate that Israel exist. If you think IL means that Israel is built entirely on stolen land (which some do, but not me), then you could argue that IL leads to the conclusion that Israel not exist.

[snagglepuss]

10. Ideally he wants to see an Israel that is not a Jewish state. The point he is making

in this interview is that the only way to build broad-based consensus is to follow international law and not exclude some laws that you may not like. As International Law now stands Israel has a right to exist but not with its present boundaries and settlements.

[aranthus]

11. If that's true (and what he says leaves it open),

then he doesn't want Israel to exist either. If you don't want Israel to be a Jewish state, then you don't want Israel.

[snagglepuss]

12. It would exist as a bi-cultural country so it wouldn't cease to exist.

However desirable that is, it is not mandated by law. What is mandated by InternLaw is that Israel as a Jewish state has a right to exist but not with its present boundaries.

[TheWraith]

2. I always find this argument funny.

“We have to be honest: They (BDS activists) don’t want Israel. They think they’re being clever. They call it their three tiers. ‘We want to end of the occupation,’ ‘We want the right of return (for Palestinian refugees),’ ‘And we want equal rights for Arab citizens.’ But they know the result of implementing all three is — what? You and I both know: There’s no Israel. (If you ask them about it, they say) ‘Oh we’re agnostic about Israel.’ No. You’re not agnostic. You don’t want it (to exist).”

This "argument" (and I use the word loosely) basically boils down to attributing to Palestinians the same basic conspiracy theories that have always been a staple of Jew-hating. The premise that anyone who's one of "them" is secretly conspiring for power, that anything they do is for nefarious motives, to secure power for their particular group instead of, say, just to be able to live a normal life.

[shira]

4. This is not attributing conspiracy theories to Palestinians, but rather to their most rabid...

...leftwing activists who advocate on the Palestinians' behalf. That quote is from Norman Finkelstein.

And the fact of the matter is that most activists associated with BDS, IAW, ISM, FGM, etc... are extremists against Israel's existence. Not all, but most.

The worst part of it is that those who say they're for 2 states and Israel's existence (but share some bond with these extreme organizations) don't feel it's appropriate to ever publicly castigate their fellow activists. Complete totalitarian solidarity is demanded, which is obvious due to the fact the rabid left thought it was best to take down the most recent Finkelstein video from youtube that criticized their movement. It's logical to conclude that the silent minority 2 staters within the BDS movement share the same views as their fellow advocates for one state and that their 2 state rhetoric is either dishonest or the result of them not knowing what they're representing.