Berkeley's Israel boycott: The occupation's new friend

I never thought about BDS efforts in that light. You are a great thinker , and I admire your courage to speak up.

If I remember history correctly, Jerusalem was taken from the Kingdom of Jordan during the Six Day War, not the "Palestinian peeple."

Who should reverse his assumptions. His accusations would be correct if he applied it to Islam and most certainly not to Jews. Part of your FAKE comment.i.e Do we not hear screams of "ANTI SEMITE " if jews are lampooned in cartoons. Wow you've said it chum.Who were the ones the world over of what you accuse Jews of. That should be critised of the "lampooned" part: The Muhamad cartoons you deliberately omitted in your diatribe? Which shows your biased views for all to read. Idiotic if it wasn't so sad an argument.

That the majority of Israeli Jews are secular So,to call our country a theocracy,is a CRASS comment that only merits ZERO. Theocracy in the main can be attributed to the 20& Arab/Israelis,and a small number to the Orthodox Jews who are in the minority,anyway. Change your view point because you are not only splitting hairs to accommodate your wrong assumptions but are a LYING knowing nothing about Israel.

Or even "Palestinian" so when they talk about peace being trojan horse etc in Arabic the world does not get to hear about it Somehow media like the BBC or Guardian or NPR pr student mobs do not feel it is important to know

"non jews need not apply"(Thabit) For your information, 20% of the Israeli population are Israeli Arabs who are Israeli citizens.

Enough with that tired old cannard about Israel is the only democratic state in the mid east , when most FAIR minded americans realize that israel is a THEOCRATIC state based on religion and race, non jews need not apply. To make you religous book a land deed is " chutzpah" at the very least and more probably cynical as well. Do we not hear screams of "ANTI SEMITE " if jews are lampooned in cartoons but it's ok to do it to muslims? your double standards of behavior are as astounding as your use of the torah as a land deed

what "real narrative"are you talking about? Enlighten some of us here. Most fair minded americans are smart enough to know Israel is the ONLY DEMOCRATIC STATE IN THE WHOLE REGION. Since 99% of this planet has known or read the bible, I believe the mandate for Jewish states existence speaks for its self. Is it the Jews or the Muslims who are making daily life that we took for granted much more difficult in terms of quality of life, ( wanting sharia law in countries they inhabit) travel-(shoe & underwear bombs), or even cartooning allah a crime? Anyone care to guess on this?

Seems like a refreshing alternative opinion to me. The USA is either brainwashed or in cahoots with the Israel lobby. The politicians are in fear or fanatical. The Israel lobby have written the narrative. USA is the only country stopping Israel from doing an over-generous long-avoided peace deal. It would be interesting to see how the USA public would respond to the real narrative. This would certainly give fair-minded Americans something to think about.

Besides having extremely genius and liberal relatives who worried about our going to one of them fancy schools and coming out bigots and snobs, I was lucky (although not being a genius) to have taken a course in existentialist philosophy at a good univ. with a professor who was into a dog fight with positivists at Harvard in the 60's. Today maybe I appreciate this better. I later took a course at Harvard with one of these positivists and Harvard is still positivist I think (same old problem, genetics vs. free choice). The schools do raise lawyers and doctors to be "evil"; the doctors and lawyers need a course in ethics and also the personal morality to follow them. Why else do we have the Wall Street crooks and doctor Mengeles? Existentialism is my philosophy, which grew up after WWII and Hitler. It discusses morality, free choice, feelings, bias. You have a choice to be a good and moral human being; maybe you learn that from mom and dad, church and school.

At the very least Mr. Buston calls the occupation by its name and not a liberation like some others do.

Or any well known,or not so well known, are all the same in the main nowadays. Has it not happen at the British Universities too,which one considers more worthy than any American ones anyway. It goes with the territory of uninversities,who's resident pupils are ultra liberal leftists in the main and jump on any band wagon,to be accepted by their peers. Berkeley is one of many,and this also will fade onto the horizon as did the other boycotts. They gain notoriety for a couple of days,and fizzle out as quickly as they begun. What is more annoying is:Their actions causes more unrest,do not help,but hinders progress. They are not important nor worth mentioning their shenanigans,& puerile. Bradley's article does not help,but exacerbate it as, pouring oil to the fire. Being controversial,is not the answer.But then it is HIS only means to earn a living( perhaps)for as sure as night follows day,the status quo will not change through the buffoons from Berkeley.

"However, their violence is not proportionate, nor equal to Israel`s, whose military capability is unsurpassed in the Middle East"(Ripley) Israel's response to Palestinian Arab violence in no more disproportionate than America's response to the Taliban in Afghanistan. You don't believe me? Then go find out the number of innocent Afghan civilians that have been killed as collateral damage by Americans, just in the last 12 months, since Obama came to power ... And just as you can't blame American soldiers for such statistics because of the type of warfare that the Taliban are imposing on them, you should apply the same standards to Israelis. Or are you saying that America's military capability does NOT dis-proportianately surpass that of the Taliban?

Or else got thrown out. Sounds like he doesn't even know two bits of useful information about Berkeley either. Here's some for the klutz to consider. "UC Berkeley is a dying school because of all the crazy FAR left political agenda." Likely Berkeley reject?! "The Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked UC Berkeley 3rd internationally, while Newsweek and Webometrics placed Berkeley 5th in the World. Washington Monthly ranked Berkeley 1st in its 2009 National University College rankings. According to the National Research Council, 35 of 36 of the university's graduate programs rank in the top 10 in their respective fields, earning Berkeley the NRC's top score in academic reputation. In the US News and World Report graduate school survey, Berkeley is the only university to achieve top 5 rankings in all of the Ph.D. disciplines covered."

Judges,professors,professionals etc? Talk about verifiable information? Slogans are slogans shouted to cover ignorance, very often found at Uni demonstrations In case you missed it Israel does not claim the whole WB as part of Israel That there are no borders you will need to discuss with the Arabs Dont bother to ask how I know about the leftist lunar minority fringe and how few they represent in the main body.

You call yourself a silly name, say silly things, and do a bad job of landscape painting. First Berkeley is full of top US and international top talent - which for the last couple of decades has meant a huge Asian student population. You make the campus sound like an academic version of Gaza. You're probably not even a student but some city college Berkeley reject stalking the students who are too smart to be your peers. Universities have mostly always been to the left - tells you something about what happens when people are exposed to verifiable information. Sometimes the students of universities act on this information and sometimes these actions help topple governments, sometime near and sometime far. Berkeley's actions may or may not do that but the UC system has notched one direct hit under its cockpit - it knows when to get in the fight and that's when the target is weak and weakening.

It is important to remember that Israel is the occupier according to international law and Israeli law, and therefore, is the one that yields power. Actions by the occupier are accontable by international legitimacy. It is neither anti-semitism nor anti Israeli, but it is anti-OCCUPATION, something which Israel has come to symbolize of late. It is the destruction of Palestinian Homes, the Over use of force, the building of illegal settlements, the confiscation of land, and even the most recent law, preventing Palestinians from living in their own country without permits. It is Israeli Occupation and discrimination that makes American Students and others take such measures. Just remember how Maccabi Tel-Aviv was received in spain earlier this year. The occupation is ruining it for all peace-loving Israelis.

These ASUC senators make me proud to be a Berkeley alumnus. As for criticizing violence by some Palestinians, the word is proportionality. Palestinain violence against Jewish civilians is about proportional to American Indian violence against white settlers. It is the Palestinians, not Israeli Jews, who are facing genocide. Divestment campaigns hopefully leading to sanctions are perhaps the last best hope of preventing a Palestinian holocaust nonviolently. Since 1960's Berkeley has been a bellwether of the student movement and social change in the USA. I hope they pass the divestment resolution and many other campus, labor, religious and community groups and localities follow suit. GO BEARS!

these students might be good at their classes but the bigger picture is beyond them....they know zero about anything else in the world so this is their cause celebre, pathetic..... the world has cancer and they get self-righteous over an ingrowing hair ! amazonian injuns are being thrown out of their forest homes by portuguese speakers, pure colonialism....any protests at berkeley ?

your country occupies the western sahara and persecutes the sahawi people.....hello ?

In Berkeley, and similar places, part of currently "politically correct", fashionable "leftism", seems to include an automatic, knee jerk anti-Israel position. When I have spoken to these twenty something students, n general, I have found that they know nothing more about the Arab-Israeli conflict than the bumper stickers on their cars. Conversely, the Muslim students that I have similarly discussed these issues are all quite adamantly clear that ALL of the world's troubles and problems are somehow caused by "The Jews", that Israel must necessarily be eradicated, and that the "leftist" students are, as Lenin said, "useful idiots."

UC Berkeley is a dying school because of all the crazy FAR left political agenda. The whole town is crazy with insane PC hysteria. There are many Arabs and a few stoned kids- they are always protesting. Strange they never protest human law violations in Arab countries??? it's bs and they always call the TV stations it's a circus and anyone that goes to school there knows thatSome of the Muslims that don't even go to Berkeley -they always make problems and when ever they are around the police has to be there because they get violent with others who do not agree with them. The whole thing is a joke-trust me!

When you single out Israel, the only Jewish state, for boycotts and fail to boycott regimes that are far, far worse how else do you explain it.

Only American pressure will work -- pressure on BOTH SIDES to make concessions.

There are innumerable organizations that are dedicated to "undercovering" Israeli transgressions. It's good to have CAMERA around for at least a little balance.

The only country which is right is Israel indeed! Come on! Don't be blind and put yourself in questionning.

I supported boycott of grapes & lettuce for better working conditions & unionization of farmworkers. I supported boycott & divestment of South Africa due to apartheid. I support the boycott on my own state by NAACP because we fly confederate battle flag in front of capitol. I support boycott & divestment movement for equal rights for all in Palestine/Israel. (I'm tired of waiting for my government. They send my taxes to subsidize Israeli apartheid. I can support Boycott Divestment & Sanctions to end it.

This creature has many names but the most well known is the Abominable Slowman. You may have come to know him as Yenti, The Great Bore, or Raksha (Sanskrit for demon) but do not get him confused with Bigfoot or Sasquatch. That is another beast that is under completely different studies for what he actually is. Why is the word "slowman" in his name? The Himalayas, the biggest mountain range in the world, is extremely cold with snow and ice all around. It makes for difficult walking, hence the name Slowman. It is hard to believe that this creature might be partly human, if it can survive such a cold, harsh climate, but theories are theories and facts are facts.

I would like to compile a "Top Ten" list on "Why is Slowman so slow on Fridays" and am looking for contributions from Talkbackers. The author of the selected pearl will be entitled to read his contribution live on my show. (And Mr. Bradley Burston, you are invited to contribute too. We know you dislike Slowman because he wouldn't allow any posts to your columns.) Here are some answers, in no particular order. Question: Why is Slowman so slow on Fridays? 1. Slowman figures that since there is no Saturday edition, the same Talkback forums will be there tomorrow too. Why do the work instead of leaving it for the next censor? 2. Jerusalem Post pays Slowman an extra bonus to ruin Haaretz`s most read Friday edition. 3. Slowman heard that Man was created on Friday and wants to emphasize his human side. (Apparently he doesn't realize that wild beasts were also created on Friday.) 4. His absent supervisor had to turn off the hot plate under Slowman's feet that makes him move faster. (Fire Department regulations.) 5. How is Friday different from any other day?

An advocate for Israel which routinely distorts and manipulates events in order to present critics of Israel in the worst possible light. Perusing their pages is a bit like reading Pravda to find out what was really going on in the Soviet Union. For something approaching the truth one has to consider diverse sources, context and demonstrate a modicum of objectivity. CAMERA fails on all three counts. How far are CAMERA willing to go in the pursuit of misinforming the public? Quite far actually, ask Gershon Gorenburg: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_mideast_editing_wars

The young generation of lemmings who will follow other lemmings off a cliff. Poor education leads to stupidity. It is unfortunately contagious here on these talkbacks too.

You still have not "learned enough" as my peeps have a state & you do not. Which religious group is threatening airports, cafes, hotels, trains, school buses, cartoonists, praticing modern slavey, pirating ahh YOU KNOW THE DRILL ALRIGHT. one hint for you readers it aint the Jews doing this nor the amish now. P.S. Do not fly with Arab diplomats who like to smoke on a plane.

CAMERA is great? yeah, right, and so was Joseph McCarthy. It is one of the most bias organizations I have ever seen. One-sided in the name of objectivity. Give me a break.

Or is she discriminating against Israel? Kurds,Tibetans Argentinians have no charter calling for destruction or no peace ever have they? If E Jerusalem is SO Critical for the Arabs why didn't they create a Pal state with Jerusalem as it's Capital after they ethnic cleansed the Jews out of there in 1948?

An advocate for Israel which routinely distorts and manipulates events in order to present critics of Israel in the worst possible light. Perusing their pages is a bit like reading Pravda to find out what was really going on in the Soviet Union. For something approaching the truth one has to consider diverse sources, context and demonstrate a modicum of objectivity. CAMERA fails on all three counts. How far are CAMERA willing to go in the pursuit of misinforming the public? Quite far actually, ask Gershon Gorenburg: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_mideast_editing_wars

Back in the days when apartheid (south Africa's at the time) was coming apart at the seems a student led initiative divestment of the UC pension fund from anything remotely South African was among the final nails in the coffin of SA's racist regime. UC runs billions of dollars in investment - Berkley is a top school in the system, its action will soon be mirrored by others, and these steps will ultimately lead to the bite of divestment. I was a student at UC Davis at the time, a lesser school than Berkeley and downstream from its actions. ie what Berkeley does others in the UC and State system will soon follow and slowly the whole movement expands. BB would be right if this was a solitary action, and if so it would be ill-judged. What I am surprised he doesn't see is that this symbolic boycott will lead to other more concrete actions that will affect Israeli finance. That is the real goal. As Bibi believes, it's all economics.

S.F. is liberal, has had gay and black mayors; CA now has two Jewish senators, Boxer and Feinstein, who are very well liked and respected. Is Berkeley run by the Trustees who have tried to keep it an all white institution???. However, the Chinese worked their butts off, got all A's and got into Berkeley. Am I right, Bradley, while there are few blacks there and the few there are subject to continuous harassment and decide not to go there. So it is not only Jews who get harassed, it is also the blacks. Shockley, a nobel prize winner in physics, was an ardent racist, believed blacks inferior. My relatives attended Berkeley (I won't tell you more) and I liked it better in the hippie days. Today it does seem less friendly. Pls. don't tell me you think Obama is anti-Israel. You are hoping so, but may be disappointed.I don't think he is.Don't be so glum, S.F. is one of the best places for Jews to live.Reagan was a friend of Israel and no racist.

Those mysterious pro Palestinian groups you refer to simply learned from the best...AIPAC, ADL, Israeli Consulates...you know the drill.

The Secret All the Arabs Know One of those peoples has a clear identity ?? the Jewish People. Yet it would be interesting to know the identity of that second people: Already in 1977, one of the central spokesman of that "second people", a member of P.L.O. leadership, Zahir Muhsein, the leader of the al-Sa`iqa Organization, revealed the truth in an interview to the Dutch newspaper Trouw: "The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct `Palestinian people` to oppose Zionism for tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa. While as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan

The prominent Arab historian, Dr. Philip Hitti, who expressed himself at the Anglo-American commission of inquiry in the State Department building in 1947, said as follows: . "Sir, Palestine never existed throughout history. Absolutely not!" Moreover, Professor Juhan Hazam, in his testimony before that same commission, added: Before 1917, when Balfour made his declaration, there had never been a Palestinian question, and there was no Palestine as a political or geographic unitstruction. This is food for thought to Bradley,and cohorts trying to forecefully to endanger Israel by omissions in his words..

What did the christians do for european jewry trapping in alliance with the bolshevics in the nazi crematoria. Now is armageddon time 2012 with the oil price at 1000 dollars but no oil anywhere.

And by doing so,he is not only insulting his people,but his country as well. I say his country (loosely)For his is an American first,and second,or even thirdly an Israeli. But if you people have noticed,at Haaretz,plus other Israeli news outlets,they ARE ALL TRYING THEIR BEST IN THEIR ARTICLES TO inform robustly in their agenda to the PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. A very insidious way to try almost (forcefully) and by intimidation scaring the Israeli public. Great shame?not really,because the Jewish/Israeli public in the main are very sophisticated.They would not be fooled even the likes of Bradley and rest try hard but in the end FAIL DISMALLY.

Let all the lefties,liberals,Arabs who attend Berkeley try their divesment of Israel. It will only give them a twisted satisfaction for a fraction of a nono second and no more. Because this various boycotts,divestments end up with zilch result. Israel can deal with it as one swats a fly over one's shoulder. Bradley has gone too far,or has nothing in reality cogent to write and falls for this which was announced in March. Let the Berkelians do their worst if they so wish.They will lose their credibility if they they one,which they do not.

(Wonder if I am allowd to repeat what you said? Andreas)Lucky once,but lucky twice?? i.e Bradley thinks the world works the way HE (=Bradley) imagines because HE (=Bradley) wants it to be like that. NO WAY, Brady Baby, you are bound for HELL. I am bound to agree with you.And when he says he lives in Israel...I feel that perhaps he is not being totally honest. He spends most of his time in my country the US of A...Yes Brad? Be honest,I know you visit Israel(being an Israeli)with a difference:An American/Israeli? ...hey,that doesn't sound right.You know why? because when we mention the Arabs in Israel,we call them:Arab/Israelis. And it sounds right and correct. The reverse(with yours Brad')somehow does sound a bit off,sorry.

Did you seriously just say that the continued suffering, exploitation, and murder is necessary? Is this how far you've fallen? You condone Israeli war crimes, and State sponsored acts of terrorism against Palestinians. Next you'll probably propose your Final Solution to the Arab Question.

The killing of innocent civilian population in Gaza hurt Israeli cause among youngsters on US campuses. I see a lot of kids wearing kaffeyah kerchiefs on the campuses in Upstate New York (Syracuse and Albany) in solidarity with Pals. Alan Dershowitz, of all people, correctly noticed the dangerous trend of young generation automatically identifying Israelis with "bad guys," together with Bush, Rumsfield, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and other "uncool" "lame" conservative people who are regarded as obscurantist, anti-youth etc... And Pals are lumped with things cool: Barak Obama administration, Che, health reform, new foreign policy open to the wide world. These feelings are subconscious. And there are very few students willing to identify with Israel, the same way that hardly anybody in 60s and 70s would identify with Apartheid South Africa. These are consequences of occupation. This is somehow unfair, because Hamas social mores are sexist, patriarchal, homophobic, yet Israel is despiced.

"No Berkeley student is going to trash their laptop (parts and software developed in Israel by Intel and Microsoft offices here), burn their disk-on-keys (an Israeli invention), or return their cell-phone (hardware parts and software developed in Israel)" No, not if they can be used to undermine the likes of you. It's like asking partisans in the WW2 not to use German weapons to fight against German occupation. I suppose it's all right for you to use occupied Palestinian land to grow your fruit and veg. Joe, you are such a hypocrite.

In the topsy turvy world of Berkeley, professors assign anti-Israel lectures as "coursework" and harrass Jewish students that don't "tow the line" politically, particularly those that wear kippot. A "kafieyeh" is a fashion must.The "Students for Justice in Palestine" (really "Students for "JUST US" in Palestine", a mysteriously well financed organization, has no qualms about inappropriately pressuring others,or cynically manipulating the student government process to achieve their ends. Jewish students feel under siege. Its rather a microcasm of the Middle East.

If BDS is not achieving anything but inflating its participants' egos, then why is Bradley writing about it? Why are right wing Zionist groups like AIPAC so busy strategizing to fight it? If Burston truly believes that the Occupation is wrong, he should be willing to make some sacrifices to see its end. Otherwise, he is just professing his beliefs to inflate his own ego.

Posted: "...I don`t get why a people the Pals Arab who didn`t exist before modern Israel and dedicated to destroy a people.." Do you know what the land was called prior to 1948 when there was no state of Israel? It was called Palestine and its inhabitants were called Palestinians. They have as much if not more of a history that any Jew, Hebrew, or Israeli has on these lands. Some Israelis carry passports that state the place of birth as Palestine and not Israel. So far what we see is that Israel is dedicated to and is doing all the destruction of the Palestinian people and not the other way around. Next time before you post such noncense, read up and re-educate yourself regarding the subject you post your comments for.

I think you missed the point. While I don't find CAMERA to always be accurate, that's not the issues. It's the biasness of the organization. They don't look for bigoted attacks or lies, they JUST look for "attacks" against Israel, which shows them to by hypocrites. As MLK stated, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." In other words one doesn't just look for certain "injustices." One truly isn't for peace if they only look at attacks from one side. I'm sad that you can't seem to get it and instead just throw a blantant generlized attack at liberals.

the difference between borders in 49 and 67, and legal justification for each. you can email at alwayslearning@live.ca cheers

Occupation is not a crime it is legally justified. It is the only recourse in a situation when one is attacked from a specific area. For example, when Jordan, being unprovoked and siding with Egypt, after being begged not to join the war front, attacked from its Recognized Annexed WB in 67, Israel's recourse was to then OCCUPY THAT AREA. Part which Israel would latter Annex (the eastern part of Jerusalem). But in short, Occupying lands from which you have been attacked from is no crime. It is the legal recourse. hence why Israel will not unilaterally withdrawl without a peace agreement, that has hard guarantees otherwise what would Israel's recourse be should a unilateral withdrawal happen and Palestinians attack???? (Hint: it would look similar to how it does now)

Notably, if you support the right of Palestinians to blow themselves up in Cafes, Universities, Yeshivas Busses etc... Just imagine your beautiful Accross the bay campus, when you lived in fear of going to class because at any given moment the bus you are on or the cafe you are eating in could explode. BY ANY MEANS NECCESSARY INCLUDES THOSE MEANS

not a justification of the weak to aggrevate the strong with the strong being unable to respond unless they reduce their abilities to that of the weak. Essentially, how is your point not stating then that a weaker party, even if the aggressor, has the right to dictate the terms and weapons in an engagement. Your posts effectively tries to eat away at the competitive advantage that Israel holds. So I ask why should this not happen in business too? And if you can see my logic, then why should this happen in countries? Furthermore, if this yours was an Evident claim why would there be a need for 1977 Additional Protocols to GCIV where the law of proportionality can be found. A legal doctirne that ISRAEL AS WELL AS USA Signed and then backed out of, using identical language.

In view of Mr. Burston's observation that the ASUC neglected to take account of human rights violations by the Gaza regime, should the ASUC also resolve to promote disinvestment from corporations that do business with it? And precisely which corporations would those be?

If the goal was to help the Palestinians, than actions would be very different. But the (often openly stated) goal is to destroy Israel. To that purpose a continuation of Palestinian suffering is a necessary condition.

Jerusalem population in 1948: Jewish 100,000, Muslim 40,000 and Christian 25,000 1931: Jewish 51,200, Muslim 19,900, Christian 19,300 1876: Jewish 12,000, Muslim 7,560, Christian 5,470 Documented by Harrel 1974

"you invade my home and hold me at gun point threatening me (have me under occupation) so i kill you or die trying" Meanwhile, that's exactly what the Arabs did to the Jews from 1920 onwards. But, you're so stupid, you believe it's what the Jews did to the Arabs.

It's an eloquent letter of support for the students in their honourable efforts to further justice and peace. "Yet to argue that taking a clear stand against Israeli war crimes is somehow to "discriminate unfairly" against Israelis and Jews is to grossly pervert the language of human rights. Far from "singling out Israel," with Senate Bill 118A, you are acting within Berkeley's commendable and inspiring tradition." N. Klein. Burston's attempt to besmirch those efforts can and should be viewed as a lame attempt to prevent external pressures on Israel to change direction on the territories including east Jerusalem. As Netanyahu rightly says, he is pursuing policies that all Israeli PM's have pursued for 40 odd years and he is determined to continue as a matter of principle, nor should we expect any fundamental change under the next Gov'. It is for that reason alone that a selective divestment movement is justified and vital if a 'fundamental' change in policy toward the territories is desired. http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2010/03/open-letter-berkeley-students-their-historic-israeli-divestment-bill

Paradoxically,Burston's article illustrates the reason why the BDS movement is most critical. The "peace movement" in Israel has not had a major street protest or any significant resistance to Israeli occupation policies for years. The mainstream Israeli electorate has "surrendered" Israel into the hands of the Israeli military/right-wing. The BDS movement in the US has two objectives: one, to mobilize grassroots political resistance to the US Congress' total abdication to Israel policy and two: to force Israeli voters to come to grips with the fact that their every-day lives are going to be significantly impacted if Israel, much like South Africa in the past, finds itself a boycotted pariah State.

Okay. UC won't invest in Hamas either.

How nice of Burston who lives in Israel to call those Jews who live in the West Bank as occupiers while he himelf probably lives in Israel on land once occupied by palestinians. What makes Burston more righteous than those other settlers? You know that most arabs see the conquests of 1948 and 1967 as similar usurpation of arab lands. You think the arabs have forgotten what happened in 1948, but remember only what happened in 1967. The right of return is another way of saying that the arab memory is long term.

...during the Six Day War is land from which Israel was attacked. A country that is attacked has the right to sieze the land from which the rockets were launched. People such as this article's author always make it sound as if Israel attacked first -- it didn't. But Israel was perfectly within its rights to fight back and (re)claim the land.

Sad ain't he! You'd have thought that Berkeley would have made a better propogandist of him, something better that the borish tripe he regularly serves up. That said this most recent atricle does however set a new standard, a new low.

If 70% of Israeli's truly believe in a two-state solution, why does its prospect seem more remote, and the occupation more entrenched, than ever? Truly believing in something is to make it happen; that is the test of a belief truly held. The texture of the professed belief does not pass this test.

you invade my home and hold me at gun point threatening me (have me under occupation) so i kill you or die trying....suppose i survive and you dont...do you think any country in the world besides zio-land would say that my termination of you and your occupation of my home was a crime?

Here it is again, Bradley Burston is using two points to dismiss the boycott: 1- You opinion (or boycott) will not change anything; I bet you thought the same thing about South Africans dancing for freedom and equality. You are wrong; people are the source of power and change. People?s actions however small make a difference. Demonstrations, courts media all are being utilized; this boycott is a product of that. 2- Hamas rockets suppliers should be included. I agree full heartedly, Hamas blockade should be lifted except for those who supply the rocket materials. Those suppliers should be sent to bankruptcy. Mocking people's ability to change course is dismissible and Obama's presidency is living proof. It is time to recognize Palestinians right for an independent, safe and functioning country that they can live in peacefully.

of zio's left wing....the 'yeah but/left wing' devoid of any morals or self sacrifice..never willing to put your butt on the line cause you really dont believe in anything

has a right to free itself by any means necessary....you occupiers have the obligation to stop the occupation...until then the only crime is the occupation

Israel continues with exploitation and violence against Palestinians. No good faith has been demonstrated by Israel in seeking a peaceful resolution with justice. The world has become increasingly exasperated with Israel's affronts to responsible nations. Economics is an effective tool to influence change. Knowingly Israel will cause the Palestinians to suffer even more if economic sanctions are imposed. However there is no other way short of violence to influence a rogue nation to adopt human rights values for those least able to help themselves. Israel is a nation governed by Jews that have lost their way in faith. They have abandoned the values of truth and justice and replaced them with greed and violence. Yet they still believe they are empowered by God. Israel is not a rational nation. Therefore economics must be the strategy to bring peace and justice.

" resistence by any means necessary!! "? so the recipients of "any means necessary" can also respond by "any means necessary"? - i hope you are not serious but i fear that you are.

how silly of me - i thought the issue was crimes against humanity. denmark is the outlaw state regarding afghanistan - your country is a member of nato, so what are you doing to stop the murder of the innocents? this one is YOUR responsibility. ONLY YOURS

the world works the way HE (=Bradley) imagines because HE (=Bradley) wants it to be like that. NO WAY, Brady Baby, you are bound for HELL.

I have read histrory. They were there in 1948 for some time.

israel seems out of law state

Author tries to boost his creditability by stating he was an 'early adopter' of the 2 State Solution scenario. Well it hasn't happened and there is every indication that its not the solution for Jews, its the solution for Arabs and others who do not like Jews and their success in life contrary to their various goyisha religious predispositions against Jews. Author tries to link one wrong position premature positoin with another which is both ineffectual and another example of misplaced liberal sympathies that undermines his positioon. Both are untenable and ineffective positions. The essay is sophamoric and unworthy of a Berkeley graduate.

It's time to deinvest from the ruthless and vicous occupation of the Palestinian people by Israel. I too support an Independent, Viable, Contiguous, Democratic and sovereign Palestine based on the 1967 Green Line with East Jerusalem as its capital. To achive this aim, I sincerly believe that a price for the ongoing occupation has to be made. A boycott against Israel will be one part of this aim. Anybody supporting this occupation should be targeted economicly. Be aware of people claiming that they are against the occupation and after 40 year of it crinches at the thought of a total and utter boycott of the occupying state. We don't have to wait untill next weeks:Next week: Part 2 - How to know when a 'Mideast Expert' is lying

are you proud? you went to beserkely so you musta been smart and you must have heard the truth more than once....so you moved to zionazi land and critisize the BDS movement while indulging yourself in endless frivolous chatter about the occupation? this is what you have become?

...state, even not in public, their acceptance of Israel's right to be, to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people? I suspect you haven't. I have, a number of times, during my studies abroad, and the closest answer that I received from them was: Well, Israel is a fact and therefore we don't need to answer such a question or make any further statements. But I pressed: Israel is a member state of the UN and was proclaimed based on UN resolutions. Don't you think it has the right to exist and the Jewish people has the right of national self-determination and independence, and Israel is their way of exercising this right? No, Israel is a fact, was the reply. Thus, I concluded, out loud: So, if next year the Arabs decide to wipe Israel off the face of earth that would be OK and Israel will not be a fact any more. The response from the "Palestinian peace activists", as you call them, was: right.

the pals are only resisting an illegal occupation which has no right to be and i and all moral people support the resistence by any means necessary!! palestine will be free

am i wrong in thinking that many more afghan civilians have been killed than palestinians in the same time period? this by techno savvy nato forces with rockets and helicopters fighting primitive tribesmen with no more than kaltchnikovs, not even rockets like hamas

Israel should start boycotting Berkeley, that's what.

funny i thought we were doing plenty about iran and china and nothing about the occupation...tell the truth you dont really care about iran or china beyound just maybe a chance to nuke them right? its just zio tactics to divert attention away from the occupation which NOTHING has been done about...time is now to end the occupation!! now!! it is degenerating the whole human raCE WHILE IT GOES ON AND ALL THAT IS NEEDED IS USA TO STOP FUNDING IT!!

Why people act in a certain way is difficult to determine. Many times, the actors don't know their true reasons themselves and may need psychanalysis to have it understood. Sometimes, people act exceedingly well in order to become famous, and we call it "sublimation" of their more base motives. It is better not to worry about motivation but to consider whether the charges are true or not. In a court proceeding, truth comes to light when the two sides are represented by biased lawyers, who get paid for the job. This seems morally worse than just wantying to become famous. CAMERA is a discredited organization not because they are one-sided, but because they use lies and distortions to promote their case. What you are doing, Mr. Burston, is using "diversion" as a strategy of defense. Being more specific about the Berkeley students, their disclaimer that they do not wish to take sides in the political dispute is laudable. If you wonder why they don't also attack Hamas for human rights violations, a simple reason could be that they fear they would then be attacked for not criticizing China or Saudi Arabia with worse records on human rights. One has to make a choice on what to pursue, and if one decides to pursue human rights by democratic regimes, this is fair enough. There are many other organizations, many of them biased, who could pursue other topics, such as human rights under dictatorships.

1. hamas rockets are not a response to israeli stones - i think israeli soldiers use bullets actually. 2. so shouldn't there be a "little" divestment of the palestinians for the sake of proportionality? they are after all guilty of small war crimes like keeping a captive soldier incommunicado even from red cross, indiscriminate firing of rockets, various other acts of murder and mayhem....

Like Mr. Burson, I am a proud graduate of UC Berkeley. I agree that the boycott is silly and counterproductive. There are numerous pro-Israel (and pro-peace) groups which do great work, among them Peace Now, Seeking Common Ground and B'tzelem.

no investment in palestine either right? right? or only israel?

the whole world should severely boycott israel until it obeys ALL UN resolutions and international laws pertaining to its illegal occupation of the entire Palestinian west bank and palestinian east jerusalem and palestinian gaza strip. israel will not budge unless it faces severe economic consequences for its apartheid actions.

Why people act in a certain way is difficult to determine. Many times, the actors don't know their true reasons themselves and may need psychanalysis to have it understood. Sometimes, people act exceedingly well in order to become famous, and we call it "sublimation" of their more base motives. It is better not to worry about motivation but to consider whether the charges are true or not. In a court proceeding, truth come to light when the two sides are represented by biased lawyers, who get paid for the job. This seems morally worse than just wantying to become famous. CAMERA is a discredited organization not because they are one-sided, but because they use lies and distortions to promote their case. What you are doing, Mr. Burston, is using "diversion" as a strategy of defense. Being more specific about the Berkeley students, their disclaimer that they do not wish to take sides in the political dispute is laudable. If you wonder why they don't also attack Hamas for human rights violations, a simple reason could be that they fear they would then be attacked for not criticizing China or Saudi Arabia with worse records on human rights. One has to make a choice on what to pursue, and if one decides to pursue human rights by democratic regimes, this is fair enough. There are many other organizations, many of them biased, who could pursue other topics, such as human rights under dictatorships.

any jew who says that the palestinians have no history are ignorant and illiterate. we palestinians have our deep roots in palestine, the land between the river and the sea. most israelis are first or second generation from this land at most. facts are facts. before 1948, jews made up less than 10% of the population of palestine.

in fact, there is a growing minority of american jews who have grown tired of israel and have come out publicly against israel. are these jews anti-semites? also, how are palestinians anti-semites, since they themselves are semites? the term "anti-semitic" has been abused and beaten to death for decades by the zionists.

You are against all humanity. While global jihad takes victory after victory, the only country which not only stands up against the jihad but also rolls it backwards is Israel. We are reconquering land which jihad conquered, and we are doing it by means of the Jewish settlers. We are not the first reconquest, it also happened hundreds of years ago in Spain, southern France, western India and northwest India. But we are the only ones doing it today. People praise us in India and in other countries who are in this war. And here you get yourself published by trying to hurt us. By the way, although many of the responses here are intelligent it is hard to respect people who don't have the courage to use their real names.

there or in Israel proper! I don't get why a people the Pals Arab who didn't exist before modern Israel and dedicated to destroy a people, whose first leader was nazi Mufti husseni's Egyptian born nephew Arafat schooled in nazi ideology and committed to armed struggle deserve a state or a city they have no connection to. The Ottoman defeat left England with a task of giving the Jews Israel, Golan Heights,West Bank, Jlem and Gaza. Then England gave a large part of that to the Arabs and created Jordan.Jordan attacked Israel took East Jlem and put Arab families in Jewish homes.The Jews took it back! Also no divided city has peace and why give Arabs a city they have NO connection to .I don't get it read history

Divest from GE and United Technologies. How many shares do they have in the pension fund? For every seller, there is a buyer; shares trade and change hands.You are not driving the company out of business; you may though be putting the pension plan at risk for getting lower returns. It seems to me, with all the Chinese students at Berkeley, they would be more interested in bringing human rights to China, one of the world's worst violators.How about the Iranian students; down with the regime. Let's sanction that darn Iran, China.It is pitiful they waste so much time on Israel; we may not agree with everything Israel does, but boy we better not buy anything made by GE, United Techologies, Boeing, (don't forget Caterpillar, Elbit). Seems to me China and Iran probably are of more interest to the students there and more important to America's interests. You can put together a pretty good portfolio from these stocks (blue chips).

I never thought I'd live to say it, but some form of international sanctions may be necessary to stop building in East Jerusalem and other creeping annexation by Israel which will doom the peace process. Israelis and not just Palestinians must feel the pain of these actions to break through the apathy. However, these sanctions should not be geared at legitimate acts of self defense against terrorism, such as Operation Cast Lead. This would be wrong-headed, and achieve the opposite result, as Burston remarks.

As Bibi explained at the UN. The Goldstone report just tells us that we cannot rely on the world to back up Israel's right to self defense no matter how many missiles fall on our heads or how carefull we are to avoid civilian casualties. Bibi agrees with you. Unfortunately there is not much he can do given that Tzipi Livni insists on climbing the ladder instead of helping to progress peace.

A non-story. The huge University of California system and its investments do not give a vote to the UC-Berkeley campus and its drooling radicals, most of whom are non-student hangers-on. Nobody in California or the USA gives a hoot what "Berkeley" thinks about any given subject anymore, if they ever did. The rest of us out here view "Berkeley" students as arrogant self-important, spoiled brats whose school long ago was eclipsed by UCLA, UCSD and even Davis in scholarship and research quality. There is no remote chance that UC or any other state university system in the USA will boycott Israel investments. We ignore these bums, and so should Israel

war crimes? how bout the USA, britain, Germany? they kill civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan etc almost daily. in war, collateral damage happens.

This article misses the point of the Boycott. What is routine among those who censure any comdemnation of Israel's policy is the reliance on proportionate and equal censure of Palestinian violence. Yes, Palestinian violence happens, that fact is lost on no one. However, their violence is not proportionate, nor equal to Israel's, whose military capability is unsurpassed in the Middle East. When a rock is met with a rocket, the need for divestment of the one before the other becomes clear. As for the author's recommendation for more effective measures beyond divestment, I hardly think his concern is for effective censure of Israel by boycotting Boeing, or by protesting, actions that he is well aware will have less of an empirical impact or symbolic statement. This divestment campaign will succeed, and will carry the same powerful, symbolic weight of the divestment campaigns before it such as with Aparthid South Africa. I'm proud of my alma mater, and I'm proud of her students.

of anti-American protests abroad in which everyone is wearing jeans and t-shirts and smoking Marlboros.

I'll give you an example. I was goofing off showing the wife some comedy videos on Youtube a couple days ago. Somebody... I don't know who, had swapped one of the videos for something that nearly sent me over the edge. The worst thing I could have possibly seen. I only saw it for a brief couple of seconds before I turned off the site but by that time it was too late. Literally, I had seen the hell that I knew had existed anyway, and now my mind felt like it was in hell as well. It was a truck in China. The back of the truck contained a cage no bigger than 4' by 6' by 3'. It appeared to be containing well over a thousand live cats sticking out of every single centimeter. Now if the aim was for me to get me off my seat and do something about that at that moment, it completely failed. Now I am nearly just as angry at the same people who projected that video to me at an awkward moment as I was at the animal abusers themselves. The video did nothing but hurt me personally. See the Subject.

is good....anything that makes americans aware that they are funding occupation and land theft by self righteous criminally insane jews is good...i went to beserkely too...during vietnam and was part of all the demonstrations...i saw tanks in the streets during reagans two terms as governor...i remember weatherman and SDS, and all the jewish kids in the new left from New York in berkely for free education...i remember when saigon fell and it was quiet...i remember those same jewish kids refusing to condemn the occupation and land theft cause 'they are my people' as paul simon said. i wondered then what we were to our jewish ex-partners in the anti war movement...hoffman and ruben we off to wall street to make it rich...and the occupation was then and is now...dont you think its time you jewish kids got off your self righteous tushies and actually made a difference? stop the occupation and land theft now and stop talking about doing something you do nothing moron

Even when writing a good column, Burstyn just can't help himself from displaying his leftist bona fides: "when right-wing organizations like CAMERA and NGO Monitor pretend to fight bias by attacking only bias against Israel, their efforts are a dismal, baldly disingenuous failure". What claptrap - I'm not allowed to focus on antisemitism, I need to bring up other discrimination as well? Ok, guess no more focus on the Holocaust, not right, it must be subsumed into a general discussion of discrimination? No more discussion on the Nazis without also mentioning America's KKK? Maybe all these writers need to pass an iq test before being allowed to be commentators!

Burston calls this one right on. The only question I had was what to call them: racists? bigots? liberal-fascists? morons? But "political narcissism" is right on. These guys just love to hear themselves talk. And I just luuuuuv their talk about "universal human rights" since to them, Israelis aren't humans anyway and we have no human rights when it comes to the Palestinians attacking us. And their boycott, of course, is also political narcissism of the stupidest kind. No Berkeley student is going to trash their laptop (parts and software developed in Israel by Intel and Microsoft offices here), burn their disk-on-keys (an Israeli invention), or return their cell-phone (hardware parts and software developed in Israel). This of course does indeed make them political narcissists. Ugly to the one. Ignore them and our economy will continue to do just fine.

You accused CAMERA, etc. of "pretend(ing) to fight bias by attacking only bias against Israel." But that is their mission. When you look at the unethical reporting taking place around the world, so much of it attacking the legitmacy of Israel, a group of people who care for Israel decided to do something about it. They ARE fighting media bias, against Israel. Though the way you state it their fight is illegitemate because they don't fight media bias against, for example, Egypt? And NGO monitor, the same thing. Non-govermnetal organizations in Israel look up Israel's arse with a microscope, are funded by foreign governments, and almost completely ignore the happenings in the very nations Israel is being attacked by. Do us all a favor and try to see past your own rhetoric. You may not agree with what CAMERA or NGO monitor does or that they focus on exposing bias against Israel, but it doesn't make them illegitimate, as you hint in your article.

That's all very well Mr Burston but the talking has got the Palestinians nowhere. During the near decade that the Oslo Peace Process was in play Israel DOUBLED the number of settlers in the occupied territories - under the auspices of negotiating a peace!! A boycott is a blunt and imperfect implement and is only resorted to when all else fails viz Iran.

CAMERA focuses on accuracy that it is very good at it. Too bad news organizations cant do the same, Haaretz included. Isnt it better to hear the truth whether you like it or not? I guess alot of liberals (not all) cant stomach the truth.