Anti-Israel economic boycotts are gaining speed
The sums involved are not large, but their international significance is huge. Boycotts by governments gives a boost to boycotts by non-government bodies around the world.
By Nehemia Shtrasler
The entire week was marked by boycotts. It began with a few dozen theater people boycotting the new culture center in Ariel, and continued with a group of authors and artists publishing a statement of support on behalf of those theater people. Then a group of 150 lecturers from various universities announced they would not teach at Ariel College or take part in any cultural events in the territories. Naturally, all that spurred a flurry of responses, including threats of counter-sanctions.
That was all at the local level. There's another boycott, an international one, that's gaining momentum - an economic boycott. Last week the Chilean parliament decided to adopt the boycott of Israeli products made in the settlements, at the behest of the Palestinian Authority, which imposed a boycott on such products several months ago.
In September 2009, Norway's finance minister announced that a major government pension fund was selling its shares in Elbit Systems because of that company's role in building the separation fence. In March, a major Swedish investment fund said it would eschew Elbit Systems shares on the same grounds. Last month the Norwegian pension fund announced that it was selling its holdings in Africa Israel and in its subsidiary Danya Cebus because of their involvement in constructing settlements in the occupied territories.
The sums involved are not large, but their international significance is huge. Boycotts by governments gives a boost to boycotts by non-government bodies around the world.
New world
Human-rights organizations in Europe are essentially running campaigns to boycott Israeli products. They are demonstrating at supermarkets, brandishing signs against Israeli goods. Worker organizations, with millions of members, send circulars to their people calling on them to forgo Israeli products.
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Boycotting Israeli products in Ramallah |
| Photo by: AP |
I talked with farmers who say there are retail chains in Europe no longer prepared to buy Israeli products. The same is true for a chain in Washington.
The world is changing before our eyes. Five years ago the anti-Israel movement may have been marginal. Now it is growing into an economic problem.
Until now boycott organizers had been on the far left. They have a new ally: Islamic organizations that have strengthened greatly throughout Europe in the past two decades. The upshot is a red and green alliance with a significant power base. The red side has a name for championing human rights, while the green side has money. Their union is what led to the success of the Turkish flotilla.
They note that boycott is an especially effective weapon against Israel because Israel is a small country, dependent on exports and imports. They also point to the success of the economic boycott against the apartheid regime in South Africa.
The anti-Israel tide rose right after Operation Cast Lead, as the world watched Israel pound Gaza with bombs on live television. No public-relations machine in the world could explain the deaths of hundreds of children, the destruction of neighborhoods and the grinding poverty afflicting a people under curfew for years. They weren't even allowed to bring in screws to build school desks. Then came the flotilla, complete with prominent peace activists, which ended in nine deaths, adding fuel to the fire.
But underlying the anger against Israel lies disappointment. Since the establishment of the state, and before, we demanded special terms of the world. We played on their feelings of guilt, for standing idle while six million Jews were murdered.
David Ben-Gurion called us a light unto the nations and we stood tall and said, we, little David, would stand strong and righteous against the great evil Goliath.
The world appreciated that message and even, according to the foreign press, enabled us to develop the atom bomb in order to prevent a second Holocaust.
But then came the occupation, which turned us into the evil Goliath, the cruel oppressor, a darkness on the nations. And now we are paying the price of presenting ourselves as righteous and causing disappointment: boycott.
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An anti-Israel protestor at Dublin Airport, Ireland, June, 7, 2010. |
| Photo by: AP |
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The list of "the usual suspects" is not surprising. Norway, Sweden, Ireland - the Quisling nations that cooperated and fought alongside the Nazis. The Belge who contributed their brigades to the Nazi hordes in the east who murdered Jews. The Spanish who will snuffle among anyone's dirty laundry except their own under Franco. The Brits who have long given over their country to Sharia and put a price on the dead Americans of Pan Am 103 with the release of the Lockerbie bomber. You are known as much by your enemies as by your friends and I like what I see.
This is the sad reality of Jewish existence , and booming survival .
If Professional Israel Bashers were genuine humanitarians than whay are they silent to the ethnic cleansing of 450,000 Palestinians from Kuwait between 1990 - 2010? In 1990 there were 400,000 Palestinians in Gaza- today there are 1.6000,000 . The tripling of Palestinians in Gaz is referred to as "ethnic cleansing" and the real ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is not even considered by Professional Israel Bashers.
To "Professional Israel Bashers " "Palestine(130,000 sq km) is the smallest part of "Palestine( 20,000 sq km) and only the part of ""Palestine"( Israel) where Jews live and not the largest part of "Palesltine" ( Jordan- Syria - Lebanon) 110,000 sq km- where Arabs live. The same Arabs who keep their Arab brethren( Palestinians) in refige camps in what happens to be the largest part of "Palestine". A couple of days ago some Palesimian savages (redundant, I know) murdered four innocent Jews, including a pregnant woman. These victims were civilians. After claiming responsibility for the killings, Hamas leaders celebrated their deaths with victory chants..I will explain for the millionth time why Palesimians do this. The reason…just because. That’s it. Palesimians murder Jews because that is what they do. I know many people truly wonder if water actually is wet, and actually, yes it is. The Palesimians have never given up violence because peace has never been their objective. Their objective is the destruction of the state of Israel and the removal of every Jew from “Arab” land. When the Palesimians talk about “Palestine,” they are talking about all of Israel. Their solution is to keep murdering Jews.
Et Tu Nechemia?!
Settlers are Jews living in the West Bank, and what's wrong with that? after all there are over 1 million Palestinian living in Israel! No one boycotts them. If the West bank becomes the country of Palestine, then Jews shall live with Arabs like they do in Israel proper.
...that boycotts all the Arab nations that do not punish those who commit "honor" killings and jihad killings.
The "Washington" referred to here is the West Cast state, not Washington DC, a mistake which the BDS movement is trying to perpetuate. The "chain" is a local store. Not a single "chain" in the USA has boycotted anything from Israel.
The only difference is that the anti-israelis are louder and very organised and their methods are based on intimidation. the pro-israeli camp is rising together with the awakening concerning the "peacefulness" of islam. it is not only a common enemy that binds people to israel. no. people are rediscovering that they share common values as israel. reading through talkbacks in foreign newspapers, it is ASTOUNDING to see the massively growing pro-israeli comments. if in the past, they were hardly present, now in most cases they are far beyond absolute majority. yes, the boycotts are a threat and more then just a nuisance. but it is important to see the whole picture, which is not too bleak.
I would expect a columnist writing for Haaretz to be able to distinguish between "anti-Israel" and "anti-occupation." Even if people are boycotting Israeli products in order to end the occupation, it's not "anti-Israel"; they're pressuring Israel to bring about change, not because they want Israel to be destroyed, as so many conspiracy theorists enjoy believing. And if they're only boycotting settlement products, well, there's nothing anti-Israel about it. Ending the occupation will be good for Israel. So how come people trying to end it aren't called "pro-Israel?"
You have to learn to be humble. In the eyes of the world you are the oppressor one and that is the reality. Stop treating Palestinians like sh...stop the settlements, tear down the wall and respect international law, or live like that, in the "hole"
... a cellular phone, a computer, a television... is continuing to help the industry of Israel.
Supertechnologies come from the USA and Asia. Humus comes from Israel.
although as the lcd screen was invented at the University of Hull and television was invented by a scotsman, I won't lose any sleep watching the motorbikes go round in circles this afternoon. The central point you are missing is the fact boycotts are now specifically targetted at the settlers illegally occupying Palestinian land to make the settlements untenable for Israel to maintiain on economic grounds. Whic as we saw in Washington last week when neetanyahu pitched up at peace talks which only last year he had absolutely no intention attending.
Come to earth, not everything is made in Israel, just a tiny part of the goods. And not at all the cell phones, computers and TV sets.
This article lumps together some very different things. Boycotting settlement goods isn't anti-Israel, it's anti-settlements. Disinvesting isn't boycotting, and banning products isn't the same as boycotting products, either. That actions targetted specifically against Israel's violations of human rights and international law are perceived as anti-Israel, and lumped together with more general actions like a boycott of Israeli goods, is part of the problem.
I DOUBT IT VERY VERY VERY MUCH.
The Afrikaners landed in South Africa just over 200 years ago. 2000 years ago there were Jews in the area now called Israel. There where no Palestinian Muslims. Islam had not even been conceived ( 650+ years later). Today, Arabs, Muslims and Christians in Israel enjoy full, 100% rights. In South Africa the blacks did not attack the whites in order to destroy them. In the Middle East, the Arabs have continuously attacked Jews, for no other reason than for the fact that they are Jews. There is NO reason to compare Israel to South Africa. They are two completely different things. Those who use boycotts and the example of South Africa are evil, radical racists who try to distort history, because the facts of history do not support their causes. It should be a BUYcott of Israeli goods, not a BOYcott. Don't buy into radical Islamic lies.
There were Canaanites though wasn't there?
Yes, there were Jews there 2,000 years ago, but they left. How many were there in Palestine 200 years ago?
I have yet to hear anyone give me an intelligent reason (one that doesn't rest on the basis of "God said so") why I should care about who lived where 2000 years ago. Human rights are human rights and an occupation is an occupation, regardless of whose ancestors lived where in ancient times.
Calls for boycott are perfectly legitimate since they'"re peaceful and non-violent. especially when they deal with produce from illegal Israeli settlements.
and Jews would achieve a moral victory over Germans" Asked about not recomending the same medicine to Indians opressed by Colonialists he answered " It's not practical in this case " Go extoll you Mahatma ,ya dumb Leftie..
Not even going to the point that Gandhi is universally respected the world over, while the image of Israel has never been that bad.
Israel will have to play by the rules of international law. The Geneva convention must be enforced. The Palestineans refugees hae the right to return to Palestine. Palestineans must control their own borders, land, and destiny. Anything short of this will be considered APARTHEID. Playing the anti-semitism card is like listening to an old scratched record. The record replaying the last words of the song everytime it hits the scratch. The recording never ends. The little boy who cried wolf once too often comes to mind. Pointing out that Israel is violating international law is not anti-semetic. Anti-Zionism is not anti-semetic. Not all Semites are zionists.
and is ignored by everyone else. That's not law; that's farce
And your post could be a poster child for even less then a half-truth .
While the consumer boycott campaign has to-date been mainly focused on agricultural products and cosmetics there is a growing campaign to boycott Israeli diamonds, which account for over 30% of Israel's exports. The fact that diamonds which fund war crimes in Africa are classed as blood diamonds but diamonds that fund war crimes in Gaza are embellished with the title "conflict free" is a matter that the jewellery trade and the Kimberley Process will have to grapple with. Consumers will refuse to buy Israeli blood diamonds
Check out Isreali export data here: http://www.intracen.org/appli1/TradeCom/TP_EP_CI_HS4.aspx?TY=E&IN=71&RP=376&YR=2008
we are going to target the boycott to make the economics of the settlements unsustainable. The bulk of Israel's diamond trade is in Israel proper, it won't be affected. As can be seen from the responses from Israelis and Israel firsters, this is what they most fear.
so we had to change the message as most people prefer a state where jews can live rather than have them live next door to them. A major reason a state was set up for the survivorsof the holocaust. Nobody wanted the survivors of the camps in their country. So we have honed the message to specifically target the occupation and the settlers in particular using a wealth of images and video of their bestial behaviour alongside facebook pictures etc. Which has also provided a goldmine to delegitimise the IDF to. Cast lead being manna from heaven with three weeks of Israel slaughtering civilians interspersed with israelis sat on the hills round gaza cheering. So we called for a boycott of products arising from the occupation, and as Israel doesn't distinguish and in fact goes to great lengths to hide the origin of their products we effectively ensure that if it is made in Israel it remains on the shelves. And with everything made in China anyway, people are finding it easy to effectively boycott Israel whilst not really changing their lifestyles. It will only grow
There are billions of people in the world who understand what the Israelis are up against.
Sharing the gas fields with your neighboring Arab states without making peace with all Arabs, is a fantasy and delusional. Once government boycotts are in place, nothing will enter Israel.
This is the greatest tragedy of all , that most ill-wishers for Israel are conveniently avoiding the reality that Arabs never excepted a Jewish state in the ME . In 1947 they could of have a state , but this is not what they are aiming for .
How does the writer explain the fact that tourism to Israel has increased so much this year if everyone is boycotting Israel? Why are Israeli exports constantly rising by the month if everyone is boycotting our products? Of course there are areas which are affected but to say that this is a big problem is an enormous exaggeration if not a downright lie. Of course we all know that the Moslem PR machine, which spends billions of dollars every year on delegitimizing the State of Israel is joined by all their local supporters like Nehemia Shtrasler, Neve Gordon, Shlomo Sand. What does Mr. Shtrasler suggest - that we withdraw from the West Bank without an agreement? That we all leave "Palestine" and return to Europe?
Billions of dollars on the Moslem PR machine? Come, come , lady, where are your facts? Israel's actions on the ground mean Moslems don't have to spend a dime on PR.
Billions of dollars on the Moslem PR machine? Come, come , lady, where are your facts? Israel's actions on the ground mean Moslems don't have to spend a dime on PR.
Billions of dollars on the Moslem PR machine? Come, come , lady, where are your facts? Israel's actions on the ground mean Moslems don't have to spend a dime on PR.
They are told by their pastors that Israel must be supported in order Massiah to return. It is nothing about seeing the land, rather on purpose...their purpose. Guesswhahhhwhat..bebelievethawhen Ma
There are lies, damned lies and statistics. While statistics may indicate increased numbers of people entering Israel many of those "tourists" include plane loads of American college students on paid-for propaganda tours designed to shore up the steep decline in Israel's image abroad which has now reached pariah status.
Probably would have found some rationalizations ,urging his coreligionists to reform...
Its important to look at the subtleties of the boycott effort - there is a hard-core against all things Israel and a soft-core against the occupation. The folks who oppose the occupation (like their colleagues in Israel) are NOT anti-Israel. However, if they cannot distinguish between settler-made products and Israeli ones or if the anti-occupation boycott is ineffective, the hard-core boycott will widen and gain momentum. End the occupation of the West Bank and rejoin the economy and people of the developed world.
Huh? What's the point? The fact that our scientists are brilliant in no way justifies our political follies. Boycott is a political tool to make a point or try to affect change. But just to satisfy you, no, I don't boycott Israel. I live here and contribute to it daily. I do boycott settlement products - as I hope their income will be harmed and the moderates among them decide its not worth it to remain as settlers in land that we've never annexed, but rather occupy in contravention to international law and secular Zionist ideology (democratic, Jewish state). The occuption will be the end of Israel one way or another (demographically or international isolation...).
and btw,was the 1967 war caused by the "setlements" ? Israel was as isolated on the eve of the war as it is today ,and Americans refused to honor their commitments to "Freedom of sailing thru Tirana Straits" .
And in the 1990s the Zionism = Racism declaration was revoked by the UN, Israel entered into diplomatic and/or economic relationships with India, China, Gulf States, Jordan, several Muslim African countries... The Oslo Period (for those who forgot or never knew now that its been removed from textbooks) brought a tremendous amount of pain and suffering, but also the first great potential for normalizing Israel's status in the world. But the populists and extremists took control - Hamas bus bombings, Rabin's assassination, continued settlement building - and here we are, sliding back into global isolation with a security situation no better than before "Cast Iron" or Lebanon II or more settlements. Even today, the European Union is just waiting to resolve our differences with the Palestinians to invite us into closer relations.
denying the "Bush Letter" ,just like Pres.Johnson in June 1967 denied existence of American guarantees for Right of Passage thru the Straits ,guarantees issued in return for Israeli withdrawal from Sinai in !957.
Nehemia Shtrasler is confused about Goliath and David and also about Ben Gurion's call. The call to be "a light unto the nations" is a call from the Torah and not something Gurion came up with. Now Shtrasler calls Israel "a darkness on the nations". His opinion seems to be totally disconnected from the Jewish faith and moral. I agree that we still have some homework to do to become "the light" but we still are more moral and a superior behavior than most nations in war and terror situations. Just consider the actions of Russia, the USA not to mention the terrorists Palestinians. It is internal opinions like Nehemia Shtrasler that most encourage anti-Israeli boycotts not Israel's behavior.
Apart from far right-wingers in israel who never travel aborad, no one sees Israel as a "light of the nation" anymore.
Do you really think you are chosen nation ? That means you are not able to think reasonably. You are not intrested in truth and history but progaganda ond PR. You are not interested in facts but myths.
Andrew, we aren't the ones spending billions on PR and propaganda every year. We don't have film studios producing films about events which didn't happen in order to demonize Israel. You talk about Israel and don't think about Islamic extremism, the treatment of women which includes their stoning, the fact that their extremists have dragged their people back to the 8th century and Israel is the villain! Open your eyes for once and think a little.
The author hit the nail on the head - we are bitterly disappointed about the path Israel has taken. I also boycott Israeli goods
Your lives are not in danger
.... The great majority abroad are indifferent of Israel. Most of the others don't even dream to boycott Israel, out of all places that would deserve boycotting. Many of the remaining love Israel, warts and all. So, very little remains that condemns the occupation... like myself. And finally, out of those, there are a few hubs of pure anti-Semitism. It's nice to know who they are....to stay away from them.... So, Mr. Shtrasler, I love your articles, but here I think you attribute to Israel a much bigger place in the world than it actually is.
By boycotting Israeli products, you are entering a brave new world. I sincerely hope you and yours are healthy because so many inventions such as the stent (for one) and myriad medications, can no longer be used by you, your families, or your employees; plus it will be hard to give up a business that depends on the internet which runs on so many Intel inventions and products, not to mention cell phones but I feel sure you can manage to live in the Middle Ages. I presume not being hypocrites, you would also boycott Arab inventions and products (if there were any) in the name of peace and honor to protest such time honored occupations as suicide bombings, children being used as human shields, honor killings, female genital mutilation and their refusal to make any gesture for peace.
I think Israeli hard right-wingers need to get real. israel is a very tiny nation as compared to the technological super powers in Europe, Asia, the USA...
I really wonder how the world will manage. Maybe by buying humus in Jordan?
after the Star Trek character who the younger generation will be thinking was based on an Israeli characature.
Turkey is where we are going to station our missile shield to counter Iran's nuclear threat
Turkey has not / does not / shall not use chemical weapons. There is not any news item about this, let alone official reports. If there is, please let us know so that we learn a new thing.
Turkey has not / does not / shall not use chemical weapons. There is not any news item about this, let alone official reports. If there is, please let us know so that we learn a new thing.
Turkey has not / does not / shall not use chemical weapons. There is not any news item about this, let alone official reports. If there is, please let us know so that we learn a new thing.
What in the hell are you talking about???
I am amazed that any rational human being can support Hamas and Hezbullah. In fact, I don't believe a rational human being can.
Of course the occupation is the cause of all evil and where are the ones that caused this to begin with? No Nehemia the Arabs attacked us first before 1948 and also afterwards!! And again of course we could not win the anti semitic media war against us as our voice is not being heard!! Shooting rockets at Sderot is seen as a non issue as not many people are murdered, but remember if Hamas could murder 100s or 1000s of Israelis with their rockets they would do it!! So no we are not the evil empire on earth!! Hamas and Hezbollah just did not manage (yet) to murder more Jews. It is another sad day for Judaism to have an article so pro boycot placed in a Jewish newspaper.
Surely you mean Najd
If only leftists like Shtrasler would read other newspapers beyond Haaretz (now that Izvetzia and Pravda are defunct), they woudl find an article in today's Jerusalem Post that includes the following paragraph: " SURPRISE, SURPRISE: Despite Israel’s sinking political image in the world, 2010 is on track to set an all-time annual record for the largest number of visiting tourists. Barring an outbreak of war or terrorism that would wipe out reservations – like the second intifada that prevented the year 2000 from setting records – 2010 should end up with 3.2 million incoming tourists, beating 2008’s record of 2.9 million, say Tourism Ministry officials". Sucker.
End up in theWest bank actively supporting the palestinian cause?
Less than one thousand.
Less than one thousand.
Deja Vu all over again. The boycotts against the Aparthied regime in South Africa started small and grew. These efforts can be pooh poohed as limited, but they have a habbit of growing over the years
Deja Vu all over again. The boycotts against the Aparthied regime in South Africa started small and grew. These efforts can be pooh poohed as limited, but they have a habbit of growing over the years
Many boycotted South Africa for its treatment of its native population. Why should Israel be treated any differently? How is one boycott any less reasonable than the other?
That describes the European boycotts of Israel
This is a PR nightmare for Israel. The problem being one of contagion. Whilst those in the know will restrict their boycott it to the produce emanating form the occupied territories, many others will simply askew Israeli products in general. The settlers really have become not only a problem for the disposed but for Israel proper. Wat do you think? I'm just curious.
The boycott against South Africa was effective because it was put into place by the United Nations, and member states had an obligation to comply.
The boycott against South Africa was effective because it was put into place by the United Nations, and member states had an obligation to comply.
Scandinavia is one of the only areas in the world where kosher slaughter is forbidden. Jews are being pushed out by Muslims in for instance Malmo and the non Jews allow this to happen. So we might not support the settlers but they live in the biblical land first of all and when one would ask a pro boycotter against West bank produce if an all out boycot against Israel is warranted I bet most of them will support a full boycot of Israel. So simply stated most of them were anti Israel to begin with rather then that they want to bring about peace and justice.
yes after a while PR just becomes bull, just google boycotting Israeli products, only 191000 pages to choose from, but its growing. but if u circle yr wagons it will all go away:)
It is totally logic to boycott all israeli products, not only those manufactured in the illegal settlements. After all the settlers would not be there if it was not supported by the state. The occupation is performed by Israel, not the settlers. They are just a tool for the goverments politic.
I don't think people care enough to make the distinction between Israel "proper" and the Israel that settlers and the government imagine exists in the West Bank. The fact that Israelis and the government make excuses for the settlers means people will boycott all of us as a result.
Anti-semitism is a very overused term. Remeber the story of the little boy who cried wolf!
...coal mines. Miners used to carry canaries in cages with them because the canaries keeled over from dangerous gases before the miners did--alerting them. If I understand what the author is saying, the growing boycotts might be sort of like a canary which is beginning to wobble on its perch. Or did I misunderstand him?
If not why not.?
The preemptor starts a preemptive war .... BTW there has NEVER been a time in the entire history of Palestine where it could have legally declared Sovereign statehood .. http://wp.me/pDB7k-jA
Look up PKK
The boycott is still very marginal. Israeli stocks, especially the defense contractors, have performed remarkably. The Israeli economy has outpaced europe. The so called "washington" chain only has two stores. In New York, boycott organizers tried to pressure a cosmetics retailer with 29 stores to not sell Ahava products....the CEO rejected the request. In fact, many (like myself) flocked to the stores to buy Ahava products more than making up for the boycotters. The same thing has happened in in England, France, etc...where boycotts have backfired and caused a rise in sale of Israeli goods. The marginal loss of sales in parts of Europe are more than outpaced by a rise of Israeli exports to Asia and other new markets. Like 99.99% of boycotts this one will fail, and justice will prevail.
...but we all know that it most likely won't. The racist/terrorist squatters will still kick out more Palestinian families, and nothing will be done, especially here. AIPAC vermin will make certain of that. And people like you will continue to support settler terrorism. Justice? People like you don't know the meaning of the word.
...but we all know that it most likely won't. The racist/terrorist squatters will still kick out more Palestinian families, and nothing will be done, especially here. AIPAC vermin will make certain of that. And people like you will continue to support settler terrorism. Justice? People like you don't know the meaning of the word.
Boycotts - especially by other Governement's DO have an affect. And you are silly to suggest otherwise.
Boycotts - especially by other Governement's DO have an affect. And you are silly to suggest otherwise.
The very fact you felt the need to run to a shop to buy Israeli produce shows your real inner fear of a boycott Its noticeable , the reduction of Israeli produce on the shelves .....
Eventually, you and your fellows will run out of the readies... What then Mr Boycott Breaker?