The deal is done. It is no longer a question of “Apartheid?” It is Apartheid.
As reported by the BBC this morning: Netanyahu to form Israel cabinet. Bibi Netanyahu, leader of the right wing Likud party, along with Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the far right racist Yisrael Beiteinu party, will lead the next Israeli government. On the issue central to American interests, the Palestinians, Netanyahu, who ran his election on the promise that he would not withdraw any settlements, now numbering over 150 Israeli-only villages, towns and cities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, also indicated that he would also not relinquish the Jordan Valley, or divide Jerusalem.
As Apartheid is no longer in doubt, with this outcome of the Israeli election, the Palestinians have unequivocally entered the next phase of their struggle: an international boycott of Israel akin to the one that brought down the South African Afrikaaner government in the 90s. After Jimmy Carter published his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, his vision was not appreciated. Today, he is vindicated.
As Jeff Halper, founder of the Israel Committee Against House Demolition wrote over a year ago:
One may well think that the struggle inside the Jewish community of Israel is between those of the political right, who want to maintain the settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank so as to “redeem” the Greater Land of Israel as a Jewish country, and those of the left who seek a two-state solution with the Palestinians and are thus willing to relinquish enough of the “territories”, if not all, in order that a viable Palestinian state may emerge.
This is not really the case. Polls and the make-up of the Israeli government suggest that perhaps a quarter of Israeli Jews fall into the first group, the die-hards, while not more than 10 per cent support a full withdrawal from the occupied territories. (Virtually no Israeli Jews use the term “occupation,” which Israel denies it has.) The vast majority of Israeli Jews, stretching from the liberal Meretz party through Labour, Kadima and into the “liberal” wing of the Likud, excepting only the religious parties and the extreme right-wing led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the current minister of strategic affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, share a broad consensus: for both security reasons and because of Israel’s “facts on the ground”, the Arabs (as we [Israelis] call the Palestinians) will have to settle for a truncated mini-state on no more than 15-20 per cent of the country between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River.
What’s more, it’s agreed that the decision whether to relinquish any territory and how much is an exclusively Israeli decision. We may proffer to the Palestinians some kind of a “generous offer” if they behave themselves and it suits our purpose, but any initiative in the direction of “peace” must be unilateral. The Palestinians may indicate a preference, but the decision is ours and ours alone. Our power, our all-encompassing concern for security and the plain fact that the Arabs just don’t count (except as a nuisance factor) limit any peace process to, at best, a willingness to grant them a tiny Bantustan on four or five cantons, all encircled by Israeli settlements and the military. Israeli control of the entire Land of Israel, whether for religious, national or security reasons, is a given, never to be compromised.
From the Holocaust to an Apartheid state is an incredibly long way to travel. But here we are. It is time to talk boycott, divestment, and sanctions, a movement that is underway but has not been taken as seriously as it should be. Israeli Apartheid exists.
UPDATE:
Coincidentally, this article appeared on the Electronic Intifada: Organize for boycott Israel day of action.
Appeal from the Secretariat of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee, 19 February 2009
In December 2008, Israel decided to mark the 60th anniversary of its existence the same way it had established itself — perpetrating massacres against the Palestinian people. In 23 days, Israel killed more than 1,300 and injured at least 5,000 Palestinians in Gaza. The irony of history is that Israel targeted those Palestinians — and their descendants — whom it had expelled from their homes and pushed into refugeehood in Gaza in 1948, whose land it has stolen, whom it has oppressed since 1967 by means of a brutal military occupation, and whom it had tried to starve into submission by means of a criminal blockade of food, fuel and electricity in the 18 months preceding the military assault. We cannot wait for Israel to zero in on its next objective. Palestine has today become the test of our indispensable morality and our common humanity.
We therefore call on all to unite our different capacities and struggles in a Global Day of Action in Solidarity with the Palestinian people and for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel on 30 March 2009.
I’d love to boycott Israel. Unfortunately, since I am not a major purchaser of arms, chemicals, or diamonds, there doesn’t seem to be much I can do in that department. As near as I can tell, my clothes are mostly made in Pakistan and El Salvador, and everything else is made in China. I’ll make a mental note to buy my submachine guns and tanks from somewhere else, but I can’t promise anything. My fleet of Soviet-era T-72’s isn’t getting any younger, and sometimes I catch myself thinking that just one brand new Merkava wouldn’t hurt anyone…
It’s almost as if the Israelis anticipated their potential vulnerability to popular boycotts and carefully constructed the core of their economy around non-consumer goods.
Of course, if you have some concrete suggestions regarding actual Israeli consumer goods I can refrain from buying, I’m all ears. I am, however, reasonably sure that nothing in my house has “Made in Israel” stamped on the bottom and in fact, I can’t recall ever seeing such a label on anything for sale in any store, ever.
Well, there is the US State Department, but I’m told it’s under new management, and it was technically never in my house. That was the NSA.
😉
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You can buy Israeli goods in the USA, or else a sure bet is your xtc pill.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Thanks for this review of Israeli products.
We also have to remember that there are numerous American companies with subsidiaries in Israel, like Microsoft and Intel, that could be targeted for divestment and boycott. AMD processors are cheaper and maybe even faster than Intel’s.
Well, you have a point although I think that we need to hear from the BDS movement as to where boycotts and other tactics can be applied.
As a starter, if you happen to be in the British Isles anytime soon, don’t buy oranges. They are likely to be Israeli produced, and that production is likely to have been from what were originally Palestinian groves.
Perhaps it is time to review the options that this movement has.
It is not a stretch to apply the term fascist to Yisrael Beiteinu.
That’s not a stretch. Lieberman was a quiet member of the Olmert administration, not much noticed. He will probably have a more vocal role in the Netanyahu administration. As long as the press keeps repeating his racist policies in concert with any actions he might take, it might help to advertise what this administration is all about: Apartheid.
Avigdor Lieberman skipped out the day after elections — as in fled — up against pending fraud probe – alleged charges of embezzlement and money-laundering, using his daughter’s bank account.
Israeli has colonies in Palestine, not settlements.
Israelis living there are colonists, not settlers.
Israelis occupying Palestinian property in Palestine are squatters, at best.
Israelis in Israel who are referred to as Arab Israelis are in fact Palestinian Israelis.
Let words regain their meaning. Let the terms of the conflict be sharpened and rectified.
Well, no one can disagree with the language of occupation you applied, but it is still the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” or the OPT according to the UN and international law.
“Settlements” is a term that somehow neutralizes the reality making it seem as if the settlers are just filling a void rather than stealing Palestinian lands.
Make Nakba denial a crime.
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About recognition of Israel and financial, political and commercial ties: Israeli tennisplayer Shahar Peer denied entry to Dubai WTA tournament.
The UAE has no diplomatic relations with Israel, but Israelis with dual citizenship have entered the country for international sporting and business events using second-country passports. On some occasions, Israeli passport holders have been allowed entry for meetings held by the United Nations or other international agencies.
● Tennis Diplomacy in the Gulf: No Love Match
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Some voices shout out damning words
To the President of the State of Israel and the Director of the Yad Vashem Memorial
A very loud Amen!
we need more voices like the Newmanns
Israel worried about our intel chief…
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/130066
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“Now the United States has brought the Palestinian experience – of humiliation, dislocation, and death – to millions more in Afghanistan and Iraq. Israel and the United States each have our reasons for what we are doing, but no amount of public diplomacy can persuade the victims of our policies that their suffering is justified, or spin away their anger, or assuage their desire for reprisal and revenge.”
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."