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#14880443
skinster wrote::lol: at being called a neocon, of all things. That made my morning.

Updates to come when I have more time, I know you zionists love them. :excited:


It's funny to me and sad to you how you don't even notice you're in fact a neocon. Globalism is to neocons what State is to Socialism. Sometimes I wonder if all those globalists leftists were drop on the floor a few times when toddlers, that would certainly explain a few things
#14880472
Germans invented the BDS in 1933

German Bundestag creates new commissioner to address rising anti-Semitism

Germany’s parliament voted to establish a commissioner to deal with anti-Semitism in the country.

Schuster said it is important to combat the problem “whether it comes from the middle of society, from right-wing extremists, or Muslims and Israel-haters.” He included the anti-Israel boycott movement, BDS, in his list of anti-Semitic movements to be fought, and said it was time that integration courses for new immigrants intensify their efforts to root out anti-Semitic attitudes.


https://www.jta.org/2018/01/18/news-opi ... sm-monitor

What are your expectations from Germany in regard to the BDS movement?

"There has been a positive development in Munich, which was the first city to adopt an initiative forbidding events by this movement in municipality buildings. Later, the same attitude was adopted in Frankfurt and Berlin as well. People are beginning to wise up to the character of this movement, in the federal government as well, and to understand that this is not a harmless peace organization. It is an organization that is not only anti-Israel, but also anti-Semitic. I will welcome the Bundestag's decision on the matter. It will take some more time, but I think we are well on our way."


http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/01/12/t ... n-society/
#14880484
Politiks wrote:It's funny to me and sad to you how you don't even notice you're in fact a neocon. Globalism is to neocons what State is to Socialism. Sometimes I wonder if all those globalists leftists were drop on the floor a few times when toddlers, that would certainly explain a few things


:lol: what?

Updates:




PLO endorses BDS, makes unprecedented call for sanctions
On Monday, the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, officially announced its support for the BDS movement and called, for the first time, on the international community to “impose sanctions on Israel” to end its ongoing, grave violations of Palestinian rights as stipulated by international law.

This is the most explicit and official adoption of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement by the PLO.

Specifically, a statement released by the Palestinian Central Council, the second highest authority in the PLO, agreed to:

Adopt the BDS movement and call on states around the world to impose sanctions on Israel to put an end to its flagrant violations of international law, its continued aggression against the Palestinian people, and to the apartheid regime [Israel has] imposed on them.

This statement emerged from a PLO meeting centered on the Trump administration’s efforts to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, in contravention of decades of US policy and in direct violation of international law. The meeting took place in occupied Ramallah on January 14-15, and included the majority of the PLO Central Council’s 109 members.

It also comes in the wake of Israel’s escalating theft of Palestinian land through its expansion of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory and its ruling party’s escalating efforts to annex all illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. To date, there are more than 600,000 illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) said:

As the leadership of the Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights, we welcome the PLO’s decision to officially and unequivocally declare its support for the BDS movement, already supported across the breadth of Palestinian society in Palestine and in exile. This declaration, along with the PLO’s unprecedented call for sanctions against Israel, will further enhance the growth and impact of BDS across the world in pursuit of Palestinian freedom, justice and equality.

The PLO’s executive branch should implement the Central Council’s decisions by calling for states to impose meaningful sanctions on Israel’s regime of military occupation and apartheid, like those imposed on apartheid South Africa.

With this official Palestinian backing of BDS, we shall work more diligently than ever with our popular base and international allies to push for a two-way military embargo on Israel, the suspension of free trade agreements with it, and the cessation of trade with or investment in any Israeli or international company involved in Israel’s annexation of occupied Palestinian land and flagrant violation of Palestinian human rights.
http://mondoweiss.net/2018/01/endorses- ... sanctions/
#14880500
skinster wrote::lol: what?

Updates:

Trump supporters don't give a shit about what artist in Spain condemn. Just show me their art work so I can judge for myself, if it is any good or bad.
#14880535
PLO endorses BDS, makes unprecedented call for sanctions


Of course they should. It part of their fascist heritage

Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World by JEFFREY HERF


On March 31,1933, two months after Hitler came to power, Haj Amin el-Husseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, called on Heinrich Wolff, head of the German Consulate in Jerusalem.2 In his report to the Auswartiges Amt (Foreign Ministry), Wolff wrote that Husseini said, "Muslims inside and outside Palestine welcome the new regime in Germany and hope for the spread of fascist, antidemocratic state leadership to other countries." In his view, "current Jewish influence on economy and politics" was "damaging everywhere and needed to be fought." In the hope of doing economic damage to the Jews, Husseini opined that "Muslims hope for a boycott of the Jews in Germany because it would then be adopted with enthusiasm in the whole of the Muslim world." Further, he was willing to spread the boycott message among Muslims traveling through Palestine and to "all Muslims." He also looked forward to trade with "non-Jewish merchants" dealing in German products.3 Husseini's remarks on March 1933 demonstrated his early enthusiasm for the Nazi regime based on his ideological support for its antidemocratic and anti-Jewish policies. Wolff reported that though anti-Jewish sentiment was not widespread in the Arab population, it was more prevalent in the upper strata and among the intellectuals, who together protested against "Jewish immigration, Jewish land purchases, and Jewish capital."4 The clear implication of Wolff's memo was that if the Nazi regime made appeals to Arabs and Muslims, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and perhaps others might become potential allies and collaborators.

The anger of the radical Arabs in Berlin often turned on fellow Arabs who entertained the possibility of coexistence with Jews in Palestine. On April 30, the Arab Nation expressed rage at Arab political leaders in the Jaffa municipality who organized athletic contests with Jewish athletes. This was "a very dangerous tendency." The Arabs could not "maintain their integrity without the decision to avoid the Jews and never go near them." The tendency toward friendship had to be resisted, for the Jewish danger remained. Force was the only solution. Arabs must refuse to share Palestine "with any other people.... Noble Arabs! You should maintain your policy of boycotting the Jews. You should punish those who ignore the boycott. All Arabs who collaborate with the Jews should be destroyed before they help the Jews destroy US . 1146


The flood of anti-Semitic propaganda on Germany's Arabic-language radio in the first six months of 1943 caught the attention of the Middle East desk of the U.S. Military Intelligence Division. Its summary of themes from Axis broadcasts issued in June 1943 suggested that the anti-Semitic offensive was even greater than that recorded by Kirk's staff in Cairo. The MID reported that the broadcasts repeated the following points: Only Axis victory would prevent the Jews from realizing their ambitions. Jews were the prophets of Bolshevism. The Arabs would be impoverished living under the British and Americans. The Jews needed to be suppressed. All Arabs who failed to boycott Jews should be destroyed.



In the vulgar wording of the German Consul in Jerusalem, the Arabs were 'too primitive politically to fully appreciate the fact that Germany and German Jewish policy were greatly intensifying their problem'. That there were Palestinian Arabs who professed admiration for a doctrine that held them in such utter contempt must be counted as the other great irony of Nazi Germany's growing impact on Palestine in the 1930s.
#14881033
noir, you're posting off-topic shit again. The PLO didn't exist at the time of WW2. They came about decades after zionist militias stole Palestine from its natives. You can figure that out by the L in the acronym standing for 'Liberation', Palestine's liberation. If you're going to hasbara in this thread, stick to the topic at least (it's about the BDS movement, in case you forgot).

Here’s why artists cancel concerts in Israel
The BDS movement is all about pressuring artists like Lorde and Radiohead to boycott Israel in protest against the occupation of Palestine

When Lorde announced a slew of international tour dates in support of her second album Melodrama last month, a scheduled show at Tel Aviv’s Convention Centre drew immediate criticism. An open letter titled “Dear Lorde, here’s why we’re urging you not to play Israel” was posted to The Spinoff, with the New Zealand musician subsequently cancelling the show. “I pride myself on being an informed young citizen… but I’m not proud to admit I didn’t make the right call on this one,” she said in a statement.

The controversy may seem familiar to music fans. Last year, Radiohead ended up in a similar situation with a show they had booked for Tel Aviv – but unlike Lorde, they went ahead despite the backlash. In recent years, artists from Lana Del Rey to Nick Cave have all drawn controversy over their decisions to either perform or not perform in Israel, while last August, more than eight artists withdrew from Berlin’s Pop-Kultur festival over its partnership with the Israeli Embassy.

To anybody not familiar with the ins and outs of the Israel-Palestine conflict, these situations might seem strange. What’s so controversial about a pop concert? And why are these artists being asked to cancel? To understand, it’s necessary to get to grips with the history of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement.

WHAT IS BDS?
Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, BDS is a non-violent, Palestinian-led campaign that protests the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. As Amnesty International report, Israel has occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza strip for decades in violation of various international and human rights laws.

BDS describes the situation as apartheid. Their key demands are the end of the occupation, the dismantling of the West Bank wall, the Palestinian Right of Return (a provision to allow some 7.25 million Palestinian refugees to return home), and an end to segregation. They encourage the withdrawal of investments in Israeli companies and international companies who violate Palestinian rights, and also pressure governments around the world to hold Israel to account. BDS also encourages a cultural boycott, where artists send the right message by not exhibiting or performing in Israel.

IS IT REALLY SUCH A BIG DEAL TO PERFORM THERE?
BDS argues that the music industry should be subject to the same scrutiny as any other industry that’s operating within Israel. PACBI (the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel) agrees, saying that Israel uses culture as a weapon and a form of propaganda to whitewash, or ‘art-wash’, the actions of the state. “The cultural boycott of Israel is inspired by the South African anti-apartheid struggle,” says PACBI’s Stephanie Adam. “(During the 1980s) international artists refused to play Sun City in response to the calls of Black South Africans not to do ‘business as usual’ with apartheid.”

Art-washing, Adam says, is the use of art and culture to cover up oppression and present “a false sense of normalcy in a situation of grave repression.” Adam says that Israeli government officials have been open about the use of art-washing, such as when a spokesperson from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that art and culture were used to “show Israel’s prettier face, so we are not thought of purely in the context of war.”

WHO SUPPORTS BOYCOTTS, AND WHO’S AGAINST THEM?
Many musicians have supported the cultural boycott. Scheduled concerts from Lauryn Hill to the late Gil Scott-Heron have all been axed in the past, while Princess Nokia cancelled her slot at Kalamazoo Festival last year. Outside of Israel itself, BDS asks artists to decline participation in anything sponsored by the Israeli government, which is what happened at Berlin’s Pop-Kultur last year. This year, over 100 artists (including Brian Eno, Kathleen Hanna, Talib Kweli, and Roger Waters) have signed an open letter supporting Lorde’s decision to cancel her Tel Aviv show, while rapper Vic Mensa recently penned an op-ed describing his experiences in Palestine.

However, many musicians have gone ahead with scheduled performances in Israel despite calls to cancel. Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, and Macy Gray have all played (though Gray later said she regretted it), while two high profile examples last year came from Radiohead and Nick Cave. Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem, Nick Cave said he wanted to “make a principled stand against anyone who wants to censor and silence musicians.” When Radiohead went ahead with their Tel Aviv show, frontman Thom Yorke issued a statement: “Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing the government… We don’t endorse (Israeli Prime Minister) Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America. Music, art, academia is about crossing borders not building them.”

CAN A CONCERT REALLY LEGITIMISE A GOVERNMENT?
Yorke’s statement isn’t untrue, but whether a musician likes it or not, a performance in Israel often takes on a political dimension when it wouldn’t elsewhere. Israeli politicians and diplomats have often been quick to make political capital out of a musician’s decision to play there, like when Gilan Erdan, Israel’s strategic affairs minister, told CNN “we salute Radiohead” when they pressed on with their show. When Nick Cave decided to perform despite protestations from the likes of Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, Israel Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon wrote on Twitter, “Bravo Nick Cave for resisting BDS! Roger Waters may be a great musician but he promotes an ideology of boycott and hatred and does not promote peace.”

“An artist’s politics and personal view of the Israeli government matter little once they’ve agreed to perform in Israel,” says PACBI’s Stephanie Adam. “The Israeli government will endorse their performance and use it to undermine Palestinians’ non-violent resistance to Israel’s occupation, colonisation, and apartheid policies.”

WHAT ARE THE OTHER ARGUMENTS AGAINST BDS?
When Lorde cancelled her show, Itzhak Gerberg, Israel’s ambassador to New Zealand, requested to meet her to discuss it, writing that by cancelling, she was “succumbing” to a “hateful agenda”. Most notably, American rabbi Shmuley Boteach took out a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post decrying Lorde’s decision as “anti-semitic” and calling her a “bigot”. Words like ‘bigoted’, ‘hateful’, and ‘anti-semitic’ are often used by critics of the BDS movement, who liken the tactics to the Nazi boycotts of Jewish businesses. Others have accused BDS of smears and of using bullying tactics against their opponents. BDS, however, describes itself as “an inclusive, anti-racist human rights movement” who oppose “all forms of discrimination, including anti-semitism and Islamophobia,” and insist that their criticisms are focused on the actions undertaken in the name of the state rather than targeting specific individuals.

Anti-semitism is a very serious problem, and there have been voices in the anti-Israel movement who’ve either explicitly or implicitly used anti-semitic framing in their arguments. In particular, the role of Israel in global affairs has been a familiar staple in right wing conspiracy theories, with the state depicted as ‘pulling the strings’ in international affairs – a dogwhistle that feeds into longer standing anti-Jewish conspiracy narratives. There are, however, many critics of the Israeli government’s actions who are themselves Jewish. It’s also important to scrutinise who is making accusations of anti-semitism to judge whether they’re fair or not. In his advertisement in the Washington Post, rabbi Shmuley Boteach described Lorde as joining “a global anti-semitic boycott of Israel”, but Boteach has also written for websites like Breitbart and praised its former editor Steve Bannon, who once called the publication “the platform for the alt-right”.

Other critics of Lorde’s decision to cancel the show suggested that she was unfairly punishing her fans in Israel. Not all Americans are on the Trump train, and not all Israelis support their government – so why should they miss out? “This raises the question, whose justice are we concerned with here?” asks Stephanie Adam. “Israeli youth’s ‘right’ to enjoy a concert, or the UN-sanctioned rights of the Palestinian people who have had to endure Israel’s colonisation, occupation, and apartheid policies for 70 years?” It’s a response that echoes the musician Brian Eno, who, responding to Nick Cave comment that BDS activists were trying to “censor and silence musicians”, wrote that “this has nothing to do with ‘silencing’ artists – a charge I find rather grating when used in a context where a few million people are permanently and grotesquely silenced”.

Speaking of Lorde’s decision to cancel, Revital, 22, from Tel Aviv, says: “In a similar way to when Lana Del Rey cancelled her concert a few years ago, I feel disappointed on a personal level. On a general level though, it’s harder.” Revital posits that artists could make a bigger impact by talking more about the conflict and their reasons for cancelling rather than “simply cutting off Israel completely”, adding, “perhaps a stronger change will come from artists performing outside Tel Aviv – in places like Umm al-Fahm or Baqa al-Gharbiyye, for example.” Danielle, an Israeli musician from Tel Aviv and a BDS activist, fully supports Lorde’s decision: “I’m thrilled. I admire the way Lorde has proven to be a true artist and a true human being, standing with the oppressed, and not letting a corrupt government use her name to whitewash its crimes… Boycott helped end apartheid in South Africa, and it will also help end apartheid in Israel.”

IS THERE AN ETHICAL WAY TO PERFORM IN ISRAEL?
Musicians such as Nicolas Jaar have performed in Israel and not been criticised for the decision. BDS has guidelines on how artists can participate in cultural events in Israel while respecting the boycott – in Jaar’s case, he performed in a Palestinian-run venue in Haifa, while artists like Acid Arab, who’ve previously played in Tel Aviv, have said they would only consider performing in Palestinian venues in future. However, BDS stresses that artists should not be doing this alongside a performance in Israel: “Palestinians reject the idea that the damage done by an artist performing or exhibiting their work in Israel can in some way be compensated for by a parallel performance or exhibition in occupied Palestinian territory. This attempt at ‘balance’ undermines Palestinian rights.” PACBI also states that although there are grassroots venues that publicly recognise the rights of Palestinian people and refuse to employ discriminatory policies, no major Israeli institution or festival has done this.

As Lorde says, one day she’d like to perform in Israel – hopefully when there is a peaceful solution in sight. “Tel Aviv, it’s been a dream of mine to visit this beautiful part of the world for many years,” she wrote in her statement. “I hope one day we can all dance.”
http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/artic ... ign=buffer
#14882008
Americans More Divided Over Israel 'Than at Any Point' in Recent History, Study Finds
Pew claims that while 79% of Republicans say they sympathize with Israel more than the Palestinians, the same is true for only 27% of Democrats

WASHINGTON - A new poll by the Pew Research Center, a leading U.S. public opinion research institute, shows that the partisan divide in the United States over Israel is now "wider than at any point" in the last four decades. According to the poll, while 79% of Republicans say they sympathize with Israel more than the Palestinians, the same is true for only 27% of Democrats.

In a press release published on Tuesday, the research center noted that "Since 2001, the share of Republicans sympathizing more with Israel than the Palestinians has increased 29 percentage points, from 50% to 79%. Over the same period, the share of Democrats saying this has declined 11 points, from 38% to 27%."

The survey shows a continuing trend of deterioration in support for Israel among self-identifying liberal Democrats. "The share of liberal Democrats who sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians has declined from 33% to 19% since 2016," the authors note - a sharp decline for just one year, which could be connected to negative attitudes among liberals towards President Trump and his attempts to present himself as strongly "pro Israel."

The authors of the survey also note that "nearly twice as many liberal Democrats say they sympathize more with the Palestinians than with Israel - 35% vs. 19%."

Among self-identifying moderate and conservative Democrats, Israel still enjoys more support than the Palestinians, but within this group there has also been a sharp decline since 2016, from 53% to 35%.

Among Republicans, however, there has not been a significant change in support for Israel.

Pew has been examining support for Israel among the American public for decades.

The survey also shows clear generational differences with regards to Israel. While 56% of Americans over the age of 65 they say support Israel more than the Palestinians, the same is true for only 32% of those between the ages of 18-29. Within that age group, 23% say they sympathize more with the Palestinians, and 19% sympathize with neither side or have no opinion.

Education also plays a role in shaping attitudes on the subject. 51% of Americans with a high-school degree or less say they sympathize more with Israel, while 9% sympathize more with the Palestinians. Among college graduates, 42% sympathize more with Israel while 27% sympathize more with the Palestinians.

The survey showed that overall, 42% of Americans think President Trump is "striking the right balance" between Israel and the Palestinians, while 30% think he favors Israel too much. 25% did not have an opinion on the matter. Among Democrats, 46% said Trump favors Israel too much. The authors noted that at a similar point in Barack Obama's presidency, 21% of the American public and 38% of Republicans thought Obama was favoring the Palestinians too much.

As the Trump administration continues to work on its plan for Middle East peace, the survey's authors noted that "about half of Americans say a two-state solution is possible in the Middle East: 49% say a way can be found for Israel and an independent Palestinian state “to coexist peacefully,” while 39% say this is not possible."
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/pew-par ... -1.5762368




#14886297
Like zionists care about other people's water supplies beyond stealing it. Aren't your ilk busy stealing Palestinian water?

This news story is funny; the two New Zealand activists who (apparently) influenced singer Lorde in supporting the BDS movement and cancelling her Tel Aviv show, are being sued by Israel for $15K on behalf of 3 of Lorde's Israeli fans, for the hurt feelings they suffered because of the cancellation of the show. :lol:

More here.
#14886316
skinster wrote:Like zionists care about other people's water supplies beyond stealing it. Aren't your ilk busy stealing Palestinian water?

This news story is funny; the two New Zealand activists who (apparently) influenced singer Lorde in supporting the BDS movement and cancelling her Tel Aviv show, are being sued by Israel for $15K on behalf of 3 of Lorde's Israeli fans, for the hurt feelings they suffered because of the cancellation of the show. :lol:

More here.


You must be pretty desperate Skinsterina. :lol:
#14886322
skinster wrote:Me desperate? I'm not the one suing activists for potentially influencing a singer to not breach the Palestinian picket line. :lol:


You hurt the feelings of 3 random Israelis, what a great success for BDS :up:
#14886325
:eh: I'm not Lorde. Also, fuck those "hurt feelings" people, they don't seem to care when children on the other side of the wall are straight up executed by their soldiers, but we're supposed to give a shit about their feelies because a pop singer had a good enough conscience not to entertain an apartheid state. :lol:
#14886427
Today Israel’s GDP per capita is higher than GDP per capita in Japan, Britain and France


http://m.jpost.com/Opinion/Our-World-Th ... tom-533175

This week, The Economist published its annual data on per capita GDP in countries throughout the world. For the first time, Israel’s GDP per capita has jumped above $40,000. According to the Economist’s data, per capita GDP in Israel jumped from $38,127 in 2016 to $44,019 in 2017. GDP grew 4.4% last year. Today Israel’s GDP per capita is higher than GDP per capita in Japan, Britain and France. The gap in Israel’s favor is expected to widen in the years to come as Israel’s GDP continues to grow and the GDPs of European states and Japan continue to stagnate due to negative fertility, continued migration of uneducated newcomers and lack of innovation.

In its own neighborhood, Israel’s neighbors remain economic and political basket cases. As Dr. Guy Bechor noted in his analysis of the data earlier this week, Egypt’s per capita GDP of $2,519 is one seventeenth of Israel’s. Jordan’s per capita income dropped last year from $4,648 to $4,135 and prospects for 2018 aren’t positive.

The situation is similarly bleak in the Gulf States, despite their oil and gas reserves. Iran, for instance, is poor and forecasts for the future are terrible. Last year, despite the $100 billion windfall the regime received from sanctions relief, per capita GDP in Iran dropped from $6,144 in 2016 to $5,879. Wars in Syria, Yemen, Iran, Lebanon and Gaza don’t come cheap.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states are drawn to Israel not only because of their joint security concerns about Iran. They are also eager to expand ties with Israel to benefit from its civilian technologies in everything from agriculture and water technologies to digital communications. And they are not about to allow the Palestinians to stop their cavalcade to Israel.

As The New York Times reported last week, Egyptian intelligence officer Capt. Ashrag al-Kholi called four different television hosts last and told them that Ramallah can serve as the capital of a Palestinian state just as well as Jerusalem. Kholi was also taped telling them that the Palestinians have to compromise for peace. In his words, “How is Jerusalem different from Ramallah, really? At the end of the day, later on, Jerusalem won’t be different from Ramallah. What matters is ending the suffering of the Palestinian people. Concessions are a must and if we reach a concession whereby... Ramallah will be the capital of Palestine, to end the war and so no one else dies, then we should go for it.”

Kholi explained that a new Palestinian campaign of terrorism against Israel will harm Egypt by strengthening Islamic State (ISIS), Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

So while it is true that 128 countries – including India, Egypt and Saudi Arabia – voted with the PLO against Israel and the US at the UN last month, it is also true that their votes don’t signify as much as they used to. It is equally true that the Palestinians can’t try their patience by pushing anti-Israel resolutions every day as they have for the past 45 years. Because as the Palestinians keep playing their old tricks, Israel is becoming a more and more significant regional and global power and the nations of the world aren’t interested in weakening Israel when Israel is helping them survive and prosper.

As Abu Ali’s continued tenure in Pakistan shows, rather than recognize the shifting power balance and update their positions to align with it, the PLO has become even more brittle and reactionary and extreme. If Egypt doesn’t support their war against Israel, then they will take their roadshow to Tehran, or its Lebanese satrapy.

On December 31, Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad met with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. After meeting with al-Ahmad, Nasrallah told al Mayadeen TV that Fatah – led by Abbas – agreed to “activate a third intifada,” or terror war, against Israel. PA parliament members also visited Lebanon and met with Iranian-controlled Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Sunday night, Israel Channel 2 reported that terrorist incitement is rising steeply in the official PA media and social media networks. One video, of a faked shooting of a Palestinian teenage girl by an actor dressed in an IDF uniform, has gone viral. Thousands of viewers have responded to the fake scene with pledges to kill Israelis to avenge the fake death.

When later this month Netanyahu meets Modi in Delhi, India’s UN vote and Abu Ali’s embrace of Saeed will be on the agenda. And there is good reason to believe that Modi will recognize the linkage and vote differently in the future. Like Netanyahu, he recognizes that the PLO’s basic case is wrong. Peace is achieved by defeating terrorists, not by empowering them.

Moreover, Israel beckons. The economic and strategic realities of Israel cannot be ignored. Modi and his counterparts worldwide are now recognizing that the Palestinians have nothing to offer them, not even gratitude. When a critical mass of Palestinians recognize that the PLO’s jig is up, they will make peace with Israel. Until then, they will continue to serve as an irritating irrelevancy and nothing more.
#14888355
Why scientists should boycott Israel
The International Meeting for Science in Palestine, organized recently in Cambridge, United Kingdom, by Scientists for Palestine, was dedicated to exposing the reality in Palestine when it comes to higher education and research, as well as stepping up efforts to help develop science in Palestine.

The meeting was quite effective in disproving the idea that we can talk about science (or anything) in Palestine without mentioning the occupation.

The testimonies from Palestinian participants, both in person and remotely, painted a clear picture of the impact of the occupation on education and scientific research. From checkpoints stifling movement, to student dormitory raids, to arbitrary university closures, it is clear that the occupation is the main obstacle to the development of science in Palestinian institutions.

The situation is even worse in the besieged Gaza Strip, where there are only a few hours of electricity per day and it is near impossible to import anything, let alone equipment for scientific research.

Students from Gaza also told tales of their agony waiting for months for an opening of the Rafah crossing in order to pursue education opportunities abroad, or of losing those opportunities altogether.

Inevitably, one of the issues discussed in this meeting was the academic boycott of Israel and the (non)neutrality of science.

Scientists for Palestine has not taken an official position on the academic boycott. It is likely that, due to the recent crackdown of the Israeli government on individuals affiliated to any groups supporting the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign for Palestinian rights, a public position on the matter could undermine efforts to organize activities in Palestine.

(Note: the case for a boycott and the arguments surrounding it are brilliantly explained here.)

Rejecting normalization
The scientific community, particularly in the hard sciences, prides itself on not taking any shortcuts in the quest to uncover the deepest mysteries of the universe.

Ask any theoretical physicist about pion decay and they will gladly explain how a quantum anomaly is what enables the main decay process into two photons.

But ask them about Palestine and chances are you will hear that the issue is “too complicated,” and possibly some orientalist trope about Arabs, Islam or both.

But even those who are informed beyond the mainstream narrative may be reluctant to take a position or endorse the boycott. The world of scientific research is one of ruthless competition and exploitation, especially at the lower levels, and very few are willing to jeopardize their careers and funding opportunities by taking a stand on Palestine. The example needs to come at an institutional level or from those with job security.

We are told that the scientific community, instead of promoting boycotts, should be building bridges and the rest will follow.

But this assumes that decades of settler-colonial occupation, ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses can be boiled down to an issue of different peoples not talking to each other. Of course, what is being built are not bridges, but little bubbles where everything seems harmonious as long as you don’t look outside the bubble.

The key word here is normalization. Israel’s current existence as a settler-colonial, apartheid state to which international law is not being applied, relies heavily on its projection of itself as a modern, hi-tech, Western-style liberal democracy.

Prestigious conferences and joint scientific ventures, either in the name of advancing science or building bridges, all contribute to cementing this narrative.

Boycotts can be extremely effective, and the panicked Israeli reaction to the BDS movement is a testament to that.

A boycott campaign upsets the very foundations of the polished image Israel wants to project and forces people who would otherwise not be so inclined to look behind the curtain and uncover the grisly reality of ethnic cleansing, regular bombings and endless human rights violations.

New and improved apartheid
It’s not that long since the academic boycott against apartheid South Africa (which ran alongside cultural and sporting boycotts).

The United Nations even passed resolutions supporting it. I have no doubt that many people who today question or oppose an academic boycott of Israel would have happily embraced the boycott of South Africa.

Yet the Israeli version of apartheid is not in the least put in the shade by its South African predecessor.

Israel enjoys the unconditional support of the world’s leading superpower – which eventually dropped even its support of South Africa – and a potent lobby that reaches congresses, parliaments and editorial boards alike.

It would have been absurd to suggest that what was needed in South Africa was scientific collaboration involving apartheid and bantustan institutions. Replace South Africa with Israel and the bantustans – the nominally independent Black-ruled “homelands” set up by the apartheid regime – with the (bantustan-like) occupied territories, and it remains absurd.

The point is that science, like any other human activity, is not neutral, regardless of whether one is conscious of it or not. And if scientists wish to stand in solidarity with their Palestinian counterparts, then they ought to hear their opinion on the matter, which is overwhelmingly in favor of the academic boycott and against any collaboration involving Israeli institutions. Otherwise any idea of helping science in Palestine is just a charitable exercise, rooted in a Western-savior mentality.

At the end of the day boycotts, be they purely academic or wide-ranging like BDS, will not alone bring about justice and freedom for the Palestinians. The key role will be played by the Palestinian people.

But the scientific community needs to understand that it has a role to play, and boycotts have proven effective in fighting apartheid, in both its South African and Israeli incarnations, and the normalization that is crucial to its existence.
https://electronicintifada.net/content/ ... tt-israel/
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[quote="skinster"][/quote]

I guess you are on to something here skinsterina but it will never happen :lol:
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