Stirring #debate on #BDS, ‘NYT’ allows readers to speak out about inequality

I’m easily astonished, but this is astonishing. The New York Times runs a bumper crop of letters about BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) in its international edition today, 15 of them, and most of the letters are pro-BDS, and from Americans, including activists in the Palestinian solidarity movement who oppose ethnic supremacy and inequality. Exciting excerpts are below.
…
Some excerpts. Cherry-picked, of course!

It’s galling that in a piece on the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (B.D.S.) movement, launched in 2005 by Palestinian civil society in response to Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights, Jodi Rudoren frames her story in terms of B.D.S. echoing the anti-Semitic boycotts of Nazi Germany, quoting several Israelis harshly critical of B.D.S. and just one Palestinian supporter. Ms. Rudoren even seems to endorse allegations that B.D.S. is anti-Semitic and directed at Jews rather than Israel and Israelis, writing, “Avoiding a coffee shop because you don’t like the way the boss treats his employees is voting with your wallet; doing so because the boss is Jewish — or black or female or gay — is discrimination.” Contrary to what Ms. Rudoren and the quoted B.D.S. critics suggest, the movement does not target Jews, individually or collectively, and rejects all forms of bigotry and discrimination, including anti-Semitism. B.D.S. is, in fact, a legal, moral and inclusive movement struggling against the discriminatory policies of a country that defines itself in religiously exclusive terms, and that seeks to deny Palestinians the most basic rights simply because we are not Jewish.

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Ramallah, West Bank

The B.D.S. movement has nothing to do with animus toward Jews. Many American Jews, myself included, are vigorously working in support of B.D.S. — and there are more and more of us with every passing month. We target Israel for boycott not because we believe Israel is the worst human rights violator (we don’t), but because Israel is the single largest recipient of American foreign aid, more than $3 billion a year. As Jews, as taxpayers, as people of conscience, we have not only the right but the moral obligation to use boycott and divestment as strategies of nonviolent resistance to Israel’s systematic, racist mistreatment of Palestinians being done on our nickel and in our names.

Hannah Schwarzschild Arlington, Mass.

…
In view of the massive unquestioned support of Israel by the American government, one might assume that Israel would be more cooperative in the search for peace and justice. This has obviously not happened. Resorting to proclaiming anti-Semitism every time there are questions as to the policies of the Israeli government is the fallback position when all else fails. This should not be allowed.

Doris Rausch, Columbia, Md.

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/02/stirring-readers-inequality.html

Boycott ALL goods with barcode #729… #Hasbara #BDS #boycott #BDSmovement #apartheid #Israel #Palestine #ethniccleansing #activism #Zionism #settlers #colonialism #internationallaw #occupation #mideast #middle-east #middleeast #humanrights #human-rights #Palestinian #Palestine #OPT #politics #discrimination #segregation #crimes #boycotts #westbank #NYT

Jewish community commits #intellectual #suicide before our eyes

Three acts of #censorship in New York demonstrate the desperate pass to which Zionism has brought the American Jewish community: we are walking away from our greatest treasure, literacy.

Two days ago I reported that the Museum of Jewish Heritage had spiked a panel featuring John Judis’s book on Truman and Israel because that book, which says that Truman was for the separation of church and state and took a dim view of Zionism but the lobby compelled him to act against his principles, is just too scary and controversial.

Yesterday we reported that Ramaz School in New York had barred Rashid Khalidi from speaking and that students had risen up demanding that the prohibition be lifted. Jerry #Haber says:

No doubt the school is fearful of alienating its donor base. No explanation has been given so far.

Then there’s the news that Judith #Butler was supposed to give a talk about Kafka at the Jewish Museum of NY on March 6 and withdrew after people began flipping out over her endorsement of BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel). Again, donor pressure is cited.

Despite the event being non-political, critics contended that hosting someone who advocates against Israel at a museum that receives charitable contributions from the Jewish community crossed the line.

“The hosting of [BDS] advocate Judith Butler by The Jewish Museum is a slap in the face to every Jew,” Richard Allen, head of JCC Watch, told JNS.org.

The museum said in a statement, “[Butler] was chosen on the basis of her expertise on the subject matter to be discussed. While her political views were not a factor in her participation, the debates about her politics have become a distraction making it impossible to present the conversation about Kafka as intended.”

This is truly disgraceful. The #Jewish community is in #IQ freefall, and it’s happening before our eyes. The crazy uncles in our community are putting their feet down about who can come into the house, and other forbears are accepting the prohibitions out of some tribal impulse that recalls the self-destruction of the Shabbatai Tzvi collective delusion of the 1600s.
…
http://mondoweiss.net/2014/02/community-intellectual-suicide.html

Boycott ALL goods with barcode #729…
#Hasbara #BDS #boycott #BDSmovement #apartheid #Israel #Palestine #ethniccleansing #activism #Zionism #settlers #colonialism #internationallaw #occupation #mideast #middle-east #middleeast #humanrights #human-rights #Palestinian #Palestine #OPT #politics #discrimination #segregation #crimes #boycotts #westbank #NYC #JewishMuseum #Ramaz-School #RamazSchool #MuseumofJewishHeritage #Museum-of-Jewish-Heritage