BDS Campaign: Permanent Address for
Palestinian Solidarity
Edited By: KANWAL ABIDI *Political Analyst & Journalist
Editor’s
Note for the Readers:
Waters is a supporter of the BDS campaign opposing Israel’s
illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
The
intellectual dishonesty of Israel’s supporters is appalling. But in some odd
way, it is also understandable. How else could they respond to the massively
growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign?
When a non-violent
campaign—empowered by thousands of committed civil society activists from South
Africa to Sweden and most countries in between—leads a moral campaign to
isolate and hold into account an Apartheid country like Israel, all that the
supporters of the latter can do is spread lies and misinformation. There can be
no other strategy, unless of course, Israel’s friends get their own moment of
moral awakening and join the BDS flood that has already broken many barriers
and liberated many minds from the grip of Israeli hasbara.
According to their logic,
and that of the likes of Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, writing in the New York
Observer on Dec 12, legendary musician and human rights champion Roger
Waters is an ‘anti-Semite’. In fact, according to the writer, he is an
‘anti-Semite’ of the worst type. “I’ve read some heavy-duty attacks on Israel
and Jews in my time, but they pale beside the anti-Semitic diatribe recently
offered by Roger Waters, co-founder and former front man of the legendary
British rock band Pink Floyd.”
Of course, Waters is as
far away from racism as Boteach is far away from truly representing the Jewish
people or Judaism. But what has earned Waters such a title, which is often
bestowed without much hesitation at anyone who dares to challenge Israel’s
criminal policies, military occupation, and insistence on violating over 70
United Nations resolutions, is that Waters is a strong critic of Israel. In a
recent interview with CounterPunch, Waters stated the obvious,
describing Israel as a ‘racist Apartheid regime’, decrying its ‘ethnic
cleaning’ of Palestinians, and yes, refusing to perform in a country that he
saw as an equivalent to the “Vichy government in occupied France.”
Boteach is particularly
daring to go after Waters, a person adored by millions, and not only because of
his legendary music, but also of his well-known courageous and moral stances.
But once again, the panic felt in pro-Israeli circles is understandable. What
Israeli officials describe as the de-legitimization of Israel is reaching a
point where it is about to reach a critical mass. It is what Palestinian
Gaza-based BDS activist Dr. Haidar Eid referred to in a recent interview as
Palestine’s South Africa moment.
In an article in the
Israeli daily Haaretz published on Dec 12, Barak Ravid
introduced his piece with a dramatic but truthful statement: “Western activists
and diplomats are gunning for Israel’s settlements in the Palestinian
territories, and if peace talks fail, the rain of boycotts and sanctions could
turn into a flood.” Entitled “Swell of boycotts driving Israel into
international isolation,” Ravid’s article establishes a concrete argument of why
the boycott movement is growing in a way unprecedented in the history of
Israel.
I am writing these words
from Spain, the last stop on a European speaking tour that has taken me to four
European countries: France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium. The purpose of
my tour was to promote the recently published French edition of my last two
books, the second being: My Father Was a Freedom Fighter, Gaza’s Untold Story
(Resistant en Palestine, une histoire vrai de Gaza). But at the heart of all my
talks was the promotion of what I call ‘redefining our relationship to the
struggle in Palestine,’ based first and foremost on ‘moral divestment’ from
Israel. Only then, can we change our role from spectators and sympathizers to
active participants as human rights defenders. The main address of such
activities can be summed up in the initials: BDS.
What I learned throughout
my tour, well attended and also covered in French media, was even to surprise
me. The BDS debate is at such an advanced stage and it has indeed surpassed my
expectations. In my last European tour of 2010, many of us were attempting to
push the boundaries of the debate facing much resistance, even from groups and
movements that were viewed as progressive. The situation has now changed in
such an obvious away that on occasions I was compelled by the audience to
discuss the most effective BDS strategies, as opposed to defending the very
virtue of the tactic.
And within the two weeks
of my travels, there was a flood of news of western governments, companies and
academic institutions either joining the boycott or deliberating the possibility
of doing so. The Romanian government, for example, is refusing to allow its
labors to work in illegal Jewish settlements. A few years ago, this kind of
news was simply unheard of.
But what changed? In some
respects, nothing, and that is the crux of the argument. The Israeli occupation
is more entrenched than ever; the illegal settlements are increasing and
expanding; and the so-called peace process remains a charade maintained mostly
for political self-serving reasons—a cover for the colonial policies of Israel,
and a condition for continued US-western financial and political backing of the
Palestinian Authority, and so on. But other factors are changing as well. BDS
activists have found a common strategy and are formulating a unifying narrative
that is finally liberating the Palestinian discourse from the ills of
factionalism, empty slogans and limiting ideology. The new platform is both
decisive in its morality and objectives, yet flexible in its ability to
encompass limitless groups, religions and nationalities.
Indeed, there is no room
for racism or hate speech in BDS platforms. What is equally as important is
that there can also be no space for gatekeepers who are too sensitive about
Israel’s racially-motivated sensibilities, or those ever-willing to manipulate
history in such a clever way as to prevent a pro-active strategy in being
advanced. The ship has sailed through all of this, and the boycott is vastly
becoming the new and permanent address of the international solidarity with the
collective resistance and struggle of the Palestinian people.
Of course, when Roger
Waters took the stances that he did, he knew well of the likes of Boteach who
would immediately denounce him as ‘anti-Semite.’ The fact is, however, the
number of ‘Roger Waters’ out there is quickly growing, and the power of their
moral argument is widely spreading. Israeli smear tactics are not only
ineffective but also self-defeating.
Special
Thanks to: Ramzy Baroud
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