7-29-2015 Matthew Duss: Congressional Testimony on Impact of BDS [Presented to Subcommittee on National Security, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform] Foundation for Middle East Peace

http://fmep.org/blog/2015/07/matthew-duss-congressional-testimony-on-impact-of-bds/


To the extent that one sees BDS actions as part of an effort to "de-legitimize" Israel, they should certainly be addressed, but not through legislation. Israel has the protection it needs and deserves under existing U.S. law. ..

I would also suggest that it is a mistake to focus on the BDS movement while ignoring the main reason for its continued growth, which is the failure to end the occupation that began in 1967 and achieve Palestinian national liberation and sovereignty. ..

Moreover, it would be hugely counterproductive to give BDS an unearned win by cooperating in any way with the conflation of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. …

Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

11-17-2014 This is not yet an intifada, Palestinians say - Philip Weiss Mondoweiss

11-17-2014 This is not yet an intifada, Palestinians say - Philip Weiss Mondoweiss http://mondoweiss.net/2014/11/netanyahus-intifada?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=3819b326ea-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b86bace129-3819b326ea-398495333 There is not yet a third intifada, Palestinians in East Jerusalem say. But there could be an organized uprising if Jewish zealots' incitements about the Al Aqsa mosque continue. In interviews, these Palestinians say that Israel's escalation of violence in East Jerusalem has isolated and terrified neighborhoods. "There is no security. You are afraid economically, politically, and physically." And the individual acts of violence by maddened Palestinians who feel they have nothing to lose reflects the universal demand for human dignity…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member
Read more

10-22-21015 Israel’s descent into unmasked, right wing extremism: A new generation rises to fight occupation, settler-colonialism, apartheid - Omar Barghouti Salon

http://www.salon.com/2015/10/22/israels_descent_into_unmasked_right_wing_extremism_a_new_generation_rises_to_fight_occupation_settler_colonialism_apartheid/     This Palestinian resistance is a spontaneous reaction to the most racist, far-right government in Israel's history…The question of Palestine is one of resistance against a colonial, apartheid regime.… Concerted, widespread, sustained nonviolent pressure that is anchored in international law and universal principles of human rights is needed, particularly in the form of boycott, divestment and sanctions, or BDS [and perhaps] a military embargo, for instance, similar to the one imposed on apartheid South Africa,…After such a "de-escalation," perhaps we can pursue the goal of freedom, justice and equality... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member
Read more

2-6-2014 On the Ugly Side of the Wall - Bill Fletcher, Jr. Tavis Smiley Show

http://www.tavissmileyradio.com/bill-fletcher-jr-traveling-through-palestine/   Last month, a small delegation of African American artists traveled through Israel and Palestine to get a firsthand look at the daily lives of Palestinians. What they saw shocked and angered them, and their eyewitness accounts are sure to spark debate here as heated as any confrontation in the Middle East. Bill Fletcher Jr., senior scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, led the delegation and shares his perspective on the region. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member
Read more