A follow-on from the previous post: Congress has used trade negotiations to solidify Israeli control over Palestinian lands.
Boycotts are a constitutionally protected form of free speech, and action to prevent them could be unconstitutional. In any event this legislation puts a chilling effect on efforts in the EU to uphold international law by boycotting products produced in illegally occupied territory. Whether you are a supporter of Israel or not, no one should have the right to deprive those who want a peaceful settlement from continuing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks to persuade Israel to conform with international law and human rights. I personally doubt the efficacy of the BDS movement, but support the right of those who believe in it to continue it. By facilitating Israel’s impunity in dispossessing the Palestinians, Congress inflames an already volatile situation that contributes to the despair and turmoil in the Middle East. Those who support the efforts of liberal Jews, growing daily in number, ito counter the policies of the Israeli government do so because they want Israel to thrive and to live in peace, and they oppose the views of religious extremists in Israel on the grounds that they endanger the very future of the country.
Legitimizing Settlements: The legislation includes language that legitimizes the settlements by including “territory controlled by Israel” as well as Israel ‘proper’ — part of an ongoing attempt to erase the Green Line. This language will legislate support for Greater Israel, countering official US policy of opposing the settlements.
The hypocrisy of all this is that the bill urges negotiators to make support for human rights another principal objective of trade talks!
(I owe these two posts to Jewish Voice for Peace, one of several liberal Jewish organisations that struggle to achieve a civilised resolution to the Palestinian situation.
Those who see dark plots being hatched in everything on Earth now claim that a pay- off is at hand. That is, Congress, which ( rightly) hates the idea of nodding through secret international agreements without debate, is going to be allowed to include the Israel amendments to keep them quiet, cash for election being a higher priority than stopping the forced seizure of Palestinian land ( I mean, who cares? Aren’t they all terrorists?)
Surprise, shock, horror! How can anyone suggest such a thing? Of course, I don’t believe it for a moment.
I don’t think Congress has the right to intervene on behalf of the Israelis or the Palestinians using trade deals like these. Free trade is about trading with everyone, not giving special privilidges to your allies. I also agree that the BDS movement has a right to do what they are doing, but I personally don’t believe in boycotts as generally the elites pass the costs on to the working class who have very little influence on what is actually going on. In this instance, I believe that boycotts could actually harm the Palestinians, as their economy is so dependent on Israel’s. I don’t think its right to punish people for the perceived wrongs of their governments.
In reality, these ‘free trade’ deals are not free. They are politically motivated, and are sponsored by big corporations who would like nothing more than to ship more jobs overseas. So if they think that a Greater Israel is in their economic interests, they will push for it, which is wrong because it violates the multilateral nature of the peace talks in favour of one-sided pressure. This conflict will be solved by diplomacy, not by corporate trade schemes and boycotts.
Interesting statistics:
Parliamentary candidates standing in next week’s UK General Election have signalled their support for the recognition of the state of Palestine in 2015, according a new poll that found that 89% of responding candidates either ‘strongly agree’ or ‘tend to agree’ with the statement “statehood for Palestine (on 1967 lines) is a right which should be recognised in 2015”.
The survey follows in the wake of last October’s vote in Parliament, when MPs voted emphatically to urge the government to “recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel” as part of a “contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution”. (Quoted by Medical Aid for Palestinians, a medical charity)
American public opinion is way behind that in Europe, where the media are much more even-handed and informative. Even so, in the US the groundswell against the extremists is growing every day.