Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumIsrael to sue BDS activists
Israel's Justice Ministry is planning to file civil and criminal suits against BDS activists around the world. The charges: harming Israeli trade, racism and discrimination.Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) is developing a programme together with the ministry's international department to file suits against “delegitimisation activists” around the world on charges of harming Israeli trade, as well as racism and discrimination against Israel.
Following a review, the justice ministry concluded that whilst BDS activists have challenged numerous courts in the west, they have yet to receive a judicial ruling in their favour. The ministry's conclusion was therefore that courts will allow for the filing of suits against BDS activists, all in accordance with the legal system in each country.
The Israeli news site nrg reports that Shaked has ordered development of this programme to be expedited, and she doubled the number of staff positions in the ministry's international department in order to do so.
This programme is intended to be part of a wider Israeli struggle against BDS currently being developed by Minister Erdan (Likud), who is responsible for strategic affairs in the government.
Source: http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/activism/bds/874-israel-to-sue-bds-activists
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Purveyor
(29,876 posts)
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)
Israeli
(4,151 posts)By Gideon Levy
The tongue-cluckers are busy now. They must sharply condemn Oded Kotler for calling Likud voters “a herd of beasts,” and explain that there is no “real threat” to freedom of expression; after all, one can stage anything. They see themselves as center-left, but they also believe the state cannot fund plays and films about murderers, certainly not about Yigal Amir, and that we must also consider the feelings of the Tamam family, whose son was murdered by the terrorist who inspired the play “A Parallel Time.” They also believe that it’s forbidden to offend the Israel Defense Forces and that one must speak politely to the culture minister.
The tongue-clickers are sitting on the fence, as usual. They go along with all the distractions and illusions of the right; they are miserable collaborators who are sometimes worse than the nationalists.
This is no time to be fence-sitting; it’s time to take sides. Are you with us, or against us? This isn’t even the occupation, which remains far from the eye and can be blurred, somehow. Now you have to say yes or no – democracy or the coming dictatorship? – and act accordingly. There is no third option. Whoever remains silent supports that second choice.
The right is running rampant, unrestrained; it has taken off all the gloves, including the gloves of shame, and faced with this, the collaborators are stuttering: “How can Kotler say such things; how can they screen a film about a murderer, what about the Tamam family, and the IDF?” But what’s at stake is our country’s regime, its character, its substance. This is a fight for our home, and they are busy with manners and etiquette. They talk about dialogue with Culture Minister Miri Regev, as if there’s something to talk about or someone to talk to, instead of ostracizing and condemning her as she deserves.
We cannot stand on the sidelines and deal with trivialities like Kotler’s unnecessary remark. It’s not for nothing that he was attacked by Isaac Herzog, Shelly Yacimovich, Yair Lapid and Zehava Galon, while the knights of the left in the media are competing for who can say “ugh” more often. They know that this will absolve them from their real, combative role, which obligates them to stand up courageously to the strong and not be heroes at the weak’s expense.
Kotler, a worthy and principled person, has been marked as a public enemy by his colleagues no less that by the right, just like Yair Garbuz before him, and this huge distraction has succeeded again. That’s the way it is when the remnants of the left apologize and the center is no more than the right in disguise.
What’s at stake now is democracy, no less. There are no small words to describe the risk and there is no place for underestimating it. Whoever cancels funding to cultural institutions because of their political views is doing so because this is the most accessible weapon at the moment. But it’s liable to affect legislation as well. And when there’s a war on, to say “beasts” is not the issue and not the end of the world. The end of the world is the process being led by a power-crazed Miri Zhdanov to the jubilant cheers of the crowd, with the support of the government and the kowtowing center-left.
Regev is using boycotts and sanctions in a country that yells “gevalt!” about those who dare to boycott it from the outside, and is thus adding fuel to the fire, since a state that censors, just like one that subjugates, deserves a cultural boycott by the world.
Whoever is now “examining the funding sources” of Haifa’s Al-Midan Theater, which had been staging “A Parallel Time,” will do the same thing tomorrow to Haaretz. Whoever threatens a film festival because of a film to be screened there will soon force that festival to screen only films the government prefers. Whoever brings Norman Issa, who refused to perform over the Green Line, to his knees, will soon do the same to Jewish actors as well. Whoever says it’s forbidden to criticize the IDF is saying Israel is a censorship state.
And facing all this are the tongue-cluckers and the collaborators – Herzog, Lapid and their herd of supporters are the ones meant to contain the fire. Funny, isn’t it?
source: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.661727
shira
(30,109 posts)shira
(30,109 posts)“It’s good that the CEO of Orange went on the defensive. But the totality of this problem – this disease – it’s important to understand that we are talking about a new intifada,” Herzog told the audience on the opening day of the conference.
“If I were prime minister, I would have already devised an organized plan to defeat the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement,” he said in speech that largely marked what he would do differently had he been elected to the premiership in March.
Speaking from first-hand from visits to UK campuses, Herzog said he saw students who were proof of “disgusting displays of brainwashing” where they make their decisions based on their inability to understand the difference between Israeli policies and the existence of Israel itself.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has failed to formulate a strategic plan to combat this struggle. We are seeing boycotts impact every single aspect of our daily life – academia, culture, sports and, of course, business and finance,” he said, explaining that BDS poses a dangerous and omnipresent threat.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Left-Right-spar-over-Orange-controversy-and-BDS-in-Herzliya-405336?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
shira
(30,109 posts)“On BDS, I always say we have to move from defense to attack. With boycotts we don’t apologize and explain that ‘we’re a democratic country.’ It’s true we’re a democracy, but BDS aren’t human rights groups. They’re puppets of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the most radical movements of people who hang homosexuals and oppress women and cut off people’s hands. And all those people who think they’re doing something positive in Europe and America and who support this beautiful idea of defending the weak, they have to be told in a powerful way that they’re effectively supporting terror organizations of the type that brought 9/11 to the United States and the terror attacks on the undergrounds of London and Madrid, and Islamic State and al-Qaeda.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/mr-lapid-goes-to-washington/#
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)can U?
shira
(30,109 posts)What do u think about the following?
72% of European Jews regard BDS as antisemitic:
http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2013-discrimination-hate-crime-against-jews-eu-member-states_en.pdf
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)It will be hard for you in the end.
shira
(30,109 posts)It's 71% of American Jews...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1134&pid=106793
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)Israel, and the apartheid-ignoring bigots that support it are their own worst enemy, and they are writing their own none-too-happy end game.
shira
(30,109 posts)The POTUS also believes anti-Zionists (BDS being an anti-Zionist movement) are bigots.
What do you think about that?
Jimmy Carter says "Israel is a wonderful democracy with equal treatment of all citizens whether Arab or Jew."
=========
You think they're Apartheid-ignoring bigots?
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)Abd yes, Right Wing Israel apparently is full of lazy bigots that have voted for Likud and apartheid.
Deal with it.
shira
(30,109 posts)
procon
(15,805 posts)shira
(30,109 posts)procon
(15,805 posts)can't blame any outside influence for the path that they themselves have chosen toward becoming a failed state. No one can harm Israel any worse than what they do to themselves.
shira
(30,109 posts)....until it ceases being a Jewish state?
procon
(15,805 posts)any other non-violent method that will help produce a change in Israel's apartheid policies. Israel is not going to 'cease being a Jewish state' and I'm not going to play that facetious "Chicken Little" game again, so just stop. There is no realistic counterpoint to defend Israel's policies of discrimination.
When world opinion forced So Africa to examine their own future they were compelled to renounce their apartheid policies in order to become a successful nation. Likewise, Israel has the same choice to either embrace change or continue repeating the same mistakes that lead to failure.
shira
(30,109 posts)....of a Jewish state. It's certainly not a Zionist movement that supports a Jewish state next to a Palestinian one.
I don't know why it's so difficult to condemn BDS for having such an extreme hardline position. You could still say you support boycotts in order to bring about a 2-state solution that includes a secure Jewish state but you don't agree with BDS's ultimate goal.
BDS is considered shady because its leaders and advocates clearly see a need to obscure what BDS is all about.
procon
(15,805 posts)but I'm not, so I won't support discrimination and oppression. As an advocate for BDS, I oppose inequality, while you're advocating for more of the same. I don't follow any "leader", no one is "obscuring" my POV, and to suggest that makes me "a shady character" is pretty funny... in an alternative universe sorta way.
shira
(30,109 posts)....it ceases to be a Jewish state?
If you think that's a worthy cause, say so loud and clear.
I know why you won't, even if you can't say it. Norman Finkelstein made it very clear a few years ago:
procon
(15,805 posts)When you can't even sustain a discussion on substance, flinging out these specious charges is not going to tip the argument in your favor. There is no defense for decades of pointless, unproductive discrimination, subjugation and oppression, none.
shira
(30,109 posts)And you're still avoiding them. We're not having a discussion when you're deliberately holding something back.
I can only imagine you refuse to answer because you know you cannot defend your position publicly, which is exactly what Norm Finkelstein argued. Chomsky argues the same thing, going even further to say that 1-state BDS against a Jewish state harms Palestinians, being that it's so extreme and cannot possibly be defended publicly. BDS'ers may as well be working for AIPAC since their extreme views are a gift to the pro-Israel contingent. Those views have no chance of reaching an International consensus based on Int'l law (2 states).
So where do you stand on the existence of a Jewish state?
leveymg
(36,418 posts)http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/US-Jews-strongly-support-Israel-new-poll-shows
Hard to consider this a reliable, objective source, appropriate for DU, for the following reason.
Let's Google Frank Lutz:
Consultant
Frank I. Luntz is an American political consultant, pollster, and "public opinion guru" best known for developing talking points and other messaging for various Republican causes. Wikipedia
Born: February 23, 1962 (age 53), West Hartford, CT
Party: Republican Party
There you go again, shira, citing Rightwing sources. Not the most effective approach here on DU. Sure you're really preaching to this audience? Your arguments might be more persuasive over at the Freep.
shira
(30,109 posts)In Israel, it's more than 72% of Jews who see BDS as a hate movement.
What do you think about the vast majority of Jews who know antisemitism when they see it & call out BDS for the hate movement it is?
Gothmog
(145,345 posts)Bibi is being stupid
shira
(30,109 posts)
bemildred
(90,061 posts)
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)Another interesting moment for the Israeli government.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)Using the law as weapon in its own right, a venue where money wins.
I remember reading about it as new in the 80s. It has becomes more less the expected thing now whenever anybody tries to invade political space with anything smacking of the public interest.
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)Israel should simultaneously sue the world while asking for aid to continue aparthied.
Israeli
(4,151 posts)Guess who is next .......
We are all anti-semits now dont you know .......
Lieberman seeks to defund Knesset parties who call for boycott
Yisrael Beytenu leader submits legislation proposal calling on the Knesset to pull funding from any party supporting the labelling of settlement products.
Moran Azulay
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman proposed on Thursday his first legislation as a member of the opposition places the crosshairs directly on opposition parties who support the boycott and/or labeling of settlement products.
According to the proposal, state funding will be withdrawn for any Knesset party that actively promotes the boycott against or product labeling of either Israel at large or the settlements specifically.
According to Lieberman, the draft was submitted as a reaction to statements from Joint Arab List MKs, and after Meretz tried to promote legislation that would label settlement products.
The explanatory portion of the legislation states: "In conjuncture with Israel's current battle against boycotts, sanctions and financial damages caused by states and anti-Israel organizations seeking to hurt Israel, including Israeli owned corporations and businesses, it is only appropriate that the state itself doesn't fund Knesset parties and factions which call for such a boycott or support it."
"I have no doubt that the calls for a boycott, which hurts Israel and its citizens, are much more damaging and severe when coming from within Israel's own legislature," he said. "It is not logical that Israeli taxpayers fund those who call for acts hurting their income and the state's economy."
"This new methodology of boycotting Israeli goods is simply a new form of anti-Semitism which has no place in the Knesset," he said. "This legislation seeks to give the Speaker of the Knesset the power to form guidelines for defunding Knesset parties who call for a boycott of Israel."
Source : http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4670031,00.html
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)azurnoir
(45,850 posts)calling it that is a statement in and of itself
Israeli
(4,151 posts)...there is no West Bank azurnoir........its Judea and Samaria, part of a Greater Israel.
The settlements are Israel .......there is no Green Line .
He makes no distinction between Israel Proper as once was ...or what we have today .
Plus he makes no distinction between Palestinians on either side of the Green Line....for him they are all Arabs .
Thus : http://972mag.com/its-time-to-erase-the-green-line/107930/
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)leveymg
(36,418 posts)Or, is this just theatrics?
But, what if they're serious? Mossad assassinates foreign scientists and political leaders they don't like. It's not that far a leap to expect they'll take the same approach, if the present Israeli regime is serious about BDS being a real threat to Israel's existence.
Why don't we just call this Right-wing campaign of intimidation, harassment and black-listing of BDS activists what it really is?
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)You can't kill a movement when it is just.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)Dangerous combination for a nuclear-armed power. Maybe, those are things they should divest themselves of, first.
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)Perhaps if they loved peace more than the land that they have stolen things would be a little more sane.
