BDS vs. Palestinian Statehood

[Mosby]

This year’s National Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) conference took place at Bethlehem University where we witnessed a strong dose of Palestinian realism when a dispute occurred between the Palestinian Minister of Economy Jawad Al-Naji, and BDS participant, Nizar Banat, resulting in Al-Naji storming out of the room. The argument was triggered when Banat questioned Mahmoud Abbas and his tactics of normalization with Israel as the conference also aimed at combating such relations with Israel.

Consequently, Banat later found himself in the hospital after he was attacked when leaving the conference by PA security officers and Fatah “thugs.”

So while according to the schedule there were featured BDS solidarity messages from celebrities like Desmond Tutu and Roger Waters and of course, a live presentation by BDS leader and founder Omar Barghouti all paled in the face of Palestinian censorship.

All of the above underscores the fallacies of the movement at large and reveal its true agenda – rejectionism of the State of Israel not its policies. Moreover, the explicit anti-Semitic nature of BDS shines as part of the anti-colonial and anti-globalization trends peaking with Resolution 3379 codifying Zionism as a form of racism.

It is truly ironic that while the BDS movement purports to question Israeli policies and treatment of Palestinians. There is virtually no condemnation of the kind of free speech or lack thereof exercised in Palestinian towns and cities not to mention universities like Bethlehem University. Furthermore, a free standing independent functioning Palestinian state is not even part of the BDS zeitgeist.

http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/06/14/bds-vs-palestinian-statehood/

[shira]

1. BDS 1-staters are as rightwing as any other 1-stater.

That pretty much makes all anti-zionists for 1-state right-wingers whose goals aren't significantly different than the most hardcore Kahanists.