Subscribe to our RSS feed.
Follow Us on TwitterDuncan Shipley-Smith (NSW) writes to The Echo on Palestine and boycotts 27Sep11 October 2, 2011
In the recent motion passed in the NSW Legislative Council Jan Barham voted to ‘reluctantly’ support the condemnation of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.
Quote: ‘[The] Greens… We have clear and long-term principles about peace and non-violence, about seeking resolution in peaceful and non-violent ways, about
supporting peoples’ rights and aspirations, and about seeking to uphold United Nations resolutions, international law and conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’. The rich irony of this statement lies in the fact that the BDS campaign is precisely all of these – a non-violent campaign to pressure Israel to abide by international law. The anti-Semitic rhetoric attached to the BDS movement by some critics is a red herring designed to queer the debate. ‘Jewish’ businesses are not the target as, for example, Kevin Rudd would have us believe. Businesses profiting from the illegal occupation and annexation of Palestinian land are. Volvo and Caterpillar are two such businesses – neither is Jewish. BDS is not anti-Semitic for one simple reason: it was created by Semitic people as a response to injustice in Palestine. If a business supports war crimes in Palestine, be it a chocolate shop or an arms manufacturer, it is fair game.
Thank You.
