The Third Intifada is underway

Just to pre-empt the idea that this process is being run by "Jew haters" I give you the latest column from the New York Times...

A Conflict of Faith: Devoted to Jewish Observance, but at Odds With Israel
FEB. 14, 2014

There is no question that Charles H. Manekin is a rarity. Not because he is an Orthodox Jew who keeps the Sabbath, refraining from driving, turning on lights, even riding in elevators on Saturdays. Rather, this philosophy professor at the University of Maryland is rare because he believes that his Orthodox faith calls him to take stands against Israel.

Professor Manekin, 61, became Orthodox in college and became an Israeli citizen in the 1980s. Yet in an interview this week, he denounced Israel’s “excessive reliance” on military force, its treatment of Arab citizens and its occupation of the West Bank. Although not a member of the American Studies Association, he was pleased when the group voted in December not to collaborate with Israeli academic institutions — the “academic boycott.” He is “sympathetic” to B.D.S., as the global movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel is known.
“As a religious Jew,” he said, “I am especially disturbed by the daily injustices perpetrated against the Palestinians.”

15beliefs-articleLarge.jpg


From left, Daniel Boyarin of Berkeley, Corey Robin of Brooklyn College, Rabbi Alissa Wise and Charles H. Manekin of the University of Maryland, all observant Jews who have found that their views on Israel differ from those of family members and friends.

The vast majority of Jews consider themselves supportive of Israel. They may quarrel with various Israeli policies, but since the state’s founding in 1948, and especially since the 1967 war, Zionism has been a common denominator of world Jewry.
And while there have always been anti- or non-Zionist Jews, today they cluster on the less observant end of Judaism, among secular or religiously liberal Jews. In such a world, Professor Manekin — a modern Orthodox Jew in a skullcap whose religion moves him to oppose Israel — is exceedingly rare.

Zionism was not always the norm among American Jews. Nevertheless, those committed to Jewish practice but openly at odds with Israel are now likely to find themselves at odds with their friends and family. In the past couple of months, events like the American Studies vote and the endorsement by the actress Scarlett Johansson of a seltzer-maker in the occupied West Bank have multiplied the opportunities for tense family dinners.

Professor Manekin spends about half the year in Israel, where his children and grandchildren live, so he is hardly boycotting the country with his own dollars (or shekels). But since 2007 he has regularly offered criticisms of Israel on his blog, The Magnes Zionist. It is named for Judah L. Magnes, an American rabbi who, until his death in 1948, argued that a Jewish return to the Middle East did not require a nation-state.
“People look at ‘non-statist Zionism’ as the type that lost,” Professor Manekin said this week, referring to Rabbi Magnes’s philosophy. “But I found a lot of what they were saying resonated today, and a lot of their predictions about endless war had come to pass.”
Stefan Krieger, 67, teaches law at Hofstra University, on Long Island. He refrains from work on the Sabbath, keeps kosher, and studies a page of the Talmud every day. But his views on Israel have always been unusual.
“My parents were very sensitive to the issues of Palestinians,” Professor Krieger said. “My mom had a book called ‘They Are Human Too,’ and my memory is she would take it off the bookshelf, as if this was some sort of scandalous tract she was showing me, and show me pictures of Palestinians in refugee camps.”

Professor Krieger, who supports the B.D.S. movement, will not rise in synagogue for the traditional prayer for the state of Israel. “I think nationalism and religion together are toxic,” he said.
So far, he said, the fallout has been minimal. “I was worried it would destroy some relationships. I don’t think it has yet.” At a synagogue Professor Krieger used to attend, one woman would not enter the sanctuary when he was seated on the bimah, or stage. When he placed some literature from Rabbis for Human Rights, a liberal Israeli group, on a table, “she threw it out.”


Alissa Wise, 34, grew up in Cincinnati, in what she calls a “modern Orthodox or Conservative kind of background, a very right-wing Zionist background.” In 1999, she arrived at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. On her first day of classes, there was a pro-Palestinian rally on campus.
Rabbi Wise — she was later ordained in the Reconstructionist branch of Judaism — was shocked to learn of the West Bank occupation. “I had gone to Jewish summer camp and Jewish day school my whole life and had no idea,” she said.
Today, Rabbi Wise works for Jewish Voice for Peace, a group that endorses some boycotts against Israel. Her views make her a minority in her family.
“I still believe the way I believe,” said her father, Ron, who works for Osem, an Israeli food company. “I am open to how she believes, and I listen to her.”
But, he continued, “At the same time, Israel needs to be protected.”
Daniel Boyarin, who teaches Talmud at the University of California, Berkeley, attended Orthodox synagogues for 30 years. He believes that Zionism was always flawed.
“The very concept of a state defined as being for one people was deeply problematic and inevitably going to lead to a moral and political disaster,” said Professor Boyarin. “Which I think it has.”

Professor Boyarin, 67, is still observant, but he has dropped out of synagogue life. “I have been so disturbed by the political discourse,” he said, “that I felt that I couldn’t participate.”
Skepticism toward Zionism used to be common. Before World War II, Reform Jews tended to believe that they had found a home in the United States, and that Zionism could be seen as a form of dual loyalty. Orthodox Jews generally believed, theologically, that a state of Israel would have to wait for the Messiah’s arrival (a view some ultra-Orthodox Jews still hold). In the 1930s and ’40s, the persecution of European Jews turned many American Jews into Zionists. Major organizations, like the American Jewish Committee and Hillel, the Jewish campus group, turned toward political Zionism after the war.

“When Hillel was founded, it took a clear non-Zionist position,” said Noam Pianko, who teaches Jewish history at the University of Washington. “What you see is a shift in the American spectrum: from non-Zionism with a few Zionists, to a situation, by the 1960s, where the assumption is that any American Jewish organization is also going to be clearly Zionist.”
Corey Robin, 46, a regular at a Conservative synagogue in Brooklyn, writes a blog about his opposition to Israeli policy and his support for the B.D.S. movement. “There are lots of ways to be Jewish, but worshiping a heavily militarized state seems like a bit of a comedown from our past,” Professor Robin, who teaches political science at Brooklyn College, said in an email.
He said that he tries not to get into arguments with friends, but he has become very “vocal and visible” in his writings. In response to such views, Professor Robin is often accused of despising Judaism.

“As my mother, who is very pro-Israel, will tell you, I love being Jewish,” Professor Robin said. “I love when I’m walking down the street, and my 5-year-old daughter’s skipping next to me, singing to herself some tune in Hebrew that we sang in shul.
“I can’t listen to that tune and the words we sing when we close the ark without a shudder. I love being Jewish. I just don’t love the state of Israel.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/15/u...ance-but-at-odds-with-israel.html?ref=us&_r=3
 
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I find it disgusting, and yet so common among the supporters of Israel that although they must realise the fact that their own rabid, self centred rhetoric has become somewhat of a joke, they still try to label anyone who criticises Israel as "Anti Semitic" or "Jew haters".

These obviously deliberate attempts at discrediting anyone who attempts to tell the truth is an accurate gauge as to their state of desperation and shows exactly how deeply ingrained this habit of deliberate lying has become. They are so self assured, that they never stopped to think that one day the world would see through their lies and have never even bothered to try and think of something at least a little more credible.

Reading through the article it is reassuring to see that more and more highly regarded, well educated Jews are sickening of Israel's murderous and deliberately deceptive behaviour both in the past and present. The only thing that disappoints me is that it has taken so long. Having said that, it is becoming more apparent the Israel has been heavily censoring the news available to their citizens and followers.
Rabbi Wise said:
Rabbi Wise — she was later ordained in the Reconstructionist branch of Judaism — was shocked to learn of the West Bank occupation. “I had gone to Jewish summer camp and Jewish day school my whole life and had no idea,” she said.

The seeds of dissent against Israel's behaviour by informed Jews have been sown, and the number of adherents to this movement is growing slowly but ever so surely, seemingly faster among the more highly educated.

Personally I can see that unless things change enormously, there is a very good chance that like so many radical and rogue regimes, Israel will disintegrate from within rather than by such things as military intervention from without. Something they have never planned for.
 
The "twins" have spoken.

A Slap in the Face for Anti-Israel BDS Movement:

Abbas's stance against the BDS campaign should serve as a wake up call to all its supporters, especially those who are not Palestinians, that negative campaigns only serve to promote hatred and extremism in the region.

Many Palestinians seem to share Abbas's view. That is why many Palestinians continue to do business with Israelis on a daily basis and continue to hold joint conferences in Israel and different parts of the world.​

BDS a hate crime? In France, legal vigilance punishes anti-Israel activists:

Some 20 pro-BDS activists have been convicted under the so-called Lellouche law, which has put France at the forefront of efforts to counter the movement through legal means.​


What’s Wrong with BDS?

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement’s biggest problem is that it will not work​
 
Just a couple of points:
1) Of course the PA is not for it but it does not matter as the boycott is not being driven by the PA it is being driven by people world wide that are sick to death of of the status quo.


2) You can pass laws until hell freezes over but they will not change peoples minds and the harder you enforce those laws the more people will identify with it.

3) As said even if the economic side of the boycott fails the BDS movement continues to bring Israels actions to the world and nothing could be more revealing than Israels comparison to apartheid South Africa...


Former South African Ambassador Slams Israeli 'Apartheid'

Recently retired South African ambassador to Israel sends a letter to pro-Arab activists, slamming Israel’s "replication of apartheid."

By Elad Benari
First Publish: 6/19/2013, 5:14 AM

The recently retired South African ambassador to Israel has sent a letter to pro-Arab, anti-Israel activists in which he slammed Israel’s "replication of apartheid."

The contents of the letter sent by Ismail Coovadia were published Tuesday.

In it, Coovadia explained his decision to reject a symbolic gift from the Israeli government — planting trees in his honor in a national park named after South Africa.

He explained that Israeli policies which, he claims, discriminate against Palestinian Authority Arabs appeared to be reminiscent of his experiences under South Africa's apartheid system.

“Regrettably, my permission was not sought to plant a tree/s in my or the name of a South African Ambassador on usurped land, the rightful land of the Palestinians and Bedouins. I reserve the right to the usage of my name with or without my permission,” Coovadia wrote.

“I was not a party to, and never will be, to the planting of ‘18 trees,’ in my ‘honor,’ on expropriated and stolen land,” he added.

Coovadia, who completed his four-year term in January, confirmed the letter's contents. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said on Tuesday that Coovadia did not made such complaints during his term.

The claim that Israel carries out a policy of “apartheid” against Arabs is used by both anti-Israel organization as well as by leaders of the Palestinian Authority. Israeli Arabs, however, have the right to vote, serve in the Knesset, study in Israeli universities, share the same hospitals and public facilities and work alongside Israeli Jews.

At the same time, the same PA leaders who slam Israel’s so-called “apartheid” have clarified that if a Palestinian state is ever established, no Israeli citizen will be allowed to set foot inside.

The incident involving the former ambassador is the latest in a series of incidents involving South Africa over the past year.

In April, South Africa imposed new rules requiring that goods imported from Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem display special labels.

The new rules stipulate that goods will no longer carry "Made in Israel" labels but instead will have to be specific about the exact origin of the goods.

Last year, South African Minister Rob Davies issued an announcement warning merchants “not to incorrectly label products that originate from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) as products of Israel.”

He later rejected “with utter contempt” suggestions that there were racial motivations for his move, saying his department was neither seeking to promote a boycott of Israeli goods nor to prevent the entry of such products into South Africa.

Students at the South African the University of the Witwatersrand voted several months ago to boycott Israeli institutions.

The resolution passed by the university’s student council states that the University will “not participate in any form of cultural or academic collaboration or joint projects with Israeli institutions and will not provide support to Israeli cultural or academic institutions”.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169080
 
Of course VD you are right after all if the BDS was causing issues for the Israelis they would do the usual and trot out Nuttyyahoo to tell us he wasn't afraid of it and use the good old fall back terms like "anti-Semitic".

If it was really worrying him he would throw out the "they want to destroy Israel" line and just to really ram his point home it would be called a boycott of "Jews" even though the BDS movement is quite clear that it has nothing to do with being Jewish or even Israeli it is simply a Boycott of firms dealing with the occupation of the West Bank and they can be from any country but he wouldn't want to let the truth get in the way of a good argument.

Fortunately it is clear that the BDS movement is not a threat so he would never have to do any of this.

Ooops...

Israel boycott movement is antisemitic, says Binyamin Netanyahu
PM says founders of international boycott, divestment and sanctions movement want to see end of Jewish state

Ian Black in Jerusalem
theguardian.com, Tuesday 18 February 2014 14.53 GMT

Binyamin Netanyahu has launched a swingeing attack on supporters of a boycott of Israel, accusing them of practising "antisemitism in a new garb", and urged the country's friends to "expose and outflank" them by emphasising its high-tech achievements and global economic appeal.

Addressing a conference of US Jewish organisations in Jerusalem, the Israeli prime minister said the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement was intended to lead to "the end of the Jewish state".

"Some supporters of the movement see it as a way to put pressure on Israel to end illegal settlements in the territories occupied in the 1967 war; others favour the creation of a single state that would dismantle Israel.

"I think the most eerie thing, the most disgraceful thing is to have people on the soil of Europe talking about the boycott of Jews," Netanyahu said. "In the past, antisemites boycotted Jewish businesses and today they call for the boycott of the Jewish state. And by the way, only the Jewish state.

"The founders of the BDS movement make their goals perfectly clear. They want to see the end of the Jewish state. They're quite explicit about it. And I think it's important that the boycotters must be exposed for what they are. They're classical antisemites in modern garb. And I think we have to fight them. It's time to delegitimise the delegitimisers."

Netanyahu's remarks reflect anger and anxiety in Jerusalem about BDS, which claims to have made a significant advance during the recent row involving Scarlett Johansson's sponsorship of a factory in a West Bank settlement and her leaving her role as a goodwill ambassador for Oxfam.

Pressure on Israel is mounting, especially from Europe, where NGOs, trade unions, churches and others are forcing their governments to take action. Last year the EU blocked grants and funding for any Israeli entity operating beyond the pre-1967 borders, building on earlier decisions to require the labelling of goods produced in settlements. Two weeks ago the US secretary of state, John Kerry, warned that Israel would face more calls for boycotts if the current peace talks with the Palestinians collapsed.

But Israel was far from being shunned, Netanyahu insisted: "Israel is being sought after.. Founders and leaders of big companies and some small companies and medium-sized companies … are all coming to Israel. They all want the same three things: Israeli technology, Israeli technology and Israeli technology. They know that Israel is the repository of great genius, great creativity, entrepreneurship, innovation, scientific capability, out-of-the-box thinking."

But Rafeef Ziadah, from the Palestinian BDS national committee, said: "More international corporations are ending their business and shying away from bids in Israel This trend is due to continue until Israel abides by international law and ends its system of colonialism, apartheid and occupation. The BDS movement is steadily making 'Brand Israel' a toxic one."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/18/israel-boycott-movement-antisemitic-netanyahu

I have learned one thing about politicians and that is that they start squealing the loudest when you have them by the tail and every time Nutty speaks of the BDS it strengthens and validates it so by all means keep telling us how inconsequential it is maybe you could prove it by rolling out the president of Israel next?

Hell Israel is even mobilising poets to fight it...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvg4LknKsZ0#t=54[/ame]

You should probably get the other Hasbara boys over to youtube to give that one more exposure.
 
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The BDS movement started on 9 July 2005.
That year Israel GDP was $133,959 billion. In 2012 $243.930 billion. These are facts.

Israel’s Economy Is Booming – Sorry, Boycotters & John Kerry

• “Israel, the land of milk and honey, is now also the home of business success, opportunity and major growth.” – Hedge Fund Billionaire Henry Swieca

• “If you’re going to the Middle East to look for oil, you can skip Israel. However, if you’re looking for brains, look no further. [Israel] has a disproportionate amount of brains and energy.” – Warren Buffet

• “[Israel is] the most important high-tech center in the world after the US.” – Eric Schmidt

• “Tel Aviv has been named the second best place in the world in which to launch a high-tech startup company.” – Viva Sarah Press

• “Israel has an enormous cash reserve of some $80 billion.” – Hezi Sternlicht

• “Science and technology in Israel is one of the country’s most highly developed and industrialized sectors. The percentage of Israelis engaged in scientific and technological inquiry, and the amount spent on research and development (R&D) in relation to gross domestic product (GDP), is amongst the highest in the world.” – InvestInIsrael.gov

• “So why Tel Aviv? The city is overflowing with software developers and venture capital. Larger companies, including Google, have set up offices there. Facebook is now there, too, after acquiring facial-recognition developer Face.com in June.” – Bloomberg.com

• “The Israeli startup scene needs little introduction. Tel Aviv is rapidly becoming one of the most innovative tech hubs on the planet, vying with London, New York and Berlin as Silicon Valley’s second.” – Monty Munford

• “Israel has a highly educated entrepreneurial community (40% with Masters/PhD vs. 42% in Silicon Valley).” – Zack Miller

• “From VC funds to conglomerates, foreign government partners to a smart international workforce, Israel has it all.” – Ron Hershco, Brooklyn & Israel financier

• “Swiss research institute IMD releases World Competitiveness Yearbook, ranks Bank of Israel first among world’s central banks.” — Olga Viniar

• “It should be noted that Israel’s ranking first in terms of the market’s durability in the face of crises is the direct result of the Treasury and the Bank of Israel’s actions, which withstood the pressures and did not pump funds into failing organizations and financial systems as the US and Europe did.” – Uriel Linn

• “Israel is good at creating international cooperation for funding in the R&D programs they establish. And they provide a great ROI when done correctly.” – Ann Liebschutz

• “Israel has one of the world’s fastest growing developed economies.” – Moital.gov.il

• “Israel’s output growth remains relatively strong, unemployment is at historically low levels, its high-tech sector continues to attract international admiration, and new off-shore gas fields have come on stream.” – 2013 Israel Economic Survey

• “We find ourselves in an age when both data is bursting forth via the Internet, and the economy continues to become more globalized than ever. For us it is a challenge, but even more, it is an opportunity.” – Benjamin Netanyahu

• “Steve Ballmer [Microsoft's CEO] calls Microsoft as much an Israeli company as an American company, because of the importance of its Israeli technologies. Google, Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, eBay…live and die by the work of [their] Israeli teams…. Israel, a tiny nation of immigrants torn by war, has managed to become the first technology nation….” – Wall Street Journal

Do you know what to ask for if you want to get something? Ask for twice as much and you'll propably get more than you wanted.
 
And yet...

Europeans Avoid Big Israel Port Bids Amid Palestinian Boycott Threats

02/19/2014
By Neal Sandler in Jerusalem
enr02242014nws_Isrports.Haifa.jpg

Israel Ports Development Co.
New private megaport in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, valued at $1 billion, would compete with a government-owned facility.




European bidders for two new privately-owned megaports in Israel have dropped out of the competition—two at the last minute—amid growing concerns about pressure on companies to boycott business activity there.
The pro-Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement has been stepping up efforts in recent months to keep firms from doing Israeli business.
The state-owned Israel Ports Development and Assets Co. has received three bids for the tenders to build the Haifa Bayport and Ashdod Southport, each valued at more than $1 billion.
The projects, to be owned and operated by the bidding teams, are part of the government’s strategy to break the monopoly of the two existing state-owned Mediterranean ports at Haifa and Ashdod and increase competition in the economy.
The two groups that dropped out after the prequalifying stage within the last two months were Holland port developer Royal Boskalis Westminister and Italy’s Condote de Agua.
Three other companies dropped out earlier in the process: Spanish companies Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) and Cyes, and Germany’s Mobius Bau.
The ports company would not confirm the firms' withdrawal because of political issues, telling Ha'aretz, an Israeli publication, that the Dutch firm did not pass the first prequaiification stage. The other firms based their decisions on financial issues or issues with partners, according to the publication.
The three groups in competition are: a consortium of Israel’s Shapir Civil and Marine Engineering Ltd. and Ashtrom Group; China Harbour Engineering Co., a subsidiary of the majority state-owned contracting giant China Communications Construction Co., with Israeli firm Maman Cargo Terminals and Handling; and Luxembourg-based Ludreco, a subsidiary of Belgium’s Jan De Nul.
According to government sources, the Belgian firm agreed to submit a bid only after being allowed to do so through the Luxembourg unit. It now is teamed with Israel's Shikun u’Binui Holdings Ltd. through its Solel Boneh subsidiary, after its previous partner FCC dropped out, according to Ha'aretz.
The final technical bids are due in May for the ports, with the final award expected to be made this summer. “Work is slated to begin by the end of the year and take five to six years to complete,” says an official of the Israel Ports company.

The initial tender was issued in July and calls for the terminals to be built on reclaimed land. Each will have two quays with a total length of 1,600 meters with maximum waterside depth of 17.3 meters in order to handle the new generation of triple E container ships.

Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid has warned recently about the impact of a boycott on the country’s economy, noting that the collapse of US brokered peace talks with the Palestinians could be devastating.



http://enr.construction.com/infrast...ort-bids-amid-palestinian-boycott-threats.asp
 
Oh and look what else popped up in the same news feed...

Academics for Palestine in Ireland launch campaign
Friday, 21 February 2014, 2:28 pm
Press Release: Academics for Palestine

Palestine: Academics for Palestine in Ireland launch campaign, publicise Irish links with Israeli military and security firms

Julie Webb-Pullman note: Academics for Palestine in Ireland held a Press Conference this morning to launch a campaign called Academia Against Apartheid. 138 Irish academics, on the back of the vote by the Teachers Union of Ireland, have signed a document pledging to boycott academic institutions and individuals who are involved actively or passively in Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories.

Irish signatories were joined in the Press Conference by two scholars, Palestinian Dr Ghada Karmi of the University of Exeter, and Professor Haim Bresheeth of the School of Oriental and African Studies London, an Israeli. Both academics called for civil society to create awareness of the oppression of Palestinians by the state of Israel, and to join the boycott until Israel observes international law in this regard.

A video of the press conference can be found here http://vimeo.com/87223754

The Press Release accompanying the launch is below.

Press Release from Academics for Palestine: Irish academic researchers collaborated in EU-funded projects with Israeli counterparts who make drones, develop high-tech weapons and engage in “counter-terror” activities with the Mossad, it was revealed today.

In all, Irish universities have collaborated with Israel in 257 projects to date, seven of them listed as “security” and 13 as “aerospace”. These EU research programmes are administered by Irish Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

The information on Irish-Israeli research links was gathered through the examination of publicly available EU documents by members of Academics for Palestine (AfP), a new organisation launched today in Dublin.

The group supports an academic boycott against Israel. Its chair, Jim Roche, said the daily discrimination inflicted on Palestinian academics was enough to justify such a boycott, but added: “The revelations of Irish academia’s collaboration with companies closely linked to Israel’s military-industrial complex are truly shocking.

“What is surprising is that a non-European country, Israel, actually receives more research and development funding from the EU than many European countries do,” Roche said today. “It is not just Israeli universities that avail of this funding, but Israeli security and military companies – and they are often the lead partner in a research consortium.”

“This is, by not very roundabout means, the EU funding the Israeli occupation apparatus,” Dr Andy Storey, UCD lecturer in politics and international relations, said at today’s launch.

Researchers at the University of Limerick collaborated with an Israeli security company, Athena GS3-Security Implementations Ltd, on an EU-funded programme worth almost €4 million from April 2009 to March 2011. (The project researched digital support systems for first responders.) Athena, on its website, claims to be a world leading counter-terror advisory group with indigenous expertise from the Mossad and other elite Israeli counter terrorist units.

UL also partnered with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). IAI are key players in the development of security and surveillance for Israel’s separation wall, deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

Other academics, at Trinity College Dublin, have worked with Israeli drone manufacturers Elbit Security Systems and two other Israeli firms in an airport security project, still ongoing, and on a separate project with Israel’s notorious International Security and Counter-Terrorism Academy.

Researchers at UCC actually coordinated a recently completed counter-terrorism project to improve the detection of traces of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) alongside Israel’s major weapons developer, Technion.

“Some Irish universities may be effectively contributing to the denial of Palestinian human rights and academic freedom by collaborating with these Israeli security companies in EU-funded FP7 and Horizon 2020 programmes paid for by European, including Irish, taxpayers,” Roche said.

138 Irish academics have signed a pledge, organised by AFP, to boycott such collaboration with Israeli institutions until Palestinian rights are respected.

The signatories come from a wide range of disciplines and include many well-known names, such as Seamus Deane, Ailbhe Smyth, Luke Gibbons, Ronit Lentin, Joe Cleary, Kieran Allen, Kathleen Lynch, Tadhg Foley, Terrence McDonough and Helena Sheehan. At least one of the signatories has previously withdrawn from an EU-funded project because of Israeli involvement. The full list of signatories can be viewed here.

Dr Ghada Karmi, a Palestinian doctor of medicine, scholar and lecturer at the University of Exeter, emphasised that the international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) does not target Israeli individuals but institutions. Far from being a threat to academic freedom, she said at today’s launch, BDS affirms its importance for Palestinians.

“Israel’s well-documented repression of Palestinian academic life and victimisation of Palestinian teachers and students is a scandal to be denounced by all those who claim to care about academic freedom,” she said.

Dr Conor McCarthy, lecturer in English in NUI Maynooth and a long-time campaigner for Palestinian rights, welcomed the initiative.

“The recent endorsement of the boycott campaign by the 5,000-member American Studies Association in the US, along with positive moves by the Modern Language Association and the controversy over Scarlett Johansson, showed that BDS is now very much part of a mainstream international debate,” Dr McCarthy said today.

Nearly a year ago the Teachers Union of Ireland, which represents lecturers at institutes of technology across the State, became one of the first academic unions in the world to endorse the boycott.

“The US, EU and other states have protected Israel and financed its occupation ever since 1967, making it impossible to resolve the conflict through the UN or international diplomatic channels,” Prof Haim Bresheeth, an Israeli film-maker and scholar, said. “It puts a special responsibility on international civil society, and BDS is its main tool to resolve the conflict in a just and peaceful way.”

The text of the boycott pledge reads:

“In response to the call from Palestinian civil society for an institutional academic boycott of Israel, we pledge not to engage in any professional association with Israeli academic, research and state institutions and with those representing these institutions, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.”

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1402/S00263/academics-for-palestine-in-ireland-launch-campaign.htm
 
G4S, the largest security company in the world, is experiencing major symbolic defeats due to BDS activism in Norway, South Africa, the European Parliament, several British universities, and elsewhere as a result of its involvement in Israeli prisons, where Palestinian prisoners, including children, are tortured, and in several projects that violate international law. Admitting the damage BDS campaigns have done to its reputation, G4S is already promising to phase out its involvement in Israel’s violations of international law.


The British Co-op supermarket chain, the fifth largest in the UK, has adopted a policy of boycotting companies operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.


The United Methodist Church last year called for a boycott of products from Israel’s colonies, and so did the Presbyterian Church USA and the United Church of Canada. The Mennonite Church USA went even further by deciding not to invest in any company involved in the Israeli occupation.


The Dutch government has publicly “discouraged” [Du] Dutch companies from doing business with Israeli entities in the OPT, leading the largest Dutch construction company, Royal Haskoning DHV, to withdraw from a sewage treatment project with Israeli municipality in occupied East Jerusalem. In the same context, the publicly-owned Dutch water company Vitens, has also terminated a contract with the Israeli national water company, Mekorot.


In the same vein, the British government has issued a guidance on business involvement with illegal Israeli settlements. These steps follow the publication of EU guidelines against funding Israeli projects and entities in Palestinian territories.


Deutsche Bahn, a German government-controlled rail company, pulled out of an Israeli project encroaching on occupied Palestinian land, and German foreign ministry officials informed Palestinian civil society representatives that they have advised all German academic institutions to avoid dealing with Ariel, an Israeli colony-college in the West Bank.


Israel’s violent repression, ethnic cleansing and siege against the Palestinians is escalating, but the fact that the global BDS movement is winning the battle for hearts and minds across the world gives us hope that we shall overcome. We may well be reaching a tipping point.
 
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Personally I think there is a good chance of an agreement soon so I am not sure the BDS will be around for long, Israel is now caught between a rock and a hard place of their own making if there is no 2 state solution then that only leaves a one state solution and given that there is 6.1 million Jews in Israel and 5.8 million Palestinians that would join it.

Given the much higher Palestinian birth rate it is a reasonable assumption that Israel would not be the "Jewish State" for very long hence the reason Israel needs an agreement now more than ever, the only question is do the Palestinians, a fraction of their homeland now or the lot after another 30 years of oppression give or take I think it will be a tough choice for them.

Now I am sure VD will pop up with the usual "Israel wants peace" nonsense but we all know that isn't the case or they would have stopped settlement building once they knew what Kerry was suggesting and realised what they would have to accept.

Fortunately I don't have to battle VD over this as no matter what he has to say Shimon Peres agrees with me on this one and I am convinced he knows more about the situation than our local hasbara troll.



Israeli president says no alternative to peace with Palestinians
Updated: 2014-02-21 10:54
( Xinhua)

Israeli president says no alternative to peace with Palestinians

Israeli President Shimon Peres addresses a conference of Presidents of American-Jewish organizations at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, on Feb 20, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

JERUSALEM - There is no alternative to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, said Israeli President Shimon Peres at a conference of Presidents of American-Jewish organizations in Jerusalem on Thursday.

"I don't believe there is an alternative for us or for the Palestinians other than peace," the president said, noting the necessity to have a Jewish and a Palestinian state living side by side, according to a statement from his bureau.

"We have to ask ourselves what is the main purpose of the negotiations and we should be clear that it is to keep Israel as a Jewish state ... Their (the Palestinians) purpose is also clear, an independent state of their own," Peres said.

"We should not postpone. The decisions necessary are painful but they are right," the president added.

Peres also praised US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts in mediating a framework agreement between the two sides.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians resumed in last July after a three-year halt under Kerry's brokerage.

Kerry is currently working on the framework agreement to outline the future progress of the talks on core issues.

Israel's efforts to achieve peace with the Palestinians have been criticized by far right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, mainly from the Jewish Home party, who reject the two-state solution.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2014-02/21/content_17296866.htm
 
Popular consumer boycotts of Israeli products and campaigns against companies that export and sell Israeli products, particularly those implicated in Israel’s illegal colonies in the occupied Palestinian territory, have not only raised awareness among ordinary citizens in countless cities across the world but led to significant damage to complicit Israeli companies:

  • Agrexco, Israel’s former largest exporter of agricultural produce, entered liquidation towards the end of 2011, following a campaign of blockades, demonstrations, lobbying of supermarkets and governments, popular boycotts and legal action in more than 13 countries across Europe. The campaign against the company was a major factor behind the lack of investors’ interest to salvage it.
  • The largest Co-operative in Europe, the Co-Operative Group in the UK, introduced a policy to end trade with companies that source products from Israel’s illegal settlements, following a determined campaign by Co-Op members. Campaigners are working to pressure other supermarkets to adopt a similarly comprehensive position. Many supermarkets across Europe already claim not to sell produce from illegal settlements.
  • A sustained campaign against Ahava, the Israeli cosmetics company situated in an illegal Israeli colony, forced the company to close its flagship London store and retailers in the UK, Norway, Japan and Canada to announce boycotts of the company.
Inspired by the integral role that Israeli academic institutions play in developing the knowledge and technology behind Israeli occupation, colonization and apartheid, and planning and justifying Israel’s worst crimes, academic boycott campaigns have spread to campuses across the world:

  • Setting a worldwide precedent for the academic boycott of Israel, the University of Johannesburg severed ties with Israel’s Ben-Gurion University in 2011, following a campaign backed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and over 400 South African academics.
  • Campaigns against EU-funded collaboration with private Israeli companies and Israeli universities have sprung up at campuses across Europe in response to a call from Palestinian academics and civil society.
  • Academic unions in the UK and Canada have voted to support various academic boycott campaign initiatives. There are also active academic boycott campaigns in India, the US, South Africa, Ireland, Chile, Brazil, Pakistan, and in many European countries.
Rapidly losing support around the world and recently again voted one of the most negatively viewed countries in the world, Israel’s attempts to whitewash its system of colonization, occupation and apartheid using culture is increasingly thwarted by a highly visible cultural boycott:
 
Exactly, no matter what the BDS achieves economically its greatest achievement will be to make the world aware of what Israel is up to, most people realise that it will not bring the Israeli economy to its knees (it didn't in South Africa either) but it will begin to strengthen the sense of isolation for Israel which was one of the most potent aspects of the South African boycott.

The best part about that process is that for the most part it is the hysteria and vitriol of the counter argument that keeps the BDS in the public eye as well and since it is impossible for zionists to discuss anything without resorting to their worn out catch phrases it all ends up as publicity bringing the BDS to wider audiences.
 
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One thing that is worth remembering about Israel is that with outside support diminishing it's isolation is highlighted by the fact that it is only a postage stamp sized State with few natural resources. It is literally "The Mouse that Roared". With all it's military and Industrial assets in such a small area it is the target every opponent prays for.

Regardless of their Armed forces and the equipment they have, they would soon run into the problems that Germany did. Their much vaunted natural gas supply only produces half their peace time needs. Crude oil is only available in such small quantities as to be not worth drilling for. Such things as Chromium and other vital resources are non existent.

This is hardly an economy that can risk going to war.
 
I think you may be jumping the gun a bit, for all of its issues no one is going to be attacking Israel anytime soon.
Syria has enough issues of its own to do anything, Egypt is in a similar boat and really isn't all that militaristic anyway and Jordan is happy being Jordan they are more concerned with being attacked than attacking.

Oddly enough I have a some faith that Kerry may have done enough to force the two parties into an agreement not because either of them particularly want one but because neither of them want or can afford to be the bad guy who walks away.

Despite the clowns who back Israel at all costs arguing to the contrary it is Europe that holds the key to this matter and it isn't in boycotts but rather responsibility, if Europe stops financial support to the Palestinians then Israel as the occupying power has to assume responsibility for them. So Europe does not have to boycott anything all they have to do is stop aid to Israel and the Palestinian authority and Israel has to find the difference.

Further to this if no agreement is struck then Israel wins and gets the lot including a population that will be about 45% Palestinian, if they do not integrate them then it becomes a South African like apartheid state and will be treated as such compounding its issues further more 30 years from now it will cease to be a Jewish state as the Palestinians become the majority, if it tries expelling them (as its far right wants) then it will end up alienating all its support.

What it boils down to is that Israel is in a no win situation it can kiss goodbye to the West Bank and Gaza and remain Israel or it can hang on to them and lose the lot 20-30 years down the track, the Palestinians are in a similar boat accept a fraction of what they lost but have the chance to get on with their lives or live with an increasingly desperate occupying force for 20-30 years in order to hopefully gain parity.

All the boycott is doing is raising awareness, creating a sense of isolation and causing a little hardship to reinforce that isolation but it will never destroy an economy however I believe it is the right way to go.
 
I never said it will come soon.

But if Israel doesn't change it's ways, I think that the time will come much sooner than the Israelis ever anticipated.
Once the yanks get their head around the fact that they have been supporting a pariah state for over 65 years and now their taxpayers are sick of it.
 
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Dream on.

Some facts.

foreign firms direct investment was $10.51 billion in the first nine months of 2013, up from $9.5 billion for the whole of 2012. Exports to Europe rose 6.3 percent last year.

Jonathan Medved, CEO of OurCrowd, a crowdfunding platform looking to provide venture capital to Israeli companies : "The boycott is being used like a bogeyman, a scary story you tell a child at night,"

"There is no EU boycott," the president of the European parliament, Martin Schultz, said this month during a visit to Jerusalem during which he questioned whether the 28-nation bloc would want to penalize Israel if the U.S.-backed talks failed.

While a handful of states, including Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, discourage links with the settlements, there are no consequences for ignoring that steer

Germany's biggest lender Deutsche Bank AG denied reports last week that it was set to boycott Israeli banks.

giant Dutch pension fund ABP announced this month that after a review, it saw no need to cut ties with Israeli banks

Global brands such as Google, Cisco, Microsoft, Twitter, Apple, AOL and Facebook have all invested in Israel, so, like it or not, users of computers, smartphones and apps could well be supporting Israeli engineering.

"Israel has gone through much harsher boycotts in the past. For example, they did not have commercial relations with China for years, and for a time they could only buy crude oil from Mexico and Egypt. So they can definitely withstand boycotts."

PFZW, the €137bn pension fund for the Dutch healthcare industry, to review Israeli divestment after allegations of pro-Palestinian bias.

California drought. Who's helping? Israel's IDE Technologies.
California water authorities have turned to the world's expert on water issues- Israel- to build a $922 million plant (is expected to be America's largest seawater desalination).
In Israel 75 percent of the country’s sewage is reclaimed, the highest percentage in the world, and over 50 percent of water used in agriculture comes from treated sewage.

calls for artists to refuse to perform in the Jewish state have in many cases fallen on deaf ears.

Israeli Cyber Exports Three Times Greater Than United Kingdom’s.
Israeli companies also raised $165 million last year, which constitutes up to 11 percent of total funds raised worldwide in the cyber field. He added that 14.5 percent of companies that raise funds in the field are Israeli.
Israel hosts 20 cyber research and development centers of multi-national companies, Matania said. Approximately 200 start-ups are active in the field and 100 of them are new companies.

Israel, Kazakhstan to Strengthen Economic Ties.

That's all for today.
 
In Israel 75 percent of the country’s sewage is reclaimed, the highest percentage in the world, and over 50 percent of water used in agriculture comes from treated sewage.

Seems Spike was right Israel is full of effluent and certainly explains your posts, as for the rest why should I bother responding when the Israeli finance minister can do it for me. You really seem to be having trouble coming up with responses that are not directly contradicted by Israel itself, now my offer to talk to your controller still stands I am sure we can get you some help remember we would like a challenging opponent not a challenged one...


Lapid: Israel faces economic crisis if peace talks fail
Finance minister says European boycotts will ‘hit every Israeli,’ hike living costs and cut government budgets
By Marissa Newman January 29, 2014, 10:52 pm


A boycott of Israeli products by European countries, in the event that peace talks fail, would constitute a dramatic blow to the Israeli economy, Finance Minister Yair Lapid warned on Wednesday, in an address at the Institute for National Security Studies conference.

Based on an evaluation prepared by the Finance Ministry’s chief economist, Lapid said that even a low-scale boycott would “hit every Israeli citizen directly in his pocket.” The cost of living would rise, and education, security, health, and welfare budgets would be slashed, he said.

Furthermore, exports would face a loss of NIS 20 billion ($5.7 billion), GDP would likely be lowered by NIS 11 billion a year, and 9,800 workers would be laid off immediately.

“We must recognize that if the talks fail — and the world will believe they failed because of us — there will be a price, and it’s best we know what that price is,” Lapid said.

Lapid also dismissed claims by Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett Tuesday that a Palestinian state would be an economic burden on Israel. A peace agreement would result in an added NIS 20 billion annually to the state budget, and potential growth of NIS 16 billion in exports, he maintained.

“Today Israel is more exposed economically than it’s exposed from a security perspective,” he added. “The security debate makes us forget occasionally the fact that our military is not a goal, it is a tool. It’s a tool that is meant to allow us to reach an agreement that will strengthen Israel’s economy and guarantee its future as a Jewish state.”

The finance minister’s remarks echoed those of US Secretary of State John Kerry last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Kerry pointed to the economic benefits Israel would reap from reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians, stating that Israel would have immediate diplomatic recognition and economic ties with the Arab and Muslim world and would potentially see a six percent increase in GDP per year.

Lapid’s address came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting with senior ministers to discuss European boycotts of Israeli companies.

This was the first time Netanyahu’s government sat down to seriously debate strategies to counter European boycotts. A senior government source told Haaretz that the meeting was spurred by the announcement earlier this month from the Dutch firm PGGM, one of the 20 largest pension asset managers globally, that it had divested from five Israeli banks because they are involved in financing the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.

Numerous pension funds in Scandinavia and the Netherlands have already divested in Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems over concerns about its activities in the occupied territories.

Up until last month, the European Union had been considering measures to clearly label products made in the settlements, a move that could harm sales. But discussions on labeling have been put on hold for now, because Europe is working closely with Kerry to support ongoing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Lazar Berman contributed to this report


http://www.timesofisrael.com/lapid-israel-faces-economic-crisis-if-peace-talks-fail/
 
In Israel 75 percent of the country’s sewage is reclaimed, the highest percentage in the world, and over 50 percent of water used in agriculture comes from treated sewage.
As usual we see hand picked details that are always just "bent" a little.

Israel generally has a modern sanitation system particularly in major Jewish towns and cities. However, a report released by the Israel Union for Environmental Defense in 2010 found that 500,000 homes in Israel are not linked to a central sewage system.
I guess these are the "lucky" Arab Israelis that VD keeps telling us have equal rights and conditions?
 
As usual we see hand picked details that are always just "bent" a little.

[/B]I guess these are the "lucky" Arab Israelis that VD keeps telling us have equal rights and conditions?

In Israel 75 percent of the country’s sewage is reclaimed, the highest percentage in the world, and over 50 percent of water used in agriculture comes from treated sewage.

Read that again. It says 75%, not 100. Those 25% are the approx 500.000 you mentioned.

The "lucky" Arab is an Arab who refuses to live in a future palestinian state and prefers to live in israel as an Israeli citizen with the same rights as any other Israeli citizen, including housing.

Do your homework.
 
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