Sunday, October 11, 2009

Does it matter that Israelis will feel isolated?

All of this begs the question: are the Israel boycotts working?
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2 comments:

  1. JoeOctober 11, 2009 at 7:47 AM

    I don't know if the boycott will work, but there are some facts that the organizers should consider:

    1. Zionism thrives on feelings of persecution and isolation, especially when there is little actual suffering among Israelis(i.e.: rockets that are fired randomly into the desert or a belicose speech by an Iranian leader. Organizers of the boycott should consider that an ineffective boycott could actually weaken their position.

    2. There will be a counter "buy Israeli" movement. This could actually create a net financial gain for Israel.

    3. Much of Israel's exports are secret arms deals with ruthless dictators. The boycott will not affect this area of the israeli economy.

    4. You can be sure that if there is any deprivation, it will be engineered to be felt most harshly by Palestinians.


    All this is not to say that a boycott will not work. It is something to think about. Hopefully, the organizers are thinking like a chess player: anticipate your opponent's response to your move, and have something ready for it.

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  2. JoeOctober 11, 2009 at 7:57 AM

    Organizers should point out that among other things, Zionism is a boycott of the Palestinians-restrictions from living in Jew only homes, a refusal to hold meaningful negotians, etc. And while the proposed boycott of Israeli products is mostly eductional and symbolic in nature, the Israeli boycott of Palestinians is substantial and has caused great pain.

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