Sunday, April 29, 2012

Pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel?

Pro-Palestinian groups and individuals in the US and Europe are doing Palestinians injustice by devoting all their energies only against Israel, writes Palestinian journalist Khaled Abu Toameh

He continues:
"There is a feeling in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that most of these groups and individuals are more interested in campaigning against Israel than helping the Palestinians.

Being pro-Palestinian does not necessarily mean that one also has to be anti-Israel.

The pro-Palestinian camp in the West should raise its voice against violations of human rights and media freedoms under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

In the past few weeks, six Palestinian journalists, bloggers and cartoonists were arrested by security forces belonging to the Palestinian government in the West Bank.

The pro-Palestinian activists around the world chose to turn a blind eye to the ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression in the West Bank.

They also failed --- even refused -- to condemn the Palestinian Authority government's decision to block web sites that are critical of Palestinian leaders in the West Bank.

The pro-Palestinian activists in the West also refuse to examine what is happening under Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They apparently do not care, or do not want to see, that there are executions, arbitrary arrests, and assaults against women and torture in Hamas prisons.

The pro-Palestinian activists and organizations also do not seem to care if the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are brainwashing Palestinian children and filling their minds and hearts with hatred.

Those who care about the Palestinians should come to the Gaza Strip and work toward promoting human rights under Hamas -- of children, women, and journalists.

It would help immensely if hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists came to the West Bank and Gaza Strip to teach Palestinian children English and expose them to the benefits of democracy and Western values, such as equal justice under law, free speech and a free press, and financial transparency and accountability

It would also help immensely if these activists came to the West Bank and Gaza Strip to offer advice on, and help in building, proper government institutions, and in combatting administrative and financial corruption.

But as far as many of the pro-Palestinian activists in the West are concerned, the interests of the Palestinians are not as important as hating Israel."


Our friend at Elder of Ziyon points out the newest manifestation of this phenomenon- with "peace activists" celebrating a decision that ultimately could hurt the Palestinian economy.

The Co-operative Group, Britain’s fifth-largest food retailer has announced that it will stop doing business with four Israeli companies, over the companies’ activities in the West Bank. The Co-op's decision will immediately affect four suppliers, Agrexco, Arava Export Growers, Adafresh and Mehadrin. The BDS cru are practically besides themselves in the flush of this "victory"

Elder of Ziyon has pointed out that Agrexco also exports Palestinian produce from Gaza marketed under the company’s Coral brand, and that the boycott was likely to affect Palestinian farmers who use the company to export their produce to Europe.

From the Elder:
"the Co-op is now boycotting Palestinianhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Arab farmers who have no other means of distributing their goods to the West, and directly hurting them - and the Palestinian Arab economy as a whole. Tomatoes and other produce grown in Gaza will be affected as well."

Why is a decision that will ultimately hurt Palestinian people and the Palestinian economy being heralded as a victory? In the skewered world of "peace activism" its increasingly clear that hurting Israel is more important to these than helping the Palestinians.

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