Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) have been a failing tactic since it was first introduced at Durban in 2001. By any objective measure, the economy of Israel is booming. Investment in Israel flourishes. Israeli bond ratings remain high A-list entertainers have continued to visit Israel, both for personal travel and to perform before appreciative crowds.
If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door. Israel has consistently built a better mousetrap, and innovations in water saving technology, defense technology, medicine and cyber-security will keep the Israeli economy robust for years to come.
"Then why", the BDs'ers ask, "Why do you fight us if we are not a threat?"
I'd answer simply, in the words of Thomas Paine's "It is an affront to truth to treat falsehood with complaisance"
But our friends at Divest this! have a much better answer. In the comments section of the post the Israeli Economy-Security Dialectic , the blogger is also asked (Why) " If BDS is almost constantly failing, that we should therefore concern ourselves with it?"
The response nails it:
You’re not the first person to ask why we should concerns ourselves
with BDS given that, as you point out, I spend so much time documenting
is failures. To which I’ve responded:
(1) BDS (as we’ve seen) can make progress if enough good people don’t
stand up to fight against it (which is why I spend time helping those
engaged with this fight);
(2) The goal of the BDS propaganda campaign is to convince others that
the Israel = Apartheid propaganda message is embraced by broad swaths of
society (especially progressive society) rather than being the opinion
of a tiny, unrepresentative fringe. So, by that very formula,
highlighting when they get rejected by progressive individuals and
organizations diminishes their message and effectiveness; and
(3) Of all the de-legitimization activity going on in the world, BDS is
one of the few areas we civilians can have an impact. Most of us are not
in the position to affect how nation states or international
organizations behave (even if we can communicate their failings). But
we can protect the civil society in which we live from being infected by
the BDS virus. And any failure BDS experiences rebounds against the
anti-Israel de-legitimization project as a whole.
1 comment:
The Arabs have been boycotting since the 1920s, so we are close the the 100 year anniversary of the boycott fail.
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