Israel: Best Economy in the West

The attempts of the BDS'ers to economically isolate the world's only Jewish state approached epic failure this year, with the Israeli economy recently pronounced "The Best in the West"

In spite of a world-wide recession, and the BDS'er's best efforts, Israel's Gross national product grew by 4.5% in 2010, compared with only 2.7% in the other 33 countries of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). Israel became an OECD member state this past September.

Since Israel's independence, exports have increased 11,250 times, according to a report by the Israel Export and Cooperation Institute. Exports totaled $6 million in 1948, and grew to $67.5 billion in 2009. The current export value has more than doubled since 1998, and is $6.5 billion less than the expected figure for 2010.

Yep, BDS= epic fail.

And on a related note, candy sweet Sharon persimmons are back at the Berkeley Bowl. Enjoy them while you can- the season is way too short. They are great eaten like an apple- but try them sliced thinly in a spinach salad, with sliced red onions, and a fruit or nut based vinaigrette. You can eat well, torment the BDS'ers, and help Israel's economy grow grow grow, in a single step.

Life is good.

Yawn: Marking 5 years of Failure: BDS Media Day fizzles

A call from the usual suspects to turn July 9th into BDS Media day has taken on water and sunk like a brick. Locally, the Meserele verdict and ensuing “Will loot for justice” riots took precedence over the non story of BDS "success".

Anti-Israeli activists were urged by their handlers to “celebrate their achievements” on July 9th by

- Publishing BDS articles in the local and national press;

- Briefing journalists on BDS activities, establish enduring relationships and make a case with them on why they should cover BDS;

- Staging public actions with focus on media, such as direct action and launching of high profile campaigns, publicize legal actions, expose violators and promote public debates;

- Use alternative media to mark the anniversary;

The day instead was marked by neither sound nor fury, nor press coverage.

I visited the Berkeley Bowl, a local independent grocer on July 9th, to see what was happening in the campaign to bully the Bowl into compliance by the local enforcers of "political correctness". The store was quiet, though I couldn’t help but notice they’ve added a new line of Israeli olive oils to their stock.

The Boycott Divestment and Sanctions Movement has a long history of failure. The single best documentation of the divestment movement can be found here

"During the very period when BDS was supposedly on the march, the size of Israel’s economy (as measured by GDP) nearly doubled from $110B to $190B. Now given that the BDS project is based on their activity having economic consequence for the Jewish state, the takeaway from this chart seems to be that such consequence has been an explosion of growth in the Israeli economy."

A recent article in Bloomberg News called the Israeli economy one of the world's "happy stories"

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman described Israel was one of the small number of countries, such as Canada and Australia, that were able to weather the current crisis well. Israel’s rebound from the global financial crisis has been powered by exports, which make up almost 50 percent of gross domestic product.

Israel’s economy expanded an annualized 3.6 percent in the first quarter of 2010, led by exports.

Omar, what were you saying about "momentum" in the BDS movement again?

Day of rage against Israeli Couscous, redux

Khaled Abu Toameh, Palestinian reporter for the Jerusalem Post gave at talk at UC Berkeley a few months ago. He mentioned a discussion with a friend- they were trying to name a hero of the Palestinian people, but could not identify a single one that had not been associated with violence. The poet, Mahmoud Darwish was eventually agreed upon, but the question remained, why was this so difficult? Why is violence so inherent the Palestinian cause?

I ask myself this again, as another day of rage upon Israeli couscous is upon us. The anti-Israel forces are planning attacks on March 30 on Israeli products and the stores that stock them. This is, they claim, in commemoration of "Land Day". Hmmm. What better way to celebrate a holiday than by a grocery store pogrom? Why bother with picnics, family gatherings, fireworks, or even a sale at Macy's when you can interfere with someone's shopping experience ?

A recent grocery store pogrom led by Amir of the "peace" group "South bay mobilization" ended in a trash can set on fire in a fit of "Pay attention to ME! Pay attention to ME!" worthy of an angry 2 year old. What will tomorrow bring? I guess I'll have to find out second hand. Its Pesach, the holiday of our deliverance of Egypt and I'll be spending it with family and friends, not trashing someone else's property in the name of "justice".

Don't expect me to wish you luck with the Berkeley Bowl, Kate. The last time you pulled your nonsense, the store was so angry, they created end of aisle displays of all their Israeli products. I suspect it will be no different this time. And where but the Berkeley Bowl can I find crunchy candy sweet persimmons, straight from the Sharon Valley in Israel? They are great eaten out of hand, but try them sliced thin in a spinach salad, with a light vingarette. Just heavenly.

Follow up April 30.
A recent trip to the Berkeley Bowl showed they've added a brand new line of Israeli health and beauty aids, "Yes to carrots". Made with Dead Sea Minerals. Never tested on animals



Looks like the campaign to deshelve Israeli products from the Berkeley bowl is a resounding failure. I never get tired of saying that, Kate.