Boycott and Disinvestment

It has been fascinating to read the responses to the growing boycott and disinvestment campaign aimed at Israel's illegal and brutal occupation of Palestinian land.

Its fascinating because its almost like listening to the arguments about boycott and disinvestment in apartheid South Africa; its the same tired and self-serving defence of oppression masked with cries of anti-semitism.

Those of us involved in the campaign against the South African Government have heard it all before - it will hurt the oppressed more than the government because the economy will be harmed, the ANC/ Palestinians are terrorists, the South African/ Israeli government is the only democracy in the region, you cannot attack academic freedom, boycotts will not work, this has to be sorted out by negotiation and not boycotts.

We know that boycotts and disinvestments had a profound impact on the struggle in South Africa, and was a major lever for change. The Shell boycott, for example, cut Shell's sales by 10 per cent and made them change their position. Governments around the world - and particularly the US - will shift when economic pressures force them to.

People don't oppose boycotts because they are a waste of time. They oppose them because they work. Hopefully the arguments of those opposed to boycotts and disinvestment in Israel will seem as silly in a few years as has happened with the opponents of change in South Africa.

Ideas versus harsh reality

I watched ‘The Help’ a week or so ago. I found it quite a powerful movie, although I appreciate why African-Americans criticize the way the black women are less at the centre of this story than they should be. It can at times be about a young, white woman’s search for salvation, rather than a struggle for justice.

I was struck, though, by how hard it is to be courageous when there is no community to help you have courage. It is hard to stand up against things like racism when all the people around you are racist, and will leave you socially isolated if you disagree. You need a community and another story to sustain any courage.

But I was also struck by what a strange and uneven contest the fight against racism can be. Racism isn’t simply a nice idea or a playing around with mental constructs about human nature. Racism is about the defence of the social and economic benefits enjoyed by a few, or a way for some people to keep themselves off the absolute bottom of the community.

Racism justifies slavery, poor pay and conditions, and leaving people with all the hard and menial tasks in a community. Racism justified high risk and poor worker protection, keeping costs down to maximize profits for a few.

The unevenness of the contest is that churches and other bodies try to explain why racism is wrong. It is a conversation about morality and values, a battle over ideas, when racism is about daily realities. It’s a contest of good ideas versus benefits, and benefits will nearly always win.

That is why people talk about trade boycotts when faced with racism and injustice. Boycotts say: actually we are going to make sure that there are less benefits to you continuing to act unjustly. We will not talk about the wrongness of racism, and then keep buying your goods that are produced in a racist economy.

That’s why the decision of the US Presbyterians to discuss disinvestment in companies that deal with Israel is important. All the talking and the moralizing, all the discussions about international law and justice, are wasted. There are benefits for Israel in denying Palestinian autonomy, destroying homes, stealing water, and taking land. While the US has clearly decided that it will prop up Israel and its racist regime forever, it is time for those working in the wider civil society to remove some of the benefits, Nice ideas and arguments will not create change, only different practices.

Israel’s Nuclear Hypocrisy

Israel’s posturing and hypocrisy over Iran’s alleged nuclear capacity is mind-boggling. Essentially Israel is saying: “How dare you want what we have, and how dare you flaunt UN requirements like we do.” The subtext is clear: we are the good guys and loyal allies of the USA, and you are part of the evil Empire.

Consider this comment from Ali Kazak, a former Palestinian ambassador:

“All Arab countries actively support the Middle East to be a nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction free zone, and all the Middle Eastern countries signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT) except one, Israel, which headed in the opposite direction secretly developing and producing over 200 nuclear and neutron warheads according to US intelligence agents reported in the Washington Post on December 8, 1980, later confirmed by the Israeli technician working at Dimona nuclear plant, Mordechai Vanunu, in 1985, a figure believed to be doubled by now, and continues its refusal to comply with tens of UN resolutions calling on it to open its nuclear facilities to international inspection.

Israel says that its support for a nuclear-free Middle East is conditional on all countries in the region, including Iran, signing a peace treaty with it. But all Arab and Muslim countries have, in fact, agreed to recognise Israel and sign a peace treaty with Israel, if it recognises the inalienable and legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, withdraws from the occupied Arab territories and complies with relevant UN resolutions. Israel refuses to recognise these rights, refuses the Arab peace initiative, refuses to withdraw and builds more Jewish colonies.” (‘A missing peace option,’ Kaleej Times online, 10 February 2012)

Christians find the conversation in this region to be very difficult. This is biblical land, and in amidst modern politics are claims about land and chosen people and the promises of God. Add to this the guilt around the holocaust, the narrow and anti-Palestinian media coverage, and significant racism about people and nations in the Middle East, and Christian responses are often distorted by ignorance and myth.

There is a need for a new Christian narrative for this area: there is no room for nuclear weapons in any parts of the world, and that includes Israel. The requirements of the UN need to be complied with by all countries, and not just those that the US is opposed to – the double standards that exist at present lead to hostility and suspicion and war. Israel does have a right to exist, but so do the Palestinians, and it is time for Israel’s illegal occupation to end.