Israel's boycott ban is down to siege mentality

[Violet_Crumble]

Existential fear, confusion and ideology are behind this latest attempt by the Knesset to curb criticism and free speech

Carlo Strenger

The flood of anti-democratic laws that were proposed, and partially implemented, by the current Knesset, elected in February 2009, constitute one of the darkest chapters in Israeli history. The opening salvo was provided by foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party with its Nakba law, that forbids the public commemoration of the expulsion of approximately 750000 Palestinians during the 1948 war.

Since then, a growing number of attempts were made to curtail freedom of expression and to make life for human rights groups more difficult. The latest instance is the boycott law that was passed on Monday by the Knesset, even though its legal advisor believes it to be a problematic infringement on freedom of speech. This law makes any call for boycotting Israel economically, culturally or academically a civil offence that can be punished with a fine. Any public body making such a call will lose its legal status and will no longer be eligible for tax-deductible contributions.

<snip>

The result of Netanyahu and Lieberman's systematic fanning of Israeli's existential fears is tangible in Israel: polls show that Israelis are deeply pessimistic about peace; they largely do not trust Palestinians, and in the younger generation belief in democratic values is being eroded.

But this pessimism and siege mentality is not only found in ordinary Israeli voters, but also in the political class. After talking to a number of rightwing politicians, I am unfavourably impressed by their total lack of understanding of the international scene. They have profound misconceptions about the world's attitude towards Israel, and very little real understanding of the paradigm shift towards human rights as the core language of international discourse. All they feel is that Israel is being singled out unfairly for criticism and that it has a PR problem rather than realising that Israel's policies are unacceptable politically and morally.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/12/israel-boycott-ban