Greens boycott is anti-Semitic

[King_David]

BY PETER KURTI

06 Sep, 2011 04:00 AM


An essential part of the compact of a free society is that all its citizens are afforded protection from persecution and freedom from fear.
The great 20th-century political theorist Sir Isaiah Berlin noted that ''political liberty is simply the area within which a man can act unobstructed by others ... You lack political liberty or freedom only if you are prevented from obtaining a goal by other human beings''.

When a segment of society is targeted by reason of its identity - be it a religious, ethnic or national identity - the right of that segment to live free from fear is compromised.



Recently the Greens have refused to back a motion in the Senate condemning efforts by protesters from the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to bar would-be customers from entering Max Brenner chocolate shops in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Even though Greens leader Bob Brown has distanced himself from the BDS campaign, prominent NSW Greens such as Senator Lee Rhiannon and Marrickville Council Mayor Fiona Byrne continue to support it. Support for the BDS campaign remains a part of official NSW Greens policy.

Far from being some sort of shadowy conspirator with the Israeli state, Max Brenner is owned by the Israeli-based Strauss Group and trades legally in Australia. Yet BDS campaigners believe that picking on a legitimate Jewish business in this country is a fair way to influence Israeli government policies in the occupied territories. It is not.



But more importantly, the boycott is reminiscent of the treatment of the Jews throughout Europe in the 1930s.

BDS states on its website that boycott targets are chosen ''based on their direct contribution to grave human rights abuses and international law violations of the Israeli state and military''.


http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/general/greens-boycott-is-antisemitic/2282123.aspx?storypage=0

[saras]

1. I'd be a lot more impressed (and respectful) if he explained HOW to appropriately boycott terrorists

...in positions of power in a society without including other members of that society that may or may not be complicit. Or if he argued that boycotts are always by their nature unfair. But making exceptions for theocratic states, whose policies cannot be boycotted because it impinges on their racial, religious, or ethnic identity is marginal at best. And having an exclusive exception for Israel is simply ridiculous.

[King_David]

2. That post deserves no respect or reply

The thing is if you were talking about some other minority or ethniic group besides Jews,

that post would be rightfully greeted with the disgust and contempt it deserves.

[King_David]

3. So by your logic

It is ok to demonize ALL muslims in the fight against Islamofascist terror?

:puke:

[saras]

4. No, because it's a religion. But rightly or wrongly, we DO blame countries for their leadership...

...especially if it's democratic in form.

[EFerrari]

6. Israel is not a democracy because it has different classes of people

with different classes of rights.

And the Israeli government is certainly responsible for its own behavior.

[holdencaufield]

7. Tell me...

Precisely WHICH Israeli citizens have a different set of rights from others?

[EFerrari]

8. Take a hike.

:hi:

[holdencaufield]

9. So, none then... THANKS! NT

[EFerrari]

5. I've backed the boycott of Israel for their brutality in Gaza from Day 1.

And will continue to back it until that brutality stops.

[holdencaufield]

10. Curiosly --

Did you back a boycott of Egypt and Jordan for their brutal treatment of Palestinians in the years they controlled the territories (1948 to 1967)? Or was it only the Day One when when a certain OTHER religion was involved?