A boycott worth boycotting

(Most of this post originally appeared as a comment at PP’s blog, but I liked it too much to just let it linger in comments limbo, so I’ve stretched it out as a post in its own right. I am not treating the subject very seriously at all, instead taking it off on a surreal tangent. If you want to see an intelligent response to the issue, read the whole of PP’s piece.)

John Berger (a writer of some repute, apparently – at least, that’s what it says on his profile), has written an article on Comment Is Free, calling for a global cultural boycott of the Israeli state due to the ‘illegal occupation of the Palestine territories of the West Bank and Gaza’. So far, so Comment Is Free. It’s the sort of thing you’d be surprised not to see written on the site.

Anyway, he rambles on and on about who should be joining the boycott, and why, and how. But the most bizarre passage has to be this:

How to apply a boycott? For academics it’s perhaps a little clearer – a question of declining invitations from state institutions and explaining why. For invited actors, musicians, jugglers or poets it can be more complicated. I’m convinced, in any case, that its application should not be systematised; it has to come from a personal choice based on a personal assessment. 

Yeah, sounds great John. But, err, sorry, can we back up there for just a minute? Jugglers???? Is there a cultural exchange programme for jugglers going on that I wasn’t aware of? I’m trying to understand why there would be much demand for jugglers being invited to Israel at all. But the idea of jugglers being invited, but declining for political reasons has flipped my Surreal-O-Meter into hyper mode. I can just picture it…

We proudly present JAZ: Jugglers Against Zionism. A two hour juggling extravaganza highlighting the plight of the Palestinians crushed under the military and ideological weight of Israeli occupation. From the people that brought you Sword Swallowers Against Israeli Aggression and the award winning Fire Breathers For Palestinian Freedom. 

“Unquestionably the finest political juggling act I have ever seen.” – John Pilger

“The way these jugglers captured the plight of the Palestinian people by throwing three squishy balls up in the air brought a tear to my eye.” – Robert Fisk

“Bush and Blair should be forced to watch this brave juggling performance. At gun point.” – George Galloway

COMING IN 2007: Midget Pyramids on Motorcycles will push Israel back to its pre-1967 borders. Book your tickets now!

Hezbollocks

I had no idea anti-Israeli/anti-Semitic sentiment ran so high beyond the confines of the hard left and the extreme right (what an interesting coalescence that is). Not to mention that toxic dwarf Mel Gibson. In the last week I’ve experienced (well, endured would be a more accurate description) several conversations, with people I consider to be reasonable and intelligent human beings, about the current conflict in Israel and Lebanon and found myself aghast at their position on the subject. One argument was functional: “the Israeli response is disproportionate to the threat they face, too many innocent people are being killed and nobody has ever been successful in a campaign against a guerrilla army”. Another was, quite frankly, disgusting: “the Israeli response is disproportionate and, in any case, the country has no right to exist.”

The latter isn’t even worthy of response, but for the first I would ask this: how, exactly, should a country respond when a terrorist organisation committed to your eradication starts firing hundreds of rockets at your civilians from beyond your national borders? Rockets provided mostly by Iran – a theocratic dinosaur with nuclear ambitions – whose fanatical leader has also expressed his wish to see your country removed from the map? Then, to compound matters further, said terrorist organisation blend their weapons and ’soldiers’ amongst their host nation’s civilian population? You certainly cannot negotiate – the people you are fighting do not even recognise your right to exist – and there are no military targets to specifically go after because they have purposefully integrated into residential areas to both hide themselves and ensure as high a death count as possible in the hope that it will trigger a pan-Islamic response.

Israel has unquestionably made some tactical errors, and innocent lives have been tragically lost, but I lay all blame squarely at the feet of Hezbollah and their Iranian/Syrian backers. And these people who see equivalence between the actions of the state of Israel and those of a terrorist organisation essentially bankrolled by a fascist dictatorship are seriously deluded.

“We are all Hezbollah now”, read one of the placards on the anti-war demo in London last weekend. Oh, how low some on the left have sunk. There’s a huge debate raging over at The Guardian’s Comment is Free blog right now, prompted by a post from Harold Evans criticising those who are comfortable to share a platform with these people. It’s worth a read, if only for the rarity value of a comment piece in The Guardian that doesn’t instinctively take an anti-Israel position.

We’re not scaremongering, this Israeli happening

There’s really only one story of major significance at the moment, and that’s the situation in the Middle East, where Israel is now engaged in military operations on two fronts following the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers – one in Gaza and two by Lebanese based Hezbollah. The Israeli reaction has been unrelenting and many civilian lives have been lost in a number of air raids. Meanwhile, rockets continue to be fired from Lebanon into Israel.

I would like to write something about this but. . . I just don’t feel qualified to do so.

H? Parrot? Perhaps one of you could summarise the situation for us? Although I suspect you’re probably struggling to make sense of it all too.

If one of you has the time or inclination to do so, I’d like to put up a guest post from one – or both – of you. You’ll find my email address under my Blogger profile. Alternatively, write something in the comments section and I’ll publish it.

Israeli elections

So the Israeli elections are a wrap. Kadima, as expected, emerged with the biggest share of the votes, securing 28 of the 120 seats in the Knesset (great word, that). They are now expected to form a coalition with second-placed Labour and some of the smaller parties.

Perhaps the Liberal Elite Israeli contingent (yes, both of you) would like to explain what this is likely to mean. Is the path to talks for a two state solution now assured? Will Hamas ever co-operate? Judging by the response from Mahmoud Abbas, I suspect not. Is this a good thing? Whither Binyamin Netanyahu? And why, for what must be the most crucial election for many years, was the turnout so low? (It was 62.3%, which is still fairly respectable – higher than the UK turnout last year if I recall – but low by Israel’s standards.)

Please enlighten us!

Israel and Hamas

I was going to say something about yesterday’s shock election victory for Hamas in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, but realised I don’t really have much to say on the subject beyond the obvious: they have to announce immediately and unambiguously that they have abandoned terrorism and are open to negotiating a workable and permanent peaceful settlement. Oh, and dropping the commitment to destroy Israel would also be helpful.

Anyway, here’s two links to blogs with a far more interesting take on it than me:

First up is Slightly Mad, by The Artist Formerly Known As Purple Parrot (or PP as she will be known from now). PP is an ex-pat Brit who’s been living in Israel for six years, so knows more than most how this result has been received in all quarters. You can read her post here.

Secondly there’s Oliver Kamm, who’s become something of a blogging legend. He’s spent the last week in Israel speaking to political figures on both sides and his thoughts can be read here.

Ariel Sharon

In the light of Ariel Sharon’s condition, anyone not sure what to make of the man and his legacy (and I’m one of them – I’m not very clued up on Israeli history and I had no idea that this one man was so central to the story from the very beginning) could do a lot worse than read this summary of ‘The Bulldozer’ by the ever excellent Christopher Hitchens.

Sharon could still theoretically survive, but his political career is definitely over, placing the future of the peace process in serious jeopardy. The elections are coming up on March 28th and, as leader of the newly-formed Kadima (‘Forward’) party, Sharon was the clear favourite. I have no idea what will happen now. I know we’ve got a couple of readers in Israel – maybe they can shed some light on what this will all mean? Should we expect the return of the housewife’s favourite: Binyamin Netanyahu?