• Samskara@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    7 hours ago

    One issue with BDS is they also support the boycott of Israeli-Palestinian grassroots peace initiatives. BDS demands boycott of all Israelis and Israel related people. That means dialogue, building bridges, personal connections, and so on is being opposed. Boycotting everything Israel also harms Palestinians. BDS also means boycotting Israeli artists, that are critical of the government as well.

    Norman Finkelstein also doesn’t support BDS. Even though he‘s very critical of Israel‘s policies.

    So consider this before you blindly support BDS. If you hate Israel and want to see it destroyed, sure go ahead. If you want peaceful coexistence, BDS is not the way.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      6 hours ago

      Even if you don’t like their stance on some things, they provide very good information and actionable anti-Apartheid steps the average person can take. If you think one of their stances is counterproductive then just… don’t follow it. I’m certainly for cooperating with unequivocally anti-Apartheid Israelis, but for purely tactical reasons it makes sense for BDS to oppose it. As the leading anti-Zionist international organization they kind of do set the tone for anti-Zionist action, and it’s a lot easier to make a program more moderate than more radical.

      Boycotting everything Israel also harms Palestinians.

      Lemme reword that for you: “Boycotting South Africa also harms black Africans”. Do you see the problem now? Israel must not be allowed to use Palestinians’ economic security as a hostage against the international anti-Zionist movement; that’d basically mean giving up.

      So consider this before you blindly support BDS. If you hate Israel and want to see it destroyed, sure go ahead. If you want peaceful coexistence, BDS is not the way.

      As I said above even if you think they’re too radical or whatever at this stage of the anti-Zionist struggle anti-Zionist action will take the same form no matter where you ultimately want to end up. That aside, though, why the heck would I not want Israel gone? The prospect of peaceful coexistence with Israel is about as attractive as peaceful coexistence with Nazi Germany; dismantle that shit and build a real democracy in its place.