Published on Portside (https://portside.org)
Boycott Is the Only Way to Stop the Israeli Occupation
May 5, 2016
Gideon Levy
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Haaretz (Israel)
Haaretz Editor-in-Chief Aluf Benn calls on us not to get too
enthusiastic about the effects of a boycott of Israel (Haaretz, April 28) [1]. I agree
with him, but even if we are not enthusiastic about it we have no choice but to
recognize that boycott, divestment and sanctions is the only game in town, the
last hope for the change that Benn also wants. This is the only means to stop
Israel from persisting in its crimes. The only alternative is bloodshed, which
no one wants.
Sanctions and boycott are the most
non-violent, legitimate means there are (Israel constantly preaches to the
world to use them against its enemies) and have been proven effective. Even
people who share Benn’s reservations, and I share some of his doubts, must
concede that he doesn’t offer a more certain alternative. His proposal for the
left to establish a base of domestic support for its positions is hopeless
considering the brainwashing, ignorance, blindness, the good life, lack of
opposition and increasing extremism of Israeli society.
Because this is a criminal
situation, which must not be allowed to persist, we cannot leave it alone until
public opinion has the good grace to change. It will never do so of its own
accord, it has no reason to do so as long as it is not paying for its crimes
and being punished for them. People who claim this have reached a new height of
Israeli chutzpah: to allow tyranny, abuse and oppression to go on in the name
of democracy.
Benn begins his article by
describing a fantasy – that the world imposes sanctions on Israel. The truth is
that this is sometimes my fantasy, a manifestation of a primeval desire of
someone who sees the sins every day and yearns to see the punishment. When
Border Police personnel execute a pregnant woman and her brother claiming that
they “threw a knife,” and society yawns in boredom, the desire awakens to shake
and punish it. This is not a desire for revenge, but rather for change. Benn
believes that a boycott will make Israel harden its position. The past has
shown that the opposite is true. Israel has always made the few concessions it
did after it paid a heavy price, or in the face of an overt threat.
It is true that North Korea and
Cuba did not surrender to boycotts, but they are not democracies and public
opinion in those countries carries little weight. The Israelis, based on the
experience of the past, are much more spoiled. Close down the international airport
for two days and let’s see who’s for the settlement of Yitzhar; demand a visa
for every little vacation abroad and let’s see who will say “the Land of Israel
for the People of Israel.” And we haven’t even begun to talk about ongoing
conditions of shortages and economic crisis that will require Israel to finally
ask: Is all this really worthwhile to satisfy an appetite for real estate, is
all this worthwhile for the caprice of the occupation, are they prepared to pay
out of their own pocket and lifestyle for regions of the country that most
people have never even seen and have no real interest in their fate?
The first response to the boycott
will be the one Benn describes: Masada, banding together, taking a harder line.
But in the blink of an eye the questions will start mounting, followed by
protest. Israelis of 2016 are not built to live in Sparta, not even in Cuba, to
drive around in cars from the 1950s and stand in long lines for meat in order
to keep the settlement of Esh Kadosh in existence. They will sell Elkana to
keep Varna, and that’s a good thing. And if that leaves Elkana in a single
democratic state, even better. Marwan Barghouti as prime minister of a
democratic government doesn’t scare me, Benn.
BDS has not yet begun to lick at
our lives here. Meanwhile there is no real economic warfare, rather only
movements that are only gradually changing international discourse about
Israel. On the edges there are perhaps some elements of anti-Semitism, but it
is basically a protest movement by people of conscience who want to do
something. Economic decline as a result of it might occur quickly, not
necessarily gradually. In South Africa the business community came to the
government and said: Enough, this cannot go on. That could happen here too.
That actually imbues me with great hope, Benn, I don’t see any other
alternative.
Gideon Levy is a Haaretz columnist
and a member of the newspaper's editorial board. He joined Haaretz in
1982, and spent four years as the newspaper's deputy editor. Levy is the author
of the weekly Twilight Zone feature, which covers the Israeli occupation in the
West Bank and Gaza over the last 25 years, as well as the writer of political
editorials for the newspaper. Levy was the recipient of the Euro-Med
Journalist Prize for 2008; the Leipzig Freedom Prize in 2001; the Israeli
Journalists' Union Prize in 1997; and The Association of Human Rights in Israel
Award for 1996. His new book, The Punishment of Gaza [2], has just
been published by Verso Publishing House in London and New York.
Links:
[1] http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.716688
[2] http://www.versobooks.com/books/485-the-punishment-of-gaza
[2] http://www.versobooks.com/books/485-the-punishment-of-gaza
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