Eydar - The boycott and the Left

Dror Eydar
Israel HaYom
14 July '11

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=185

Despite the propaganda, the boycott law is not meant to protect settlements.

The ghoulish dance between the Israeli left and its hundreds of front organizations is creating a putsch against democracy. The dance is set to the stirrings of the predictable orchestra of dozens of media outlets, almost all of which believe the boycott law, which passed in the Knesset on Sunday, will muzzle free speech and inhibit democracy. Yadda yadda yadda, and the band played on. The righteousness of these players would put George Orwell to shame.

So who, exactly, does the boycott law muzzle? Only that permanently-aggrieved clique that regularly issues libel against Israel to the global community? Tell me, have you listened to the radio, read a newspaper, watched television or surfed the Internet lately? The concept of democracy has been cheapened. This law followed a drawn-out legislative process, comprising parliamentary votes, speeches both for and against, a heated and active public debate and appeals to the High Court. Is this not democracy? Where is the limit when it comes to falseness and hypocrisy from a group based on negative principles, a group that speaks the language of hatred and boycotts and who morning, noon and night defame Israel and encourage the international community to do the same?

The muzzled include those who encourage boycotts against the culture, economy and research institutions of Israel. Those who seek to silence them protest that the group is finally waking up and fighting back. Like the Palestinians during their Intifadas, they attack Israel's core and then plead victim status.

Despite what the propaganda says, the boycott law is not meant to protect settlements. While the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria do deserve protection, the boycott law's scope is significantly larger: It combats the entire enterprise of boycotts seeking to harm Israel, encourage delegitimization and, indirectly, condone terror attacks against our citizens.

It is shameful that the boycott movement was initiated by Jews and Israelis. Many other democracies, including the U.S., have laws on their books against such actions. The boycott law is not a violation of democracy -- it is a protection of it.

The Leftist organizations who say this law attacks them are struggling not for freedom of speech but for freedom of hatred and incitement. These same organizations take pride in the slander of their own country, and in doing so they reap dividends from all those around the world who hate Israel.

To the members of this permanently-aggrieved camp who still possess a conscience, I ask: Do you really want democracy? If so, how can you explain the fact that most of the country has become alienated from you and your idea of democracy? They are no less democratic than you are.

Perhaps these aggrieved members should so some soul-searching instead of protesting, with condescension, by beating someone else's chest.

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