Israel Thrives..
02 June '13..
Of late, celebrity-driven BDS by Hawking, Waters and Alice “Space Alien Conspiracy Theories R Us” Walker have been on the newswires, with the last of those personages writing an impassioned letter to pop star Alicia Keys against her decision to have a concert in Israel.
I couldn’t care less about the thoughts of pop luminaries regarding Israel, or even Hawking, which given their areas of expertise gives them no more authority on the subject than I have. I was interested, however, in the comparison of the open letter Walker wrote to Keys with those written by pro-Israel bloggers and columnists to BDSers such as Roger Waters. The anti-Israel letters talk about justice, morality and the struggle against “racism, colonialism and apartheid,” while the pro-Israel letters emphasize Israel’s liberties (women’s rights, same-sex rights and the like), vibrant economy and achievements in science and medicine.
It’s no secret I think the ideological argumentation leveled against Israel can be countered only with an equal and opposite reaction, and since I’m done preachin’ it with endless verbiage, let me lead by example by offering a template for an open letter that argues against BDS on ideological lines.
Dear (Name),
As an admirer of your (scientific achievements / music / et al.) I was disappointed to learn of your decision, probably unintentional, to join yourself with the unjust cause of imperialist aggression carried out against the indigenous Palestinian nation, the Jewish nation, on their one and only land in the world. I am quite certain there was no malicious intent behind your support of such a cause, but the acceptance of prevalent falsehoods has set many people to support an agenda that goes against everything they would normally stand for.
If, as I believe you do, you support the struggle of indigenous people to maintain their self-determination in the face of imperialist aggression, as well as their rightful hold on their lands in the face of foreign colonization, I accept you will reconsider your stance on Israel, the state of the indigenous Palestinians—the Jews. For the sake of justice and morality, I trust that you will withdraw your support—given not out of malice but incorrect information—for the unjust colonial project where members of the Arab nation, indigenous to the Arabian Peninsula but not to Palestine, make illegal attempts to appropriate Palestine from its indigenous inhabitants, the Jews.
As speakers of a language indigenous to Palestine (Hebrew) and a calendar attuned to the land, the Jews have a full right to self-determination on their one and only piece of land in the world; justice demands that they be supported in the face of the illegal attempts by the speakers of a language foreign to Palestine and holders of culture originating in the Arabian Desert to encroach on what is rightfully theirs, what legally, justly and morally belongs to the one and only true Palestinian nation, the Jewish nation.
I implore you, for the sake of all that is good and moral, for the sake of your conscience, to rescind your support for racist Arab imperialism, illegal Arab colonialism and regressive Islamic apartheid (religious laws consigning Christians and Jews to second-class status), which are blots on humanity that a 21st-century world would be better off without. People of conscience everywhere support the just, rightful and non-imperialistic state of the indigenous Palestinian nation, the Jewish nation, as an integral part of their ideal of self-determination for indigenous peoples worldwide and resistance to colonialism, racism and apartheid.
I hope you will give the matter some thought.
Sincerely,
That’s the template I suggest; refinements would be welcome.
Link: http://israel-thrives.blogspot.co.il/2013/06/pushback-template-for-bdsers.html
Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.
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