This is a guest post by Modernity
Despite the sometimes wall-to-wall coverage of the Middle East and the hyper scrutiny to which Israel is subjected to, I feel that often we don’t get anywhere near a true representation of the real feelings of real people.
Instead we see the remnants of blowing up buses, someone shot in the street, a big concrete wall, gun wielding “militants” and the obligatory funeral, but is that really the complete picture?
Obviously not, but it is hard for us, in the West, thousands of miles away to gain a true appreciation of the region and in particular what the Palestinians want?
If we were to listen to some fanatics on the UCU activists’ list then we’d come away with a strange impression, that all Palestinians want Israel to be boycotted?
Not quite, as Engage relates:
“The Palestinian Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) does not support a general boycott on trade and investment with Israel, but rather a much more limited boycott of companies that are building settlements in the West Bank and the separation fence. This position emerged at the annual TUC Congress in Brighton this week on the fringe of which a heated debate took place over the question of whether the Palestinian workers themselves were in favour of the boycott.At a fringe event at the TUC Congress on Tuesday organized by the Trade Union Friends of Israel (TUFI), with the attendance of Ambassador Ron Prosor, Avital Shapira-Shaviro, head of international relations at Histadrut, the Israeli TUC, claimed that the Palestinian trade unions “are against the boycott of Israel as it harms first of all Palestinian workers.” “
So here are the questions:
Why do British supporters of boycotting Israel seem more extreme and intransigent than the Palestinians ?
What is it about Western pro-boycotters that makes them so fanatical ?
Notice: this thread is not about bashing Palestinians rather how some Western “academics” use the Palestinians cause to attack Israel. Any racist or offensive comments aimed at Palestinians will be deleted, and are off topic, so think about the issue and moderate your language before you post.
