I missed Omar Barghouti’s debate with George Fletcher at Columbia Thursday night but Roane Carey of the Nation set it up to have coffee with him at a cafe downtown on Friday afternoon and he asked me along. They were sitting at a back table, and a half dozen others were crammed in to listen to Barghouti, who wore a red jersey and sat with his back to the wall. I recognized him at once as an international activist in a classic mold. He wore glasses and his posture was very erect, he might have been running a marathon. His hair was cut short on his large head. He is in his mid-40s but seems younger. He has a slightly beaklike nose and spoke in forceful long-considered paragraphs that he had surely said before. Around us was the glittering hubbub of downtown New York, attractive young people slouching onto couches or playing idly with their computers, but Barghouti was focused on one thing, the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions.
I had heard that he had polished off Fletcher the night before without much argument. Barghouti said that the debate was a farce. "I might have been talking to myself." An earlier debate had gone the same way. The hardcore Zionists are not coming forward. The mood in the
“I’m very optimistic. On this tour, for the first time I did not meet any—how should I put it diplomatically—I did not meet any reasonable Zionist position.” No the Zionists were hunkered down, talking among themselves.
Barghouti told stories meant to inspire. He said that Naomi Klein after touring the West Bank had been so devastated that she needed to delay her Ramallah speech, she needed to sit quietly for a half hour to deal with what she had seen.
And that was before she went to
Gaza has accelerated the BDS campaign, but the urgency of the campaign is also growing. "The cancer rate in Gaza is skyrocketing." What a coup it was to get Jane Fonda and Danny Glover’s signature on the Toronto Declaration that used the word "apartheid." Yes there has been terrible pressure on Fonda from funders of her own nonprofit in Atlanta, but she did not remove her name.
The impression I carried away was a simple one. You don’t often meet such committed and articulate people. Barghouti personifies the idea that Ali Abunimah and Nadia Hijab have both expressed: BDS is essential because it is the most powerful weapon Palestinians have in seeking to fashion their destiny.
I’m stunned, too, by the fact that Barghouti has gotten so little media coverage here. As another friend told me, Barghouti is the future. He is intelligent, empowered and non-violent. He is completely impressive. It would help Americans to see such a picture of Palestinian political engagement, when they have such a distorted image of who Palestinians are. Some day they will know him.
Why single out Israel especially as a target for the global BDS movement? Especially since Richard Witty is so against it on the theory it is not helpful (despite the most obvious example of S Africa) ? Well, fellow practical truth seekers, here’s some explanation; please note the distinctions made:
link to bdsmovement.net
Citizen, I’ll give you one of many responses to the question of singling Israel out. How about because our government (in the U.S.) has chosen to single out Israel – making it the single largest aide recipient of all countries we provide aide to and standing by it blindly. The U.S. provides Israel its single most important veto at the United Nations, its most significant fiscal support, its most significant moral support, and so on and so forth. If my government wants to single Israel out, why shouldn’t I respond in kind? I have to do SOMETHING to offset my tax dollars going to Israel.
Citizen, sorry to have misread your comment by the way.
I think I found Omar Barghouti’s debate
link to youtube.com
That is an older debate it seems. I believe this debate will be posted at www.grittv.org
If Barghouti wants to protest racism he should start with the Palestinians and Arab countries.
A must read for the BDS crowd.
link to ynetnews.com
‘Crystal Night’ and beyond
West turns blind eye to genocidal consequences of Arab culture of hatred
Robert Wistrich Published: 11.09.09,
Americans should start with Israel since we fund it so highly and support it in the UN always which makes the common sensical rest of the world think we and Israel are the negative same; which is the same thing Cantor says when he equates the two interests.
Why shouldn’t he start with the original racists who stole their homes right out from under them, Nomi?
Nomi, The piece you linked to was written in commemoration of kristallnacht. Wistrich’s usual politicization of the Holocaust is shabby, but even he did not set the Holocaust against Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians.
As a child of Holocaust survivors I find your comment offensive.
Olive…I think that’s a different debate with Omar Barghouti.
Nomi998,
I certainly have no problem protesting racism, religious persecution and the violation of human rights of Arab states. Human Rights organizations regularly report Arab violations.
The US should match aid cuts to Israel with 1-to-1 cuts to Egypt until the Mubarak dictatorship retires and repression ends.
The Jordanian monarchy should either introduce democracy or finance itself.
I would have no problem ending the American security guarantee for the Saudi Arabian family kleptocracy. Boycotting Saudi oil? Why don’t you organize that, although I doubt that would turn out well for American drivers.
Somehow though I don’t believe these actions would bode well for Israel’s Mideast strategy.
He can’t answer you. He’s busy spamming garbage posts to one of the other thread. The Israeli foreign ministry pays out by piecework, you understand.
Saudi Arabian family kleptocracy.
Saudi Arabia put the latest shipment of US fighter jets to some use this part week when they slaughtered 40 people in Yemen.
A king and his toys.
Chaos4700 is afraid of a debate.
He only wants radicals who write propaganda for the Arabs to write on here.
Debate? Please. All you know how to do is cut and paste, and spew invectives. I find it amusing that you accuse me of fear when you’re the one who’s got the Nazi hate-streak xenophobia for Arabs and Muslims. What is your opinion on Israel’s proposed concentration camps in the Negev, incidentally, Nomi?
Wouldn’t it be nice if 20 years from now Palestinian and Jewish negotiators go to conflict areas and again and again have to hear the same story? “You had it easy! You two peoples have much in common, have a rich culture, you’re smart! Our conflict is much more difficult! Our conflict can’t be solved!”
I would like to have debated Mr Barghouti.
He is an impressive man, not prone to fly off the handle, or indulge in excessive and imprecise rhetorical flourishes.
I have heard him speak in terms of goal, not only in punitive and/or condemnatory terms. He does present his assertions in terms of the context, and is aware of rational obstacles that Israel identifies (but solidarity usually has blinders to) in the math of unraveling the conflict.
One does not get the feeling that Israel or Israelis are hated from him.
I don’t know to what extent his comments lead or control the tone or discipline inherent in dissent movements, so that the same doubts about the J Street peace movement (that it is inneffective internally) may be said about Barghouti’s efforts.
In looking for someone to negotiate with, the parties need to represent promises that they can keep, not only promises that they can make.
So, the extent of power that he has is still the power to say “no, this is unacceptable” (a silhouette or negatively stated definition), and not “this is what is proposed, with these design characteristics” (a positive goal statede definition). If Hamas and Fatah and some sense of global disciplined solidarity were to conform to Barghouti’s leadership, and in some sense of permanence, then he might be an effective leader (not if you do what we want we’ll support you, then when you deviate we’ll fight you and abandon your principles).
On the particular methodology of BDS, I’ve been critical of its affect of isolation rather than integration. I’ve been particularly critical the Abunimeh combination of single-state realized through the total isolation of Israel through BDS, as 4 steps back, one 20-1 gambling step forward.
The decisions to adopt a cultural and academic boycott strike me as particularly isolating and therefore warlike (even if externally “non-violent”) in that the intended isolation fosters unconsciousness of the parties that would need to live together, rather than consciousness and mutual acceptance.
That solidarity express such anger at Israel in urging BDS, illustrates the point of the divisiveness of it.
Martin Luther King and Gandhi always had simultaneously two messages, directed to one (opponents, targets of civil disobedience) and two (proponents). I hope Barghouti will criticize anger (near or actual violence) expressed in the name of “his” movement, and in a very convincing and disciplined manner. For example, rock-throwing is NOT non-violent civil disobedience, whether it happens by western anarchists or by Palestinian activists. The demonstrations at Neilin and Beilim that include rock-throwing say in some of the Blumenthal videos don’t describe a non-violent demonstation, a demonstration yes, but not a non-violent one.
The question of goal is important as if the goal is the elimination of Zionism, then he and I are opponents, regardless of whether he adopts non-violent methods or violent ones. (Please note the similarity of a siege/blockade and an boycott. If a boycott is broken, say if a Palestinian attends an Israeli university, or buys an Israeli CD, will the non-violent proponents harm the individual in any way including boycott or isolation of that person, or destroy his/her property.)
If his goal is the reform of Israeli policies towards internal Palestinian Israelis, or reform of laws and treatment of West Bank Palestinians and Gazan civilians, then we would be allies in goal, but might humanely differ as to method.
Chaos4700,
link to jpost.com
Poll: 84% of Palestinians back yeshiva attack
By JPOST.COM
Mar 19, 08
The vast majority of Palestinian Authority residents support the terror attack on Jerusalem’s Mercaz Harav Yeshiva that killed eight students earlier on March 6, according to a new poll cited in the New York Times on Wednesday.
A student wounded in the shooting attack in Jerusalem’s Mercaz Harav Yeshiva is evacuated to Sha’arei Tzedek Hospital.
According to the survey, which was conducted among 1,270 Palestinians in the West Bank, 84 percent of those polled stood behind the shooting attack. In addition, 64% supported firing Kassam rockets at Negev towns.
“The anger that this poll is registering is about equal to that at the very height of the second intifada,” the paper quoted the pollster, Khalil Shikaki, as saying.
He added that he had never seen such a high level of support for an act of violence in all his 15 years of polling in Ramallah.
The survey also indicated that the majority of Palestinians would choose Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (47%) over Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (46%) if elections were called now, and that three-quarters of Palestinians favored terminating negotiations between the Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
The poll had a margin error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Phil,
Its possible that you got to participate in an interview with the next prime minister of a new Palestine.
BDS is nice, but we must remember to boycott and girlcott politicians who compete with each other to grovel to Israeli extremism. Likudnik (or whatever they are called these days) oriented voters will hold to account the politician who hesitates for a moment before endorsing the latest Israeli atrocity or even questions it. Such a politician will likely be smashed. The peace and justice camp does not hold these politicians to account in the same way and it should. I always see prominent “pro-Palestinian” activists who still vote for Zionist shilling politicians because they are still “liberal” or “lesser of two evils” on other issues.
Let’s end this practice. When two politicians of the established parties are competing to see who can increase the size of Israel’s welfare check the most we must inform each of them that this is offensive and we are voting for the Libertarian or another third party candidate.
thanks for promoting omar barghouti’s trip. one of the organizations that sponsored and organized it was the u.s. campaign for the academic and cultural boycott of israel. for those of your readers who have not yet signed up to endorse our call, please do so here:
link to usacbi.wordpress.com
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Two points about BDS. First, BDS is not a part of either a real negotiation in which Israel is a party or of the “negotiation” which is the focus of the “peace process”. (These are not scare quotes. These are THESE ARE THE WRONG WORDS quotes). Others may negotiate even while BDS continues. Long may it prosper.
(The settlement process is a sort of reverse BDS. it is something Israel is doing while negotiation is happening. And it is a major tactic aimed at getting Palestinians to give up and leave, or give up and agree to something horrible, or start resorting to mass violence. any of these is OK with Israel. The settlements are negotiating tools just as rubber hosues in police station back rooms are negotiating tools (and also water boarding). BDS is much more polite.)
Second, BDS is an entirely and exactly proper tool to use against Israel, because Jewish Israel is a democracy and thus the fact (if it proves to be a fact) that the effects of BDS fall broadly across Israeli society will allow Israeli democracy to transform the pain of BDS from the citizens to the government.
(This would never happen in a tyranny. thus a BDS aimed at today’s China or Saddam’s Iraq or perhaps even Fidel’s Cuba is silly because they are not democracies. The pain falls on the little guys and the government is not bothered at all.)
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