Activists from Adalah-NY sing songs promoting BDS at Occupy Wall Street on November 13, 2011 (Photo: Alex Kane)
"New York is different," Riham Barghouti, a well-known member of Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel, told me last weekend at the end of a boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) information action at Zucotti Park, where Occupy Wall Street (OWS) has taken root. She was referring to the fact that asserting Palestinian rights at Occupy Wall Street, or using the Occupy movement's language when talking about Palestine, has engendered some controversy in New York City, as opposed to in Boston or California.
Indeed, two days after dozens of Palestine solidarity activists gathered at the OWS encampment in lower Manhattan to promote the BDS campaign, the Anti-Defamation League (whose main office is in New York City) went on the attack, and accused the "anti-Israel left" of "exploit[ing] the enthusiasm of the [OWS] movement and channel[ing] it for their cause." The BDS action, as well as other Palestine-related actions at Occupy encampments, were criticized by the ADL.
Barghouti said that in NYC particularly, there is a constant process of Israel advocacy groups going on the attack, and a notion among some on the left that Palestine is a "divisive" issue. Barghouti has a point; while the Israel lobby has national reach, New York is a center of power for the lobby (as it is for finance; the line between Wall Street and the lobby is blurry). In addition, Palestine has long been a contentious issue in left politics, especially in the anti-war movement, but the issue has recently begun to make headway within movement.
The ADL criticism was a familiar one to activists involved in both Palestine solidarity and OWS work. Marc Tracy at Tablet leveled the charge that overt Palestine solidarity at OWS would "drown out" the movement's "compelling economic message."
The criticisms, though, rest on a distortion of the intentions of Palestine solidarity activists and a misunderstanding of the type of politics behind Occupy Wall Street. Activists involved in Palestine-related work have been involved in Occupy Wall Street actions since the beginning of the movement, and the movement's message has not been "drowned out." Palestine solidarity activists do indeed see the OWS movement as fertile ground for organizing, but so does the anti-police brutality movement, the environmental movement and a host of other social justice groups. With such a fluid, broad-based, left-wing movement, Palestine will come up.
For example, Jewish activists involved with both Palestine solidarity and the Occupy movements brought the movements together when they disrupted and "occupied" a Birthright Israel event promoting Wall Street last week. In a post on Mondoweiss, the activists explained that:
This movement's power lies in its broad appeal to anyone oppressed by the economic status quo. OWS is about much more than banks, and the economy doesn't stop at U.S. borders. We honor the OWS message by casting light on and holding our community accountable to a substantial economic problem: the occupation of Palestine yields huge profits for American corporations and has absorbed over 33 billion dollars in U.S. taxpayer dollars
In a similar vein was the Palestinian BDS National Committee statement that read:
Our aspirations overlap; our struggles converge. Our oppressors, whether greedy corporations or military occupations, are united in profiting from wars, pillage, environmental destruction, repression and impoverishment
Palestine solidarity activists organizing at OWS does not equal an attempt to make the movement about Palestine. And the big reason why OWS has found such broad appeal, as the "Occupy the Occupiers" statement points out, is that the tactics of the Occupy movement are so diffuse and decentralized, which makes room for a variety of groups who resonate with the message of the "1% in the U.S. has captured the government."
BDS activists say they won't be bowed by these criticisms, and are looking to continue organizing for BDS and Palestine at Occupy encampments.
Barghouti was optimistic about the potential for further Palestine solidarity activism at OWS.
"Around the world, Palestine is a part of this movement." Looks like the ADL has their work cut out for them.
The Palestinian BDS National Committee has it exactly right. It makes me think of why I spend so much time on this site – what other issue encompasses all the antagonisms and inherent inequalities in the western system ( the world system at this point)? It’s all here, along with most of what is great and terribly, terribly wrong with US, as humans.
You are absolutely correct, Dan.
New York is a center of power for the lobby (as it is for finance; the line between Wall Street and the lobby is blurry)
LOL, I am sure it has NOTHING to do with the 2 million + Jews in NYC. Excellent journalism here Alex!
all the more reason to suspect that their voices will do the “drowning out”.
I once spoke with the director of the New Israel Fund branch in New York city. He stated that while Washington DC was the center of political power in the United States, New York was the center of finance. The exact quote was, “This is where the money is.”
the center of political power in the United States
some would argue the world. it’s the big apple.
i just realized how much i fouled up that last comment …i meant some would argue NYC was the center of finance in the world.
while Washington DC was the center of political power in the United States, New York was the center of finance.
That reminds me of the almost prophetic line from Fritz the Cat just before the Yom Kippur War:
In real life Washington, LA, and NYC are still occupied territory.
AVI_G: I once spoke with the director of the New Israel Fund branch in New York city. He stated that while Washington DC was the center of political power in the United States, New York was the center of finance. The exact quote was, “This is where the money is.”
Apparently, in New York it’s not earth shattering news (except for DBG).
link to nysun.com
You said it, DBG, not Alex. I happen to actually agree with you on this one, DBG, and Jews like you tend to prove it right every… single… time.
The BDS movement is a gross and opportunistic distraction from the work of “occupy wall street” and its many spin offs.
The 99% movement is NOT a coalition of various factional perspectives, but a uniquely unifying class and society oriented movement.
It is not limited in the slightest to banking issues, but includes the common cause of working people.
BDS is a dividing issue for OWS because it is a zero-sum one. Israelis and Palestinians are included in the 99%. It is unnecessarily divisive, no matter how much of an opportunity you consider it, with activists gathered.
What about the Palestinians and/or Arabs in the %1?
Name one, if you please, sweetie.
How many Palestinians and Arabs are in the 1%? Compare that to Israelis and Jews.
yada, yada, yada witty….
Palestine is the 99% in the world, the zionist of Israel are the 1%.
What better place for Palestine than with the OWS 99%.
It’s true that, from a purely class perspective, most Israelis are in the proletariat, and so are most Palestinians. When South African apartheid still existed, there were people who actually argued that the struggle against apartheid was a diversion from the class struggle – it divided white workers from black ones, and what was needed was for them to unite. This shows the world isn’t just divided into classes. Today Marxism-for-dummies sounds even dumber than it did then, and its funny to see defenders of racial supremacy arguing against Palestine solidarity within the occupy movement using it.
Witty, it’s fine that supporters of Palestinian rights are active educating other participants in the #OWS movement. None of the folks I’m familiar with in occupyjudaism would object. They only pitfall is if a group or interest tries to speak on behalf of OWS with a narrow, sectarian perspective.
One of the nice things about #OWS is that people who might not otherwise talk or act together are brought together.
I’ve particularly enjoyed talking to some of the Ron Paul fans.
Of course its fine as far as free speech is concerned.
As far as the effectiveness of the OWS movements, it is a divisive one.
(I’m more interested in the mutual aid, in neighborhoods application than on the city streets ones.)
If the OWS movement is only for young anarchists, then it too is not an advocate for the needs, interests, self-determination of the 99%, but a different definition of a 1%.
If the OWS movements are for the 99%, then the zero-sum nature of divisive issues like Israel/Palestine raised, distracts from and to the extent that it kills the movement.
Israel/Palestine is SO far from home, SO far from common cause on community issues.
It is not.
Israel-Palestine is AT home because of 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.
It’s at home because of the billions we have sent, will send, and are sending to Israel without any consideration for it’s constantly immoral and criminal actions.
palestine/israel is a community issue for inner city and rural america, since these are the places where most of the casualties in the afghanistan/iraq wars come from. doubters might check the weekly defense department report on u.s. troops killed in action.
Oh dear! So some Tablet editor thinks Palestinian solidarity will “drown out” OWS’s “compelling economic message”? Thanks for the concern, troll.
Is it callous to point out that if every Tablet subscriber who has participated in OWS opted to stay home and play Angry Birds instead, there would be no discernible difference whatsoever in downtown Manhattan? Who do these people think they’re kidding?
America’s expensive, destructive and thoroughly counterproductive Middle East policy is painfully related to our current crisis, and America’s lavish strategic support for Israel and the Egyptian military absolutely needs to be discussed at Zuccotti Park and at Occupy sites everywhere. No amount of whiny special pleading by the Israel Lobby’s liberal-ish fringe will change that. And if you think my sentiment is not “inclusive” enough, how “inclusive” is it for the US to subsidize ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and Jerusalem?
Thanks to all the BDS activists out there making the connection between US foreign policy and the domestic economic crisis. You people are heroes.
excellent report alex
yes indeed – kudos to mr. kane….
Would this be Alex’s first article as a staffer, even tho articles by him have appeared before? A great start!
A little, quick , short update on what is going on, in not-so-friendly-anymore,
Euro-gulag.
Things are going down the hill on the Old Continent, once known to be strong.
link to youtube.com
Occupy Aipac
November 17, 2011
Zionism is Weaker Than It Was
Occupy AIPAC?
by ANDREW LEVINE
link to counterpunch.org
“Should Palestinians continue to mount a sustained, non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation, Zionism’s appeal to American Jews is likely to diminish even further. Many Jews may not yet be ready to side against their own imaginary community, even if they ultimately care little about Israel itself. But younger Jews especially do not want to be on the wrong side of a moral struggle replete with overtones of the American civil rights movement or the struggle against South African apartheid. This is why Palestinian freedom rides and similar act of non-violent resistance are a stroke of genius. Identity politics be damned if it comes down to siding with Bull Connor over Martin Luther King.”
Move Over Aipac. Come one come all
Save the date: Occupy AIPAC, not Palestine!
link to moveoveraipac.org
What’s the issue here?
Are they afraid Jews will say: “Hey, the house of cards is crumbling and I’ll lose all my savings and my house if this continues, but I’ll still side with the rich because those demonstrators are against the Israeli occupation!”
A very good speech by Prof Finkelstein about BDS.
A must to watch.
link to normanfinkelstein.com
Another Barghouti to cheer? Between Mustafa, Omar, here Riham, and yesterday young Miriam (who reported the Freedom Ride), that’s one exceptional family or extended family.
The “mainstream” Left has long performed as the “rear guard” for the Israel Lobby as Lenni Brenner pointed out more than a dozen years ago and though the situation has slightly improved in the past couple of years, thanks to the internet and sites like Mondoweiss, it obviously is still a problem.
This has been classically demonstrated by the Left’s “head in the sand” response to the Iraq War. Nowhere in the major protests did one hear mention of PNAC or the very public role of leading Jewish neocons in promoting and orchestrating that war.
Now, on the threshold of a possible attack by either Israel or the US on Iran, the Left, such as it is, has been virtually silent on the issue since one can’t talk about Iran without recognizing the fact that the entire Jewish political establishment has been beating the drums for an attack on Tehran since the invasion of Iraq.
I wrote about the issue a half dozen years back in an article for Left Curve, “The Israel Lobby and the Left: Uneasy Questions,” which deals with this problem and for which I provided the link. For those who might not have seen it, here it is again: www.leftcurve.org/LC27WebPages/IsraelLobby.html
One of the slogans of the Sixties, “You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem,” needs to be resurrected. All those in OWS who don’t want to hear criticisms of Israel, no matter how loud they shout against the 1%, are definitely part of the problem.
To the OWS movement, opportunistically divisive issue are definitely part of the problem.
You never read the likud playbook of divide the enemy. You sound more and more like a plant to me daily.
I don’t really mean that. I just wish you would think beyond your own agenda for a dear moment.
There are a few Likud plants on this list, Witty, such as yourself who should properly be recognized and named for your/their most distinct characteristic, which is why they are called stinkweeds.
A very mature statement Blankfort.
In this case the point is that organizing around common social/economic issues is so difficult that it requires concentration, not distraction.
But, you are insistent on distraction, divisive distraction, consistently stated cruelly and uncharitably.
You are apparently not capable of distinguishing between liberal and likud flavors of Zionism. I’m sure you regard all Zionism as just the same.
Richard Witty said, ‘Mr. Blankfort: I admit I’m more than a little disingenuous here. I’m implying that “organizing around common social/economic issues” is my top priority. It is not. My top priority is silencing any criticism of Israel. Once that is accomplished, we can turn to “social/economic issues.”
‘Here’s proof of my disingenuousness. Discussion about Israel/Palestine has been a very small part of the OWS demonstrations. But I’ve seized upon it, in comment after comment after comment. That’s because I chime in on what is really important to me.’
Witty, you write:
“You are apparently not capable of distinguishing between liberal and likud flavors of Zionism. I’m sure you regard all Zionism as just the same.”
Not quite right, Witty. I consider the Likud version to be more honest about what they believe.
We’ve seen this before.
You know the science “chemistry”.
One of the key distinctions in chemistry is the relationship between conditions and results.
In the condition of potential for peace and reconciliation (95% potential from my very rough intuition/study) I am for compromise. That would include compromise in the effort to achieve peace – like 100% settlement moratorium, and critical compromise in actual deal)
In the condition of no potential for peace and reconciliation, and the mode of warring is vicious, I am for warring to win.
95% – 5%. Some have concluded that this is war already. It looks like you from my vantage.
But, then very very gullible readers (even editors sometimes), then conclude that the 5% is the name of the game, rather than the 95%.
And, then declare themselves to be “anti-war”. Rather than indefatigable in the pursuit of justice AND peace.
I’d say Witty is more of a couch-potato liberal Zionist.
He talks about the OWS protests as if he’s been there.
Yeah, sure you have.
Richard Witty says:
November 17, 2011 at 10:15 pm
But Jeffrey’s right. The smell can be quite strong sometimes.
Stalin had a pithier quote: Who isn’t for me is against me. Personally, I’d go for a strategy that attracts people to listen, instead of forcing them to hear.
how do you mean ‘forcing them to hear’? do you mean in the context of OWS?
Actually, it was Bush who said, “You’re either with us or against us,” but this is not a case of not talking but of those in the movement who are either crypto-zionists or Jewish tribalists not only not willing to listen but who have a long and sordid history of trying to keep the Palestinian issue off of the “movement” agenda.
It is clear that they have been extremely successful in their endeavors to the point where until recently they have been able to determine the “acceptable” parameters within which the Israel-Palestine conflict can be discussed.
I have had to deal with these people for more than 30 years, and they have been a far bigger obstacle to building support for the Palestinian struggle than have been the organizations that make up the Jewish establishment whose agenda they are either consciously or unconsciously serving. That’s a distinction I consider to be irrelevant.
And, “they” are also the voters, the contributors, that will make an electoral leadership behind recognition of mutual rights possible.
Radical political “movement” rather than hearts and minds, all stated in the name of democracy.
I have observed how the extreme left wing coterie that is always on the bash Israel bandwagon attaches itself to every kind of protest activity it can find here in Australia. There has been a situation where they affiliated themselves with the gay rights movement who were lobbying for gay marriage. The pro gay marriage demonstrations began to lose numbers and lost viability, because many of their supporters felt uncomfortable with what they saw as the infiltration of unsavory elements.
G’day Mayhem: one thing you may not know, but should, is that US aid to Israel is not some minor policy deep in the fine print of our foreign relations but a major engine of American statecraft. Israel has received more US foreign aid in the past thirty years than all of sub-Saharan Africa combined–it is the top recipient of US aid–which is bizarre to say the least. To criticize this lavish US subsidy for Israel is not to “single out” this client state out of spite, eccentricity of racism but rather to engage in the essential, unavoidable task of recalibrating a foreign policy that has so catastrophically failed both Americans and the people of the Middle East who are not Israeli. The question of the “special relationship” between the US and Israel is not marginal to us here, it is essential; it is not “unsavory” as you put it but wonderfully salubrious and rather urgent. And it’s terrific that the Occupy movement is not afraid to take up this issue.
“as the infiltration of unsavory elements.”
I doubt the gay community finds Palestine activist unsavory….I can see why they would find you unsavory though.
Consider for a moment, if Zionist supporters of OWS staged a component rally at a demonstration.
Insisted that the OWS movement commit to peace, anti-war, rather than to agitation for the elimination of Israel via BDS/one-state confrontations.
The OWS movements are preoccupied with their conflict with police now. They’ve already been distracted from real work.
“a gross and opportunistic distraction ” Finally, the Corporal is right about something. It was inevitable.
Hej!
Distort this:
France summons Israeli envoy over Gaza attack
Paris summons Israel’s ambassador after French consul and his family were injured in a missile attack on the Gaza Strip.
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2011 16:57
One Palestinian was killed and four others injured in the same attack that wounded the French consul’s family [Reuters]
France has summoned the Israeli ambassador to Paris to a meeting at the foreign ministry after an air strike wounded the French consul in Gaza, along with his wife and daughter.
A spokesman for the ministry said on Wednesday that France’s ambassador in Tel Aviv had complained to Israeli authorities over the bombing, and that Israel’s envoy had been required to meet with senior officials in Paris.
The consul, his wife and 13-year-old daughter were injured during an Israeli air strike on Sunday night, Bernard Valero, the French foreign ministry spokesman, said on Tuesday.
Valero told reporters that the three were were hit by shrapnel at their residence in Gaza, which is located 200 metres from the site of an Israeli missile attack.
“France condemns the consequences of the raid,” he said. “While we are all for Israeli security, France recalls the utmost necessity to avoid civilian harm,” Valero adde.
Though Valero did not comment on the nature of their injuries, French media reported that Majda Shaqqoura, the consul’s wife, suffered a haemorrhage and miscarried.
Palestinian killed
The raid, which also killed one Palestinian policeman and wounded four others, is likely to strain already difficult relations between France and Israel.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, earlier this month called Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, a “liar” in a conversation with Barack Obama that was accidentally broadcast to journalists.
Israeli planes carried out two raids on the Gaza Strip overnight, wounding a Palestinian, a Hamas official said on Wednesday.
The raids were on targets in Beit-Lahya and northern Gaza, said a member of the security service of Hamas, which controls the Palestinian territory.
An Israeli military spokesman confirmed a raid on “terrorist sites” in the Gaza Strip”.
I find it hard to believe that the IDF didn’t know where the French Amb residence was. Were they trying to get back at France’s attitude toward Israel by showing they could kill Frenchmen and get away with it the same way they get away with killing Americans? Their hubris and belief in their holocaust immunity for all their actions will be the end of them.
The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles is fairly liberal as such publications go but one cannot say the same for those who comment on its articles. Here is a sampling of their response to the attack on the French consul in Gaza. They began with this one:
“Good, He and his family who by being there were and are supports of Hamas.”
Comment by Robin Rosenblatt on 11/15/11 at 3:48 pm
then:
“We know how the French talk and feel, but show us the wounds. Why is France involved in a terrorist state.”
Comment by Dick on 11/16/11 at 7:17 am
“The French consulate is living in a war zone, with his family, and is surprised that his family is in harms way. The French are cluless.”
Comment by Aaron on 11/16/11 at 8:35 am
“To bad it wasn’t Sarkozy!”
Comment by Honey Bee on 11/16/11 at 9:18 am
“Why? The French Diplomat and family were by the Hamas compound? Is Gaza a Nation now, to have a consul ?”.
Comment by nini on 11/16/11 at 11:25 am
“I was stationed in France for a year when it was still a member of NATO. The French fought a vicious war in Algeria and during WWII France essentially transported its Jewish citizens to death camps. Today, Jews are attacked with impunity and they are leaving France as fast as their feet and their purse will allow them. The fact the French are in bed with Hamas (as they were with Saddam Hussein) does not surprise me.”
Comment by Aaron on 11/16/11 at 4:34 pm
link to jewishjournal.com
Which one of those do you identify with Witty, Mayhem, Clenchner, DBG, eee, hophmi?
Those that have concluded that war is the only option, are similar to your reasoning, is my take.
And who here said the Nakba and Operation Cast Lead were necessary?
Jeffrey, on what grounds to you associate me with supporters of harm to a French diplomat in Gaza? Feels like a super cheap attack.
I guess it’s your vibes, Clench. If the shoe doesn’t fit you don’t have to wear it.
Ah yes, blame the victim. I guess historically, people getting smeared and falsely accused have a lot to answer for.
That said, is there anything I’ve actually written that would suggest my joy at seeing French diplomats harmed? Or that I’m in any way on the side of Israel when it commits aggression in Gaza?
Gimme a break. Now you’re a victim? In any case, I don’t recall what it was that led me to include you in that list of notworthies but clearly if you’re going to comment in this arena you need to be a little thicker skinned.
clench, i don’t think all of the posters expressed joy at seeing the french diplomat and his family harmed. some, like aaron…. put it in a harsh context.
Clench, I’ve never seen you anywhere but on the same side of this discussion as Witty.
“The ADL criticism was a familiar one to activists involved in both Palestine solidarity and OWS work. Marc Tracy at Tablet leveled the charge that overt Palestine solidarity at OWS would “drown out” the movement’s “compelling economic message.”
A familiar criticism (wedge issue) to activist focused on justice, national security for decades. I have been part of concerned citizens groups who have approached Reps around the country about the I/P issue for decades. Can assure you that many Reps will say what they feel about this issue “off the record” but are terrified to state what they feel in the public eye.
Please set up an appointment with your Rep about the I/P issue during their recess. Meet as a group with them. We have always made a plan before hand and individuals make clear, concrete comments and suggestions. Hand them informative materials and books. You may hear things that will surprise you.
Keep pushing!
I do wish the OWS would focus more on prosecution of the banksters. Professor William Black clearly nails the lack of accountability. (MRW linked a week ago)
This is the clearest explanation of the Wall Street fiasco that I have ever heard. WILL YOU HAVE PROFESSOR WILLIAM BLACK ON?
Professor William Black
link to law2.umkc.edu
Asking why no one has been prosecuted? Have heard this fellow before I believe on Democracy Now. Listen to the whole clip. This man should be at all the teach in’s. Clear and on target.
Occupy LA Teach In William K Black
link to youtube.com
“Ok I am coming with a message of hope actually. In the savings and loan crisis which was one seventieth the size of this crisis. Our agency made over 10,ooo criminal referrals and that resulted in the conviction on felony grounds of over 1000 elites in what were designated as major cases”
William Black “We can prosecute these frauds. The Federal Housing Finance Administration has just filed complaints saying 17 of the largest banks in America committed massive fraud. Endemic fraud.. And that there is a paper trail proving that they did so.”
“Where is the Justice Dept?”
BANKS IMMUNIZED FROM NOT ONLY BEING PROSECUTED BUT FROM BEING INVESTIGATED
Contact the Justice Dept? Ask them why no one on Wall Street has been arrested or prosecuted?
link to justice.gov
the number of watches at you tube has not changed in over a week. Can not be the right number
William Black
link to youtube.com
This is all a quote… link below:
Three groups, Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and Jews Say No! issued a statement defending the rights of protesters to express solidarity with Palestine.
However, Jewish Voice for Peace Director Rebecca Vilkomerson told The Jewish Week she does not intend to push for further connection between Occupy Wall Street and the cause of the Palestinians.
“We’re not going to the General Assembly to say, ‘You must pass this thing,’” she said. “I don’t have any interest in making Occupy Wall Street take on Palestine per se. It’s a U.S. economic justice movement.”
link to thejewishweek.com
A reasonable and charitable statement on her part.
“There has not been a peace process; THERE HAS BEEN AN ANNEXATION PROCESS,” Finkelstein stated. “The annexation process needs the peace process; it feeds off it.”
link to the whole article
link to normanfinkelstein.com
Moreover, the notion of a “peace process” indicates that a state of war exists between the Israelis and Palestinians when, in point of fact, that war, such as it was, ended in 1948 with an Israeli victory. Since that time, while there has been a Palestinian resistance that has ebbed and flowed it never amounted to any legal or practical definition of war. Hence, all talk about a “peace process,” be it from the Israeli, US, or Palestinian side, has been to disguise what Finkelstein says it is, an “annexation process” and thus within the “movement” who have prattled about the “peace process” deception are themselves culpable.
An analysis that looks at a grey and calls it black.
>> An analysis that looks at a grey and calls it black.
Not nearly as bad as Zio-supremacists who look at resistance to decades of oppression and injustice and call it “maximalist” and “destabilizing” and “dissent”. Or, worse, who justify and support Zionist terrorism and ethnic cleansing as a “necessary” evil.
Out here in the wild west we held a Solidarity Palestine rally in Phoenix, AZ across the street from the Occupy Phoenix encampment. It was gratifying to see the number of occupiers who were sympathetic with the Palestinians. One of the occupiers even held one of our signs, “No More Wars For Israel.” Take a look at our video report of the event: link to whtt.podbean.com
hey thanks tom, i just tweeted that link. i like the video.