Mairead Maguire, Nobel laureate, peace activist, speaking at a rally for Palestine in Belfast (thanks to Peter Belmont):
The biggest block to real change is not Israel but the United States of America continually vetoing and supporting the murder of children in Gaza and war against civilians. We have to know what Israel is about. Jimmy Carter gave an interview last week, and in this interview Jimmy Carter said the policy of the Israeli government is to confiscate Palestinian land. The policy of the Israeli government is to take more and more Palestinian land, they want a greater Israel and not only do they want a greater Israel, they want the 20% of the Arab people who live within Israel proper to acknowledge Israel as a ‘Jewish state’…
It is a myth that The Nakba and the ethnic cleansing that went on in 1948 by the Israeli’s is over. It’s happening today as we stand. The Israelis are clearing villages in the Negev desert so they can take over the very best of Palestinian land. We must up stand up against this. This is not acceptable and we’re not powerless…
We must support the Israeli Peace Activists. They are on a hard road but their message is right. Their message is non-violence, dialogue and solving this problem. It’s not who will start this problem; it’s who will end it.
Boycott all Israeli goods. Boycott Israel and the companies that trade with them. Divest from Israel and the countries that support Israel. We must applaud the Co-op, because the Co-op, one of the first retailers has come out with a very strong Boycott campaign and we send out from this platform our thanks to the Co-op and we implore more and more to follow their example. But, you know, also sanctions, sanctions against the arms that are flowing into Israel. We must say to America, you are breaking your own laws because every day you have 8 million dollars going to support the militarism of Israel. They are being used illegally by Israel and America has to stop this.
Yes. I never really understood how BDS restricted to “products from the settlements” was supposed to bring about any change.
Now if South Africa had been boycotted only to the extent of the products coming from some Bantustans, I think we’d still have this bright and shiny apartheid state in the community of nations (now I get there were no “settlements” in these Bantustans but you get my drift – I hope).
Is there any point at all in BDS “restricted to products from the settlements”? How can they have enough impact to bring about meaningful political change? If one wants to change the behavior of a State, one has to boycott the State, not some tiny subsections of it. All this militant energy against products from the settlement seems misdirected to me.
It is true. It is the US.
Our congress, politicians, political system is totally corrupt
It is true that the Israel lobby and those who support Israel and ‘bought’ the politicians are also guilty.
But the ultimate blame is on US politicians, they are suppose to be the gatekeepers and defense against the kind of corrupting influence that produced US Israel policy.
You can BDS till hell freezes over and it’s a good thing to do but you will never rein Israel in till you change/ get rid of US support for Israel……or the changing ME the US is losing control of does the job for us.
Haim Saban says the facts show Obama is the best American friend Israel has had in a long time, for example, much better than Bush Jr was: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/opinion/the-truth-about-obama-and-israel.html
Stay tuned for more free Obama stuff going to Israel.
I wish American media and intellectuals had such a clear-eyed a view of what Washington’s actual role is in this ongoing process of ethnic cleansing. I am constantly amazed that Peter Beinart, J Street and Americans for “Peace” Now all support unconditional US military aid to Israel. And these people and groups are seen as cutting-edge progressives! At least by some. Cheers to Mairead Maguire, and thanks Phil for posting.
● RE: “We must say to America, you are breaking your own laws because every day you have 8 million dollars going to support the militarism of Israel. They are being used illegally by Israel and America has to stop this.” ~ Mairead Maguire
● FROM MARK BRAVERMAN ON 11/22/12:
● TO SEND AN EMAIL (IN SUPPORT OF THE OCTOBER 5 LETTER) TO YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS – http://www.kairosusa.org/?q=node/54
NOTE: The prepared email identifies the sender as a “Christian”, so you might want to change that. After thinking about it for a while, I substituted “Methodist” (which is still quite a stretch). I also added a sentence indicating where I reside in order to make it clear that I am a constituent of theirs.