Thomas Friedman is in Ramallah on a mission. Apparently he has to sell the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to the Palestinian National Authority. On repeated occasions the PA had announced it does not support the BDS campaign launched in 2005 by Palestinian civil society including labor unions, NGOs and student groups. The efforts of so many Palestinian volunteers and their international supporters are currently snowballing at a worrying rate, a much faster rate than the boycott against Apartheid South Africa did at a comparable time. It has become a veritable popular movement across the world. But Friedman ignores all of that and announces in his piece:
But this Third Intifada isn’t really led by Palestinians in Ramallah. It’s led by the European Union in Brussels and other opponents of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank across the globe. Regardless of origin, though, it’s becoming a real source of leverage for the Palestinians in their negotiations with Israel.
He thinks he can bribe all the BDSers by using the glorious name of “Third Intifada” and dumping it all in the lap of the PNA. What a low blow! What cleverness! He apparently doesn’t realize that a major worry of BDS activists that the PNA may undercut their achievements by signing some agreement that can serve as a fig leaf. Note that Freedman doesn’t mention BDS in his article, not once. He finds all kinds of culprits to blame it on, from Nelson Mandela to Ahmadinejad, but not Palestinians other than his hosts in Ramallah.
The man is a real con artist: Not only does he try to obfuscate the origin of the successful movement and the extent of its success but he tries to cut it down to acceptable proportions. Not only is BDS never mentioned by name but also it is pared down to one negotiable issue: the West Bank occupation and the fate of the settlements there. No right of return and no equality for the Palestinian citizens of Israel, the other two integral parts of the campaign that add further universality and international appeal to it. To Friedman the only Palestinians are the PNA and the only issue for them is the fate of the West Bank settlers. Pressure the PNA enough to scuttle that and all is well.
Let us hope Friedman’s readers have read Omar Barghouti’s piece in the New York Times from last Sunday.
The difference between real and imagined is clear.
“The man is a real con artist”. And he gets paid handsomely for his spin and lies and justifications for mad war by the US and Israel.
I avoid him like I do a serious bout of food-borne illness. Thanks Doc!
Sorry but why is someones support for BDS now bad?
Smart catch, Friedman is trying to blunt the movement by absorbing its arguments, turn it into a “liberal” Zionist proposition, remove any language that speaks its name – BDS – as well as trying to isolate Palestinians and/or make them invisible and saying it’s all the work of Europeans.
This is how a con artist goes to work, who is trying to shield Israel from the rightful criticism that is no longer possible to dismiss or ignore.
(Also note that he is sympathetic to the BS propaganda lie that BDS is somehow “anti-Semitic” in “some” quarters. This is basically Alan Dershowitz speaking through the mouth of Friedman — they just might be the same person.)
I dont think Friedman is the brightest bulb in the package but I wouldnt get all upset by not giving the Palestines the credit for BDS.. It might be ”slighting them” but saying that BDS is being led by the EU and other countries does imply ‘more heft’ in the BDS movement. And that is not meant to slight the Palestine efforts either—– but thats the reality in who has the most ‘power’ in BDS.
And it does work to the Palestine goals and advantage to have more powerful countries seen as part of BDS.
So although it may hurt some Palestine feelings to be left out of the credit for BDS, go with what carries the most weight in the I/P struggle.
This spin doctor would have a problem if his name was “Freedman”.
Another lying fake liberal.