Benjamin Netanyahu and his partner in crime Sheldon Adelson have been pulling out all the stops lately against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, ratcheting up the demonization of BDS’ers. We’re anti-Semites, the same people who gave you the blood libel and 9/11. Or we are calling for “the elimination of Israel.”
One of Netanyahu’s new talking points, a variation of “no partner for peace” (rehashed because nothing is new in hasbara-land, propaganda gets recycled) is how he really wants a peace process and Palestine is refusing to negotiate. The other day the Prime Minister said the Palestinians “refuse to negotiate and then try to get boycotts on Israel for there not being negotiations, which they refuse to enter. Catch 22.”
Or as Abe Foxman put it a day or so later in New York: Israel needs to “come up with some creative dynamic approach for peace.”
How do you fit a square peg in a round hole? The sad truth, for all those scurrying around having conferences to tank BDS, is (as Ronen Bergman writes):
“The main problem in the fight against the boycott is not the marketing but the product. In the world of 2015, occupation would never be accepted.
So forget the new packaging. It’s the borders, stupid. I know how Netanyahu could get our attention. Name the borders for this pie-in-the-sky two state solution. You want negotiations? Cough up your proposal up front for a Palestinian State. No more “without preconditions,” or “final status issues” pushed down the road.
Cut to the chase, and if you want “negotiations” (which we all know you could care jack about except that it will enhance your image and drag out these last months of the Obama presidency), actually lay your cards on the table, tell us where your borders are, and what those wonderful landswaps are. Because American memories are short, but they’re not that short.
The truth is, they’ve got nothing. Fresh off Sheldon Adelson and Haim Saban’s Las Vegas weekend, we’re already starting to see the fruits of their labor roll in and there’s nothing but a bunch of handwringers trying to find a way to get Americans to like them. Foxman said, “There needs to be a lot more sensitivity” from Israel to the U.S. Really. Well: How about not flinging anti-Semite ad hominems at your adversaries, or playing the victim card while expanding settlement construction, or killing Palestinian children, or threatening to kill more Lebanese civilians, or helping Saudi Arabia crush Yemen. Oh, and making stupid (albeit truthful) speeches that expose your racism.
It’s all so… last century. There’s nothing fresh. No, other than promoting the meme that they’re just at the edge of their seats and eager to start another round of negotiations. #Fail.
Which leaves the ball in the Palestinians’ court.
Editor’s note: This piece has been edited to remove a statement Netanyahu made at a press appearance, “Justice and freedom for Palestinians are incompatible with Israel’s existence,” which was later quoted by AFP (and others) as being Netanyahu’s own statement. The PM was actually quoting California State University Stanislaus professor As’ad AbuKhalil, also the author of The Angry Arab News Service.
When a reporter asked Saban, at that Crazy Uncle conference, if Israeli policies might be fueling BDS he said that he was not going to get into whether particular policies were go or bad. Then he launched into a condemnation of anti Semitism.
They KNOW this is about wretched government policies, that’s why he and Sheldon don’t want to talk about it because they support them. Saban’s company, Partner, pays settlers to allow cell towers on their settlements which sit on land they stole from Palestinians. That is definitely a story Saban doesn’t want to get around.
They cannot complete in the marketplace of ideas so they can only use their power and influence to stifle the opposition. They’ve got nothing to offer.
Kerpow!
Way to go, Annie! Thanks so much for profiling his sanction- worthy statement:
“Justice and freedom for the Palestinians are incompatible with the existence of the State of Israel”
Taken together with the 95% of Israelis that supported the massacre last summer, the majority that reelected Netanyahu, his pre- election statements, his actions, and his cabinet , isn’t this finally enough for the US government to get serious on behalf of justice and drop the charade and favorite ‘ally’ status?
(wonder how many of our Zionist friends will show up to explain Netanyahu’s comment…)
Thanks Annie. Terrific article. You tell it like it is
No they will never discuss the actual borders because those borders they really want have the Mediterranean Sea to the west, the Jordan river to the east and a big chunk of southern lebanon in the north including the Syrian Golan Heights
They are biding their time, trying to ride out this storm and counting the days until Obama is gone. He’s been good to them, very good in fact, but he didn’t sell his soul to them. They want the next one, the one who has sold his/her soul
And then the attempt at the master plan the Final Solution will commence. Yes I’ve said this many times before but I believe that an attempt will be made to push a huge number of Palestinians living in the West Bank, into Jordan. It will be based on the premise of critical security. Isis and suchlike will supposedly have set up terrorist cells in the West Bank and due to the alleged critical security threat to the state of Israel entire areas of the West Bank will be cleared and declared a military zone. And once they get them out they will never be allowed back in. And how many times have we heard the argument by the hasbarists that the Palestinian state should be Jordan?
That’s how I believe they attempt to deal with the “demographic time bomb”.
This is also why I believe they are helping isis, for now. With Syria destabilised and assad eventually overthrown, there will be no more dispute regarding the Golan Heights (which will be annexed) and this will also weaken and make Hezbollah ineffectual. Isis is serving them very well for the time being
Sound far fetched? Then remember we are not speaking of ‘normal’ human beings. These are evil psychopaths driven by a sick ideology who will stop at nothing to achieve their final goal.
The key for them is who the next POTUS will be because only the next POTUS can stop them…. Or sit back and let them actually attempt it.
I personally believe that this attempt of expulsion will be the final straw and the nail in the coffin of this whole sick experiment of the Zionist state. This is why I desperately wanted the delusional psychos to get back into power because only they would actually attempt this and really believe they can get away with it. It’s only at this point we will reach the same point as we did in south Africa. Yes, I personally believe we have to get to this awful point first before we see any real change
We all know they will never agree to a real 2ss and never to a 1ss so what could their next move possibly be if not something like this?
“its Israel’s fault that there is no Palestinian State”
Right! Correct!
“just like its Israel’s fault the Chicago Cubs haven’t been in the World Series since 1945 or won the World Series since 1908.”
Wrong! Incorrect!
You got it half right
Want to know how to freak out an Israeli diplomat? Hand him or her a pencil and a piece of paper and say “would you please draw us a rough outline of the borders of the country you want the world to recognize as Israel. I’ll wait.”
Why has no one done this?!