What you can do
If not boycott, what? There is a wide range of positive activities by which we can make solidarity with the Palestinians without the drawbacks of boycott. In fact, the boycott demand often serves a diversion, directing people towards token or downright counterproductive activities instead of what they could do positively.
1. Demonstrations, lobbies, pickets, petitions, trade-union resolutions, focused on positive demands for “two states”, rather than on increasing generalised hostility to Israel. One of the plagues of much of current “pro-Palestinian” activism is that, because it is in principle opposed to recognising Israel and making limited demands on it, it eschews the sort of limited demands which can be won immediately and yield some progress. For example, regular pickets of the Israeli embassy in London helped win the early release of five Israeli refuseniks jailed for much longer sentences than those usually imposed on refuseniks (indeed, theoretically indefinite sentences). Such protests might also win concessions on checkpoints within the West Bank, or on Gaza students not being allowed to attend universities outside Gaza.
2. Direct links (visits, speaking tours, etc.) between trade-union, student, etc. organisations here and Palestinian and Israeli workers’ groups and peace movements.
3. Support for groups which send international “observers” to the West Bank to help monitor Israeli military actions and groups like Ta’ayush which work to build grass-roots Jewish-Arab links in Israel/ Palestine.
4. Pressure on the British and other Western governments to take a clear stand for “two states” and to condemn Israeli government measures blocking the way to it.
5. Material aid to Palestinians in the West Bank (e.g. sending books and other supplies).
By building a real movement around such activities, focused on positive demands for Palestinian demands rather than “hate Israel”, we could reach the level where the question could be posed of industrial action by workers internationally to hasten a “two states” settlement, e.g. to block military supplies to the Israeli government, or to demand a definite stand from their home governments.
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ta'ayush supports the boycott!
Again, AWL is spreading lies. Ta'ayush supports the boycott campaign. This has nothing to do with boycotting Israeli individuals, but with representatives of racist institutions who support the state's apartheid policies. No one is talking about excluding real progressive voices that oppose the apartheid nature of the Israeli state! And by the way everything you said has already been tried for 40-60 years with very little results. The Israeli state has never formed an 'emergency task force' to deal with pickets or with petitions, but they have taken note of the boycott movement. Israel is an export dependent economy and it shouldn't benefit from the occupation or its racist policies. This is a clear fact, the fact that its been allowed to continue for so long unhindered is testimony to the states close links with imperialism (it was created by the British!!). So yeah, British civil society has to support a campaign against Zionist apartheid and in favor of the fundamental demands of the boycott movement:
1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall;
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.
these seem simple and uncontroversial enough... :)
regards,
neve, yafa (palestine)