Stuart Rees has a very black and white view of this terribly sad conflict between two small peoples who are not particularly wanted by anyone. Even their "champions" whether Christian Fundamentalists, Islamists, Far Left or Far Right Ideologues use them as pawns in their own games. It would be far more constructive of Prof Rees to embrace the principles of conflict resolution if he's serious about peace. For the founder of an institute of conflict resolution, he seems not to understand the principles of CR101 - the facilitator of CR shall not take sides but try to understand and create opportunities for understanding. Instead he seems more interested in demonising the pro-Israel side by accusing them of demonising him ... an infinitely regressive and pointless stance. His facts are wrong too as others have pointed. But finally we see the telling climax of his piece. Prof Rees wants to cast himself in the role of the King of the Jews, David! Is this some weird kind of Judaeo-envy?

SF ,so to criticise Israeli policy is being anti semitic and racist.Noam Chomsky ,Norman Finkelstein and many other Jews will agree with me.I also constantlty criticise Obama for his trashing of the US Constitution,war mongering etc.Does that make me a black hater? Many of the Arab rulers also are oppressive but the West in it's policies have encouraged that to steal their energy/resources.

Israel has been at the forefront of pushing the US to war in the Middle East for their own imperialistic purposes.They just love to paint themselves as the victim.Obama not doing their bidding does not make him the good guy.Obama is more concerned about Russia and China.

Pres Dwight Eisenhower in the 1960's warned us about thwe power of the Military Industrial Complex which really includes our finanacial system.They financed both sides of the last two world wars and caused the Great Depressions of the 1890's and the 1930's.They are responsible for the present financial crisis and our now trying to enslave Russia and China with their debt based money creation system.

Had China rolled over in 2008 and allowed their Govt bansks to be sold off,the Western Oligarchs would have won and there would be no threat of war.

All university academics and executives could depart from cosy establishment perspectives.
Stuart Rees,
Yes and, try to contribute to our economy instead of viewing it as some magic apron to perpetually hang on to.
On another note the article shows that some people simply can't get their act together. Then, if someone decides to make them see sense they pool their stupidity & actually become a pest to all.

Cutting to the chase:

Ethnocracy is an evil. ANYBODY'S ethnocracy. ANYBODY'S claim that ANY real or invented ethnic group has the right to maintain a state, especially if it is in conquered territory, which is formally and in practice the state of a real or invented ethnic group. There is only one such state in the world. The last attempt berore that to make one was the "Aryan" state sought by the Nazi Drang nach Osten. The perpetrators and hangers-on of ethnocrats (fancy word for racists) don't have a moral leave pass to label challenges to their ethnocratic pretensions as being racist. It's the pretensions, not challenging their legitimacy, which are racist.

Ethnic cleansing is an evil - driving people out of part or all of their homeland by force to make Lebensraum for those doing the driving. ANYBODY'S ethnic cleansing. Nobody's "special" enough to claim a moral leave pass for ethnic cleansing. Not in the colonies, not in the Americas, not in Australia, not in the Balkans, not in Palestine, not anywhere. NO ethnic cleanser has any moral credibility in hopwls abou5t beiung "vcictimised"

OH sorry - a half finished draft got into the list accidentally. Here's the real deal:

Ethnocracy is an evil. ANYBODY'S claim to the right to maintain a state, especially if it is in conquered territory, which is formally and in practice the state of a real or invented ethnic group, is ethnocracy. There is only one such state in the world. The last attempt before that to make one was the "Aryan" state sought in the Nazi Drang nach Osten. It is ethnocratic pretensions, not challenges to their legitimacy, which are racist.

Ethnic cleansing is an evil - driving people out of part or all of their homeland by force to make Lebensraum for those doing the driving. NOBODY’S "special" enough to claim a moral leave pass for ethnic cleansing. Not in the colonies, not in the Americas, not in Australia, not in the Balkans, not in Palestine, not anywhere. NO ethnic cleanser's howls about being "victimised" by campaigns (including military and economic) to condemn, "demonise", "deligitimise" and reverse ethnic cleansing has any moral credibility.

Yes, any mug can go globetrotting and time travelling to discover other evils than these. Yes Islam is a creed which calls for coercive punishment (including death) for apostasy, unbelief, impiety, dissent, blasphemy - and as such it is an evil and remains so even if apologists can go globetrotting and time travelling in search of others' (e.g. Christians') transgressions.

The evils BDS (a too-blunt weapon) is about are ethnocracy (weaselese for racism) and ethnic cleansing imposed by deadly violence on Palestine and endangering the rest of us through incessant expansionism.

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Oh, and forget about "antisemitism". Antisemitism is racism applied to Jews, denying Jews PER SE the personal rights and respect applicable to everyone else. To elevate antisemitism as "special" compared with other racism is in itself racist. It's a weasel word directed to "delegitimising" and "demonising" rejection of ethnocracy and ethnic cleansing.