Hi David Singer

Hang in there. Little do the ignorant of the OLO commentariat know.

Zionism is a term of respect for people (often leftwing) who searched for a home for Jewish people oppressed by people like some of the OLO commenters.

Time for 'Hatikva' (Hope) sung by the very lovely Shiri Maimon https://youtu.be/ian_NCV4aCM .

Regards

Pete

John Ryan,

You have the right to free speech but boy, are you the big hater! Good mate for David G who wants Israel wiped of the face of the earth: really rational and thoughtful contributions from both of you. Do you have any connection to the National Socialist party, by the way?

Actually, the BDS campaign is nothing more than a new page in the age-old campaign by Jew-haters (Muslims and certain Christians, atheists, liberals, fascists, etc…) to destroy the Jewish people. This is about much more than territorial occupation or illegal settlements – these are just pretexts for a campaign of hate and exclusion that is itself a small part of a larger battle of violence and extermination against the Jews by their enemies.

The fact is that even if the BDS campaign were 100% successful, and even if the State of Israel were to return to the pre-1967 borders, this would make no difference – the odium of the Islamic world and a growing part of the non-Muslim world would remain unchanged as would their goal of the destruction of the Jews, starting with the Jewish state.

Nothing Israel can do will change this and most of the Israelis know this. One cannot have peace if your enemy does not want it.

I remember more than 50 years ago sitting in church and hearing how in the “last days” the nations of the world would rise against Israel, only to be destroyed by Jehovah (Jewish version) and/or Christ (Evangelical version). Certainly there is a growing anti-Semitic movement in our world, the product of an unholy alliance between a militant, expanding Islam, the traditional fascists and now the leftist liberals, and this movement would be happy to see not just the end of Israel, but even Jewishness. It is a strange world but the scenario is interesting, is it not?

And, in all of this the state of Israel continues to prosper and the Muslim world is torn apart by hate and violence (which we import, silly us). Balaam’s blessing and curse, maybe? Jehovah vs. Allah?
.
BTW, the idea that Jordan is Palestine is, in my opinion, silly. Also I don’t think common sense or justice always prevails.

Dear Kactuz,

One can have inner peace even if one's enemy does not want it.

Nothing Israel can do will change the Muslim goal of the destruction of the Jews, starting with the Jewish state, but by withdrawing to its pre-1967 borders, Israel will regain its moral composure and inner peace and will become united, invincible and hard as diamond. As a bonus, it will then also have peace with the rest of the non-Muslim world and even with a few more moderate Muslim countries.

This is a really interesting document to get a better understanding of the inner workings of David Singers mind.

Firstly he begins with the big fear-mongering headline 'BDS is a sinister hoax with genocidal objective', and goes on to reinforce the idea of 'genocide' with his opening statement. "The Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign (BDS) instituted in 2005 by 'Palestinian civil Society' against Israel and its civil society continues to attract people from all around the world – including Jews and Israeli Arabs - who support the campaign without realising its genocidal objective."

I think this headline is an over-exaggeration and misleading.

Even though the BDS movement does state one of its objectives is ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands that in itself does not in any way equate to genocide. Taken from Davids own link, the whole paragraph states -
"We, representatives of Palestinian civil society, call upon international civil society organizations and people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era. We appeal to you to pressure your respective states to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel. We also invite conscientious Israelis to support this Call, for the sake of justice and genuine peace.

These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:

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."

He goes go on to reinforce the idea of Israels destruction with an Islamic perspective, (which may have merit) but hypocritically supports the exact same thing from an Israeli perspective - Palestine's complete destruction - which he does when he later states "Ms Nyusten's legal opinion also failed to consider two territory-specific provisions in international law sanctioning the right of Jews to live in the West Bank for the purposes of reconstituting the Jewish National Home there." in relation to the KLP case (Not KPL).

He then further shows his true beliefs after stating that "Ethics are not law."

This shows us that David's whole mindset and arguments come from a completely legal perspective, and that ethics and morality hold no sway whatsoever in his belief in a complete return of the Jewish peoples biblical homeland to those boundaries outlined in "The Mandate for Palestine".

This article in Haaretz puts the KLP position in a better light.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.660901

“From the perspective of international law, an assessment of this case has proved more difficult than similar assessments with respect to Western Sahara,” said Jeanett Bergan, head of responsible investment at KLP, about its divestment from Heidelberg and Cemex. “Nevertheless, the international legal principle that occupation should be temporary has carried the most weight. New exploitation of natural resources in occupied territory offers a strong incentive to prolong a conflict.”

The United Nations has condemned Israel for “depleting natural resources” from the West Bank. KLP noted that the subsidiaries of Heidelberg and Cemex “pay license fees and royalties to the state of Israel,” and that the “products deriving from the quarries are sold primarily for use in Israel’s domestic construction market.”

Its a reasonable business decision IMO for KPL to stay away from controversial investments that may generate negative publicity or invoke further legal battles in the future, as well as also being a potential political hot topic as the Norwegians 2nd largest pension fund being invested in such a contentious issue.