Out, Damned Spot!

The following letter, from NSW MLC Greens member Jeremy Buckingham, appeared in The Australian Jewish News of October 5:

"Your headline 'Labor, Greens say no to motion condemning BDS' (AJN 21/09) implies The Greens support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This is incorrect. The Australian Greens have never supported BDS. The NSW Greens membership conducted a vigorous internal debate on the issue and democratically resolved to withdraw support for BDS in December 2011. It is a pity that some politicians in the Liberal Party keep dragging out BDS again and again to score easy political points. It does nothing to advance debate about securing long-term security and peace for Israel or for the Palestinians."

In penning the above, it appears that the clueless Buckingham, a member of the steering committee of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel group as it happens, is basing his plaint on a false premise. As far as Zionist deadenders are concerned, a simple clarification or statement to the effect that The Greens are not now and have never been supporters of the BDS strategy I swear is never enough to get a Greens politician or member off the hook for daring to belong to an organisation that once entertained the idea of making BDS part of their praxis.

No, Jeremy, that's just the beginning. You must now go on to condemn it, attack it, smear it, and otherwise trample it underfoot. Again and again. And even then...