Exposing ECAJ's BDS 'Expose'

Here we go:

"An information booklet about the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel has been sent to politicians, journalists and key decision-makers by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ)." (ECAJ exposes BDS, The Australian Jewish News, 9/5/14)

And what is it that this expose will be telling its readers?

Basically, that "BDS leaders are not seeking a peaceful two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian issue," but rather "the right of return of seven million ancestors of Palestinians displaced during the Arab-initiated war of 1948," which "would demographically change the Jewish State into a Jewish minority state."

Now if we were to translate this particular specimen of Zionist spin into language more in keeping with the historical record, this is what we'd get:

In addition to an end to the illegal, brutal and ongoing (1967-?) Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, BDS seeks the international law-backed right of return of Palestinian refugees (from whatever generation) ethnically cleansed from 78% their homeland by Zionist terror gangs both before and after the intervention of Arab forces in May 1948, which thankfully prevented the ethnic cleansing of the remaining 22% of Palestine, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, at the time.

OK, having sorted that out, let's get the substance of ECAJ's brief straight: a minority community of European settlers invades Palestine under the protection of British bayonets, achieving critical mass by 1948 sufficient to oust its native Arab majority. Having thus won de facto majority status, these colons view the return of those ousted as a threat to their 1948 ethno-religious gerrymander, fearing a reversion to their pre-1948 minority status.

Sorry guys, if majority rule by the natives was good enough for South Africa in 1994, it's good enough for Palestine now, and your insufferable hysteria over the 'destruction' of the Jewish state should carry about as much weight among people of conscience as did the hysteria over the 'destruction' of White South Africa displayed by its defenders at the time.

Now I can understand, but not support, Israeli Jews wishing to maintain their ethno-religious gerrymander, which is to say their monopoly on power. The prospect of sharing a place with those you've been brutalising for decades must feel pretty damn uncomfortable.

But what's really at stake here for ECAJ and its constituents? Just what is it that Australian (or American or British or...) Zionists so value about a Jewish state in Palestine that they have to campaign against BDS, which is to say fundamental Palestinian rights, so vigorously?  Considering the time, energy, and treasure spent by them on defending Israeli apartheid, you'd imagine that something pretty damn important was at stake, right?

Well, mystery solved, because in the same issue of the AJN we find an online opinion poll of its readers which asks the question: 'What's the best thing about Israel?'

37% answered 'The Jewishness'; 31% 'The food'; and 14% 'The weather'. That is, 82% of respondents summed up their interest in Israel as Jewishness, food and weather.

So, to clarify: for Australian (or American or British or...) Zionists, the anti-Palestinian, ethno-religious gerrymander of 1948, which underpins Israel's Jewish majority, must remain forever unchanged so that they can visit what amounts effectively to a Jewish theme park, with just the right proportions of Jewishness, food, and weather, whenever they so desire.

Next to that, the fundamental right of the Palestinian people to return to their country, enshrined in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is apparently a thing of little consequence.

But to return to the subject of BDS:

"The booklet... explores the links between BDS activities in Australia and anti-Semitism, including Holocaust denial and calls for violence against Jews."

Links? What links? There are none.

Two points here:

1) According to the booklet, "the anti-Semitism [is] implicit in seeking to deny the Jewish people their right for national self-determination."

The Jewish people?

Make no mistake, ECAJ isn't talking here merely of Israeli Jews. It's talking about all Jews (whether Australians or Americans or British or...), people for whom Israel, as indicated, represents little more than Jewishness, food and weather. And these are the people ECAJ imagines, in line with Zionist ideology, have a right of national self-determination in Palestine which trumps that of its indigenous Arab population. Seriously.

2) The linking of BDS and anti-Semitism here surely lets the cat out of the bag with regard to the current debate over the removal of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. For weeks now, we've been bombarded in the ms media with the message by Zionist representatives that 18C is necessary as a protection against Holocaust denial, long ago defined as the very acme of anti-Semitism. If the same people are allowed to get away today with defining BDS as anti-Semitism, and 18C remains on the books, don't be surprised if it's used to harass and silence supporters of BDS.