Thank you very much for this post. New York city and state politics have for too long been held hostage to those who equate any criticism of the state of Israel with anti-Semitism. In Brooklyn, in particular, politicians must start to eschew Islamophobia so that they can start to appeal to, and meet the needs of, increasing numbers of people of Islamic background with origins not just in Palestine, but in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and other countries as well.
So, Ross, if you think BDS is ineffective, do you have an alternative? Let's put this in perspective: BDS in in its 16th year. How was the BDS movement against apartheid South Africa doing in its 16th year? That would have been 1974, when few had even heard of it, and just Ron Dellums was pushing the issue in Congress, having been elected two years earlier. In 1994, that movement achieved total victory. Now in Congress there are three reps for BDS targetting Israel: Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Cori Bush. Struggles like these are not resolved by a quick fix but require patience.
South Africa is a different case. There was a worldwide movement and it wasn't merely boycotts. BDS is not bearing fruit and there's no evidence it will.
South Africa was a very different story for the US and at a very different time.
The situation there looked WAY too much like Jim Crowe here in the US and it created a visceral reaction. Mandela was inspirational and the Palestinians gave us Arafat.
BDS is is just one more niche cause among hundreds.
It would be easier to get support to ban JK Rowling for insisting that trans women are not the same as biological women than to get people to give up Israeli science, products etc. US defense firms were not dependent on South African tech companies.
"Going nowhere"? BDS supporter Rep. Ilhan Omar was promoted last week to vice-chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. And Bernie Sanders, who has flirted with sanctioning Israel over its refusal to lift restrictions on visitors who support BDS, is now the chair of Senate's Budget Committee.
In 1974, there was no "visceral reaction" outside the African-American community. Mandela was either unknown then or marginalized as a Communist. Sure, NOW we lionize Mandela - hindsight sure is 20/20! But there will be plenty of visceral reactions coming down the pike - just last night, Michael Che on SNL talked openly about Israel's medical apartheid, giving this issue unprecedented exposure.
As I said, time will tell and time does not seem to be on the side of the Palestinians.
Too much else happening in the world. They are too small a group to garner that much focus. All the nations that used to advocate for them have concluded it is in their interests to get along with Israel.
Omar and Tlaib and that crew are about to get seriously sidelined or have you missed just how centrist and non-progressive Biden is? These people were useful in organizing to get rid of Trump but now they are the central problem for the establishment and they are going to be under regular attack from the center. The center is far more interested in the strategic value Israel has in the Middle East than in whether or not Israel is treating the Palestinians well.
Look at China and what it is doing to Hong Kong and to the Uighers. Never mind what they have done to Tibet.
That looks to me to be at least as bad as the Palestinian issue. But China is economically important to Wall Street just as Israel is. Nobody is calling for a boycott or sanctions on China and if they did they would go nowhere because China is too important to piss off over the Uigher genocide or Hong Kong repression. Israel is in the same position.
Besides, with ALL the OTHER SJW issues out there (though I happen to think the Palestinian issue is one of the few legit ones) there are just TOO many other things vying for attention. Trans rights. White Privilege. Systemic Racism. Rampant mysogeny. Climate change. Math is racist. The list goes on and on and every one is vying for time and attention. People have just so much time and energy to pay attention or be outraged.
Again, not saying this is right....just that I think that the BDS movement is doomed to die a slow and miserable death from lack of interest or attention and ultimately so many Palestinian youth will leave for greener pastures that there just wont be enough energy there to resist Israel.
You keep making these doomsday predictions for Palestinians based on...what? Because you think other issues also merit even more attention? "Too much" is always happening in the world, then and now. Those of us in the BDS movement expect to be attacked by centrists - so what? They've been trying to sideline BDSers in Congress since Day 1, but it's not working. You don't sideline someone by promoting them to a position of even greater influence!
a) Not sure that the mayor of a US City needs to have a position on Israel and the Palestinians
b) The Palestinians have had the best shots they were ever going to get for a state. They blew it. Now, even he rest of the Arab world is not all that interested in their problems. Europe, China, Russia, just not that interested in the problems of the Palestinians. The Arabs see them as an annoying inconvenience when they do not see them as cheap labor.
Had you asked me 10 yrs ago, I would have said the best deal for the Palestinians, if not Israel, was for a single state where the Palestinians had full citizenship. But, that ship has sailed I think.
If I had to guess, we are going to watch young Palestinians flee the West Bank and Gaza for lives elsewhere outside the region. Could be Europe. Could be the US or Canada. Could be Central or South America. Anyway you look at it though, the diaspora are getting very old and as generations pass they will have less and less interest in returning to the Middle East. How many 4th generation Italian Americans do you know that crave a move to Sicily? They are not Italian anymore, they are American. Same is and will continue to happen with the Palestinians who leave and more and more are going to leave for a better life and opportunities.
Is it right?
Is this how it should have been?
Probably not but it is the reality and at this point nearly a fait a compli.
In any case, not sure it is something that the mayor of NYC needs to concern themselves with when there are SO MANY OTHER issues RIGHT here at home.
Gazans are not allowed to leave as a rule, as it is surrounded by Israel as a form of external occupation. Israel wants West Bank Palestinians to stay as a cheap labor force under occupation.
NYC has business ties to Israel. For example, Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island has ties to the Israeli Technion. The Technion is a leading manufacturer of Israeli weaponry that is initially tested on Palestinians in the West Bank and marketed elsewhere, usually to authoritarian regimes. Cutting ties between Cornell Tech and the Technion could be a big issue with the next City Council term and mayoral administration.
Again, I do not think it is the business of nor should it be a focus of a US Mayor.
Beyond that, Cornell is a private institution, not a public one. What precisely would the mayor of NY do about it? What could they even do legally that would hold up?
The mayor of NYC needs to focus on the people of NYC, their needs and their desires. That is where all the time and focus of the city mayor should and needs to be. Not trying to solve the worlds problems.
And again, whether anyone wants to believe it or not, whether it is right or it is wrong, the Palestinian question has already been dealt with. Their greatest supporters have given up, apart from Iran. But that is kinda the point. Everyone in the Middle East is worried about Iran and another rise of ISIS not the Palestinians and they are perfectly prepared to partner with Israel and throw their hands up over the Palestinians to keep both Iran and ISIS in check.
Never mind that even the original supporters of the Palestinian causes were less interested in the Palestinians and their issues than in keeping the Palestinians out of their own countries and crushing a Jewish state in the holy land. You need look no further than to see how Palestinians are treated in the rest of the Arab world.
Israel is NEVER EVER going to give up what it has taken. The Palestinians had a shot at one time for a state. No longer. They are just not important enough to Israel's neighbors any longer. As I said, too much time has passed. The diaspora from the 1940's that would return is dying off, their children are going to have no interest in returning to a 3rd world tiny state in an always hostile Middle East. They are now Americans or Canadians or Europeans and that is the lifestyle they want. I suspect, over time that the average of those living in the West Bank and Gaza is going to get older and older as parents push young people to leave for other places where they can have a better life. After what I have seen for the last 50 yrs and given what I see now, were I a Palestinian parent who loved their kid I would be telling them to get out, go to school and build a life somewhere else. There is nothing there worth another futile uprising that will only result in more deaths and destruction.
I suspect that over time those Palestinians that remain will just assimilate into a larger Israeli culture.
Again, I am not saying this is right, I am just saying it is the most probable outcome and any attempt to change it will, at best, be futile, and at worst, possibly create more issues for the Palestinians.
The relationship between Cornell Tech and Israel was established by Michael Bloomberg in his capacity as mayor. What can be built by one mayor can be dismantled by another. There are an increasingly number of vocal New Yorkers who desire a cessation of material ties between our city and the apartheid State of Israel, just as there were during the days of apartheid South Africa. New Yorkers have always cared about foreign affairs - I guess that's what happens when the UN is located in Manhattan.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but the Palestinian question has not been dealt with. Far from it. The "greatest supporters"are the Palestinian people themselves, and only THEY get to decide when it's been resolved. Of oourse, Israel is going to give up what it took, especially under American pressure. Israeli Jewish voters are not stupid; they vote their pocketbooks, and the last thing they want is for their American gravy train to be derailed.
Well, guess we will see. Only time will tell if I am right or wrong.
In any case, I think it is safe to say that for at least the next 4 years very few people are going to be paying any kind of attention to the Palestinian issue.
As soon as COVID is over we are gonna have to deal with the economic ravages of the shutdowns and the damage done to almost 2 years of child education. Going to be a LOT of home front issues that are far more immediate and personal to deal with.
BTW...just because Bloomberg facilitated a relationship between Cornell Tech and Israel does NOT mean that the next mayor can step in and tell them to not get along anymore.
America is NOT going to pressure Israel. Honestly, no US administration wants to get into another foreign policy embarrassment or wants to deal with trying to solve what looks to be unsolvable. The minute any kind of deal looks possible either the Jewish Settlers OR the Iran backed extremists in Gaza are gonna kill it by committing some kind of heinous act. Neither Iran nor the settlers want peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
The status quo is the future of Israel and the Palestinians. Trump recognized that when he moved the embassy to Jerusalem. Biden is recognizing that by both ignoring the issue and not moving the embassy back to Tel Aviv.
The Palestinians are on their own except for Iranian support that only comes so that the Palestinians remain a thorn in the side of Israel. Europe, the rest of the Arab world, have washed their hands of the situation and so likely will the US if only via neglect.
"America" is not a dictatorship, so just because Biden doesn't want to pressure Israel doesn't mean his administration won't be compelled to do so,especially as a result of Congressional action. The Palestinians are not on their own - you seem to think only big countries matter. The Palestinians are supported by the growing global BDS movement, which more Jews - including lifelong Zionists like me - are joining. There are now two Jewish elected officials - NY State Senator Julia Salazar and Kansas Stare Representative Aaron Coleman - who support BDS.
I think his stance on BDS is actually more extreme than the other politicians you named. As far as I know, none of the other candidates have likened BDS to "Nazi boycotts." https://nypost.com/2021/01/23/andrew-yang-faces-backlash-for-comparing-bds-to-fascism/ On another issue where most of the candidates pander to a certain segment of the Brooklyn/Queens Jewish community -- yeshiva education, he also has gone out of his way to show that he can pander more than the other candidates. https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2021/02/18/andrew-yang-doubles-down-on-defense-of-yeshivas-1364452
Thank you very much for this post. New York city and state politics have for too long been held hostage to those who equate any criticism of the state of Israel with anti-Semitism. In Brooklyn, in particular, politicians must start to eschew Islamophobia so that they can start to appeal to, and meet the needs of, increasing numbers of people of Islamic background with origins not just in Palestine, but in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and other countries as well.
So, Ross, if you think BDS is ineffective, do you have an alternative? Let's put this in perspective: BDS in in its 16th year. How was the BDS movement against apartheid South Africa doing in its 16th year? That would have been 1974, when few had even heard of it, and just Ron Dellums was pushing the issue in Congress, having been elected two years earlier. In 1994, that movement achieved total victory. Now in Congress there are three reps for BDS targetting Israel: Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Cori Bush. Struggles like these are not resolved by a quick fix but require patience.
South Africa is a different case. There was a worldwide movement and it wasn't merely boycotts. BDS is not bearing fruit and there's no evidence it will.
The Palestinian-led BDS movement is also worldwide. And of course, it's not only boycotts. D = divestment and S = sanctions.
BDS is going nowhere.
South Africa was a very different story for the US and at a very different time.
The situation there looked WAY too much like Jim Crowe here in the US and it created a visceral reaction. Mandela was inspirational and the Palestinians gave us Arafat.
BDS is is just one more niche cause among hundreds.
It would be easier to get support to ban JK Rowling for insisting that trans women are not the same as biological women than to get people to give up Israeli science, products etc. US defense firms were not dependent on South African tech companies.
"Going nowhere"? BDS supporter Rep. Ilhan Omar was promoted last week to vice-chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. And Bernie Sanders, who has flirted with sanctioning Israel over its refusal to lift restrictions on visitors who support BDS, is now the chair of Senate's Budget Committee.
In 1974, there was no "visceral reaction" outside the African-American community. Mandela was either unknown then or marginalized as a Communist. Sure, NOW we lionize Mandela - hindsight sure is 20/20! But there will be plenty of visceral reactions coming down the pike - just last night, Michael Che on SNL talked openly about Israel's medical apartheid, giving this issue unprecedented exposure.
As I said, time will tell and time does not seem to be on the side of the Palestinians.
Too much else happening in the world. They are too small a group to garner that much focus. All the nations that used to advocate for them have concluded it is in their interests to get along with Israel.
Omar and Tlaib and that crew are about to get seriously sidelined or have you missed just how centrist and non-progressive Biden is? These people were useful in organizing to get rid of Trump but now they are the central problem for the establishment and they are going to be under regular attack from the center. The center is far more interested in the strategic value Israel has in the Middle East than in whether or not Israel is treating the Palestinians well.
Look at China and what it is doing to Hong Kong and to the Uighers. Never mind what they have done to Tibet.
That looks to me to be at least as bad as the Palestinian issue. But China is economically important to Wall Street just as Israel is. Nobody is calling for a boycott or sanctions on China and if they did they would go nowhere because China is too important to piss off over the Uigher genocide or Hong Kong repression. Israel is in the same position.
Besides, with ALL the OTHER SJW issues out there (though I happen to think the Palestinian issue is one of the few legit ones) there are just TOO many other things vying for attention. Trans rights. White Privilege. Systemic Racism. Rampant mysogeny. Climate change. Math is racist. The list goes on and on and every one is vying for time and attention. People have just so much time and energy to pay attention or be outraged.
Again, not saying this is right....just that I think that the BDS movement is doomed to die a slow and miserable death from lack of interest or attention and ultimately so many Palestinian youth will leave for greener pastures that there just wont be enough energy there to resist Israel.
You keep making these doomsday predictions for Palestinians based on...what? Because you think other issues also merit even more attention? "Too much" is always happening in the world, then and now. Those of us in the BDS movement expect to be attacked by centrists - so what? They've been trying to sideline BDSers in Congress since Day 1, but it's not working. You don't sideline someone by promoting them to a position of even greater influence!
a) Not sure that the mayor of a US City needs to have a position on Israel and the Palestinians
b) The Palestinians have had the best shots they were ever going to get for a state. They blew it. Now, even he rest of the Arab world is not all that interested in their problems. Europe, China, Russia, just not that interested in the problems of the Palestinians. The Arabs see them as an annoying inconvenience when they do not see them as cheap labor.
Had you asked me 10 yrs ago, I would have said the best deal for the Palestinians, if not Israel, was for a single state where the Palestinians had full citizenship. But, that ship has sailed I think.
If I had to guess, we are going to watch young Palestinians flee the West Bank and Gaza for lives elsewhere outside the region. Could be Europe. Could be the US or Canada. Could be Central or South America. Anyway you look at it though, the diaspora are getting very old and as generations pass they will have less and less interest in returning to the Middle East. How many 4th generation Italian Americans do you know that crave a move to Sicily? They are not Italian anymore, they are American. Same is and will continue to happen with the Palestinians who leave and more and more are going to leave for a better life and opportunities.
Is it right?
Is this how it should have been?
Probably not but it is the reality and at this point nearly a fait a compli.
In any case, not sure it is something that the mayor of NYC needs to concern themselves with when there are SO MANY OTHER issues RIGHT here at home.
Gazans are not allowed to leave as a rule, as it is surrounded by Israel as a form of external occupation. Israel wants West Bank Palestinians to stay as a cheap labor force under occupation.
NYC has business ties to Israel. For example, Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island has ties to the Israeli Technion. The Technion is a leading manufacturer of Israeli weaponry that is initially tested on Palestinians in the West Bank and marketed elsewhere, usually to authoritarian regimes. Cutting ties between Cornell Tech and the Technion could be a big issue with the next City Council term and mayoral administration.
Again, I do not think it is the business of nor should it be a focus of a US Mayor.
Beyond that, Cornell is a private institution, not a public one. What precisely would the mayor of NY do about it? What could they even do legally that would hold up?
The mayor of NYC needs to focus on the people of NYC, their needs and their desires. That is where all the time and focus of the city mayor should and needs to be. Not trying to solve the worlds problems.
And again, whether anyone wants to believe it or not, whether it is right or it is wrong, the Palestinian question has already been dealt with. Their greatest supporters have given up, apart from Iran. But that is kinda the point. Everyone in the Middle East is worried about Iran and another rise of ISIS not the Palestinians and they are perfectly prepared to partner with Israel and throw their hands up over the Palestinians to keep both Iran and ISIS in check.
Never mind that even the original supporters of the Palestinian causes were less interested in the Palestinians and their issues than in keeping the Palestinians out of their own countries and crushing a Jewish state in the holy land. You need look no further than to see how Palestinians are treated in the rest of the Arab world.
Israel is NEVER EVER going to give up what it has taken. The Palestinians had a shot at one time for a state. No longer. They are just not important enough to Israel's neighbors any longer. As I said, too much time has passed. The diaspora from the 1940's that would return is dying off, their children are going to have no interest in returning to a 3rd world tiny state in an always hostile Middle East. They are now Americans or Canadians or Europeans and that is the lifestyle they want. I suspect, over time that the average of those living in the West Bank and Gaza is going to get older and older as parents push young people to leave for other places where they can have a better life. After what I have seen for the last 50 yrs and given what I see now, were I a Palestinian parent who loved their kid I would be telling them to get out, go to school and build a life somewhere else. There is nothing there worth another futile uprising that will only result in more deaths and destruction.
I suspect that over time those Palestinians that remain will just assimilate into a larger Israeli culture.
Again, I am not saying this is right, I am just saying it is the most probable outcome and any attempt to change it will, at best, be futile, and at worst, possibly create more issues for the Palestinians.
The relationship between Cornell Tech and Israel was established by Michael Bloomberg in his capacity as mayor. What can be built by one mayor can be dismantled by another. There are an increasingly number of vocal New Yorkers who desire a cessation of material ties between our city and the apartheid State of Israel, just as there were during the days of apartheid South Africa. New Yorkers have always cared about foreign affairs - I guess that's what happens when the UN is located in Manhattan.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but the Palestinian question has not been dealt with. Far from it. The "greatest supporters"are the Palestinian people themselves, and only THEY get to decide when it's been resolved. Of oourse, Israel is going to give up what it took, especially under American pressure. Israeli Jewish voters are not stupid; they vote their pocketbooks, and the last thing they want is for their American gravy train to be derailed.
Well, guess we will see. Only time will tell if I am right or wrong.
In any case, I think it is safe to say that for at least the next 4 years very few people are going to be paying any kind of attention to the Palestinian issue.
As soon as COVID is over we are gonna have to deal with the economic ravages of the shutdowns and the damage done to almost 2 years of child education. Going to be a LOT of home front issues that are far more immediate and personal to deal with.
BTW...just because Bloomberg facilitated a relationship between Cornell Tech and Israel does NOT mean that the next mayor can step in and tell them to not get along anymore.
America is NOT going to pressure Israel. Honestly, no US administration wants to get into another foreign policy embarrassment or wants to deal with trying to solve what looks to be unsolvable. The minute any kind of deal looks possible either the Jewish Settlers OR the Iran backed extremists in Gaza are gonna kill it by committing some kind of heinous act. Neither Iran nor the settlers want peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
The status quo is the future of Israel and the Palestinians. Trump recognized that when he moved the embassy to Jerusalem. Biden is recognizing that by both ignoring the issue and not moving the embassy back to Tel Aviv.
The Palestinians are on their own except for Iranian support that only comes so that the Palestinians remain a thorn in the side of Israel. Europe, the rest of the Arab world, have washed their hands of the situation and so likely will the US if only via neglect.
"America" is not a dictatorship, so just because Biden doesn't want to pressure Israel doesn't mean his administration won't be compelled to do so,especially as a result of Congressional action. The Palestinians are not on their own - you seem to think only big countries matter. The Palestinians are supported by the growing global BDS movement, which more Jews - including lifelong Zionists like me - are joining. There are now two Jewish elected officials - NY State Senator Julia Salazar and Kansas Stare Representative Aaron Coleman - who support BDS.