This article really made me think. The author makes a few thoughtful and important points about cultural competency and anti-Semitism in the Muslim world but the rest of his points - and his overall framing - are all quite scripted. The article deserves a point-by-point deconstruction (maybe I will get around to that, would be a useful exercise). His biggest blind spot is the economic engine behind the occupation - he fails to acknowledge how the occupation of the West Bank and the siege of Gaza are extremely profitable. From the West Bank aquifers clean water needed to produce silicon chips, to the vast swaths of stolen land devoted to Israeli industrial agriculture in the Jordan valley, to the landfills and industrial parks and date plantations that use Palestinian child labor, the occupation of the West Bank is a commercial venture that benefits every single Israeli - although many would like us to think that it is just a few fundamentalist wackos building houses. As for Gaza, the Israeli withdrawal in 2006 could be seen as a 2-in-1 economic move: it eliminated Palestinian competition for jobs in the Israeli market while simultaneously rendering that population a sealed-off captive market for Israeli goods. On top of what I have already mentioned, and perhaps most importantly, there is the constant development and testing of security and military technology using the people of the West Bank and Gaza as its guinea pigs. The use of military force and incarceration by Israel is motivated by the same logic of profit that motivates this dynamic all over the world. Blaming the situation in Palestine on religious beliefs and tribalism has been a great way for the profiteers of this whole situation (including some Palestinians) to divert our attention from these underlying factors I mentioned above. Unfortunately this very well-meaning writer of the article linked below falls into this classic trap. So in conclusion, it is not about being pro-Israel or pro-Palestine these days. It is about being pro-justice or pro-apartheid. Ultimately everyones liberation is bound up together.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 02:19:51 +0000
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