TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2011
Where is the Love?
By Maoz Israel Blog
by Ron Cantor (special blogger for Maoz Israel)
In Hebrew, the word for love is Ahava. It is also the name of the most famous of Israel’s Dead Sea cosmetic companies. In London’s Covent Garden district, Ahava has a retail store that is regularly targeted by pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists. In November activists succeeded in shutting down the store for several hours, as two of them chained themselves to a cement-filled barrel at the store’s entrance.
In response, the London Jewish Community called for a 'buycott', causing sales to increase dramatically!
However the 'Boycott Israel' movement is not merely led by a couple of protestors outside a London retail store. It is a highly organized movement that touches every nation on the globe. One of the better known groups calling for economic boycotts against Israel is the 'Global BDS movement', which has been calling for, “boycotts, divestment initiatives and embargoes and sanctions against Israel,” since 2005.
Ironically, the groups co-founder, Omar Barghouti is a graduate student at Israel’s Tel Aviv University. So while he doesn’t want you to buy anything made in Israel, he has no problem receiving his education here.
Which begs the question, could he get away with something like this in Syria, Egypt or Saudi Arabia?
How would Iran’s secret police react to a student in one of its universities calling for global divestment from Iran? Does he think he will have more freedom under a corrupt Palestinian Authority or the Islamic terror group Hamas?
When people called for Tel Aviv University to dismiss Barghouti, the university's president wrote: “Mr. Barghouti is leading an international campaign to boycott Israeli universities, despite being a student at one of those universities.” In other words, of course you want him as a student, enjoying an expensive Jewish education, funded in part by the Israeli taxpayer. The letters ‘PhD’ that will soon follow his name will confirm his hypocrisy. It’s like telling people not to eat at McDonald’s with the Big Mac’s special sauce dripping from your mouth.
The movement to divest from Israel is not merely a Palestinian or Arab-backed crusade. Amazingly many powerful Christian denominations have also called for divestment from Israel. (By the way, just in case there is any confusion, divestment is the opposite of investment. It means to sell off any shares or business interests.)
The Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), announced that it would begin the process of divesting its monies from companies doing business with Israel. And even the World Council of Churches, representing more than 340 denominations and churches in over 100 countries, made a similar announcement!
Bloomberg business news reports; “Israel’s rebound from the global financial crisis has been aided by strong domestic spending and a technology industry aimed at global businesses.” In addition, a ride through the greater Tel Aviv area will show you that Israel’s real estate market is booming, as high-rise condominium buildings can’t be built fast enough.
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