a column in the Washington Post, two American professors have simultaneously announced their undying love for the Jewish state and called on readers to damage its economy through a boycott. Too bad, notes Elliott Abrams, they are so ignorant of the subject on which they write:
[The authors] simply claim that “domestic movements” in Israel to avoid “making the occupation permanent” have “withered.” Now, it is obvious that the Israeli left, and the “peace movement” there, have been weakened. Why might that be? The professors, self-styled “progressives,” tell us it is “thanks to an economic boom and the temporary security provided by the West Bank barrier and the Iron Dome missile-defense system.” This shows a deep lack of understanding of Israel and Israelis, for the “peace movement” has “withered,” all right—but for a very different reason.
This reason is the conduct of Palestinians, a factor that is almost entirely absent from the professors’ account. This is remarkable. The Palestinian refusal of negotiations is not mentioned. The waves of terror—from Arafat’s intifadas to today’s stabbings—are barely mentioned. . . .
Particularly striking is what the professors demand of Palestinians: nothing. They do not demand that the Palestinians negotiate. They do not even demand an end to terrorism, not even during a month of terror by stabbing. . . . [Palestinians] are not players in this drama. Only Jews are.
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