In a statement by Abbas last week:
While in South Africa this week for the memorial service for Nelson Mandela, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stunned reporters and Palestinian activists alike when he stated that the Palestinians do not support a boycott of Israel.
Abbas did advocate boycotting Israeli products made in the West Bank, on territory that the Palestinians envision as part of their future state.
“No, we do not support the boycott of Israel,” the Palestinian leader told a group of South African reporters on Monday. ”But we ask everyone to boycott the products of the settlements. Because the settlements are in our territories. It is illegal.
Now proponents of the anti-Semitic and hateful BDS Movement will raise a number of objections... All of which clearly demonstrate the absolute moral bankruptcy of their position, but let's go through those arguments one by one.“And the Israelis should first of all stop building in our territories, should stop everything in our territories,” he stated, according to South African media outlet The Star..“But we do not ask anyone to boycott Israel itself,” he reiterated. “We have relations with Israel, we have mutual recognition of Israel.”
1. In speaking out against Abbas we have University of Tel-Aviv Student Omar Barghouti make the following statement, (I will let the irony of this stand):
“There is no Palestinian political party, trade union, NGO network or mass organization that does not strongly support BDS. Any Palestinian official who lacks a democratic mandate and any real public support, therefore, cannot claim to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people when it comes to deciding our strategies of resistance to Israel’s regime of occupation, colonization and apartheid,” Barghouti said.This might actually be one of the most ironic statements that could possibly made by any actor in this "theater". I mean here is Omar Barghouti a student at an Israeli Institution of Higher Learning saying that Abbas... because he seemingly does not have a "democratic mandate" from the Palestinian People cannot speak for them in dealing with the Israelis (forget that Abbas is the President of the Palestinian Authority). Well then.. .exactly where is Omar Barghouti''s democratic mandate from the Palestinian people. In poll after poll he does not show up on the radar of the Palestinian Polity so honestly who gives him a mandate to speak for the Palestinian people.
2. But speaking of a mandate from the actual Palestinian people. it seems that activists like Barghouti and others in the "Palestinian resistance" are certainly NOT the ones who have a "democratic mandate" and that Mahmoud Abbas actually has far more of a "mandate" than Barghouti and the BDS crowd.
Don't take my word for it though, just ask the Palestinians themselves. In looking at the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) latest poll from Sept. 2013. We find that 60% of Palestinians oppose disbanding the Palestinian Authority and that PA President Abbas 50.8% of respondents say they would vote for Abbas in the next election and that his approval rating was at 49.3% amongst respondents with Abbas winning over 54 % of the vote in the West Bank. So... so much for the "mandate" question. Unless by the word "mandate" Barghouti means "only a solid minority of voters".
3. Also, let's not forget that the BDS movement claims to represent the Palestinian People (though as we see above they don't) but remember, the BDS movement told the world that it's end goal was to see a One-State Democratic solution where Jews and Palestinians live together in total equality. Unfortunately for them here too they fall a bit short in their desire for this with Palestinian Public Opinion. If one looks at this question:
"Would you support Abandon the two state solution and demand the establishment of one state for
Palestinians and Israelis" (note that this question was asked before and worded "Would you support a state where Jews and Arabs live in full equality".
The Answer: only 28.6% of respondents support that. SO.. I guess when the BDS movement says that they represent a majority of Palestinians, they really mean that their goals are actually supported by a solid Minority.
If one were to ask the Palestinian people according to the latest PCPO Poll what is their favored methods of "resistance" here is what you get:
49.1% FAVOR more rockets from Gaza while 45.2% oppose that action.
So in all honesty. It seems that the BDS movement while a majority of the Palestinian people (according tho the polls) DO support the end goal of the BDS Movement.. .that being the annihilation of Israel, they
certainly do not support the goals that the BDS Movement presents to the gain supporters amongst useful idiots in the West. And in that respect it is hard to see where supporters of the BDS Movement can legitimately claim to speak for anyone outside of their own small group.
Given all that, just why did Mahmoud Abbas reject the BDS Movement? My guess is that he first of all sees their calls for a Single Democratic State as antithetical to his attempts to run the Palestinian Polity for the rest of his life.
I also think that while he sees the hateful anti-Semites duping not so bright Westerners (who want to also legitimize their hatred of Jews), he understands that the U.S. and E.U. sees through their facade, (the facade of BDS) and that their efforts to end the Jewish people's presence in the Middle East is a step too far for these powers.
He understands that without the backing of the U.S. and relatively secular Arab Governments (Jordan, Egypt) that his government would cease to exist. SO.. of course he will adopt a policy stance similar to what the European Community is asking for (which is complete withdrawal from the Territories and division of J'slem) and not leave himself open to any hardships that a Western Boycott of Palestinian radicalize would generate.
In the end no matter how Western Useful Idiots and their supporters want to spin this, Abbas' denunciation of the BDS movement is far more powerful than a bunch of bigoted professors and academics and their pronouncements regarding Social justice
This analysis is spot on.
ReplyDeleteDeep down Abbas doesn't want a one democratic state from the river to the sea, because if that were to happen he wouldn't be the President of anything. But of course he doesn't really support a real two state solution either, because if he ends up being the guy who actually signs that and then actually cracks down on the inevitable militants who will try to sabotage it, a bullet will find him faster than you can say Sadat.
And if all of that weren't enough to make Abbas have to oppose BDS, like you said, if he came out in favor of it, the US and EU, and others including Japan, India, and so on, would have to drop the facade that he is a legitimate successor to the Oslo Accords.
(livosh1)
ReplyDeleteAbbas is too smart to allow himself to get co-opted by the phony, dishonest, bigoted BDS cause.
BDS is an irrelevancy. Israel's real threat is . . . itself. Maintaining the status quo is a loser strategy; nothing good will come of it.