But I flinch, I confess, when anyone (let alone justices on a high court) compare thoughtful strategies to bigotry of this kind. In my own traveling, organizing and peacemaking, I've come to realize that those who occupy will rarely, if ever, release their grip until the occupied act strategically, morally and nonviolently to insist. I've also come to believe that nonviolence is the only way forward (not only in the Middle East, but everywhere). In 2015, an eye for an eye blinds us all. And warps human conscience and religious belief.
Both Israeli and Palestinian activists insist that targeted economic measures (including selected boycotting and selected divestment) are part of a strategic and hopeful movement in that region. These same activists resist violence, resist terror, resist the other sadly dehumanizing strategies that are often taken up in such situations. And I support them. I hope my church, my community will support them. Not because we have some kind of 'save the world' power--but because we're called to solidarity with the powerless and desperate, and with practitioners of nonviolent resistance everywhere.
I hope, with all my heart, that I am not a 'political terrorist.' And I seek to be something other than 'bigoted, dishonest or shameful.' I guess others will be the judge of that.
 |
| Separation Wall, West Bank, 2011 |
Excerpts on the Israeli Court's Ruling from Yael Marom's Blog on +972:
Terrorists
“Thus the call for boycott falls into the category that is known in constitutional literature: the democratic paradox, which allows for limiting the rights of those who seek to enjoy the fruits of democracy in order to harm it. Calling for boycott and participating in it, therefore, can sometimes be considered ‘political terror.’”
(Justice Meltzer, pg. 37)
Holocaust deniers
“Even the boycott against Israel, in its old form, which Israel — as well as other countries, headed by the United States — worked to combat, falls within the realm of freedom of speech; it would be terrible for this freedom of speech to reach its goals. It may be akin to — without comparing — Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic and racist remarks, which in my eyes must enjoy the protection of free speech.”
(Justice Rubinstein, pg. 164)
Pharaohs
“These lines are written on the eve of Passover. In the Passover Hagadah, we read about the same promise made from above to ensure the survival of the Jewish people, despite its enemies — ‘And this is what kept our fathers and what keeps us surviving. For, not only one arose and tried to destroy us, rather in every generation they try to destroy us, and God saves us from their hands.’ There is no problem with the fact that the Knesset passes a law in the struggle against those who try to destroy us.”(Justice Rubinstein, pg. 178)
Racist liars
‘There are those who offer a different name for the BDS movement: Bigoted Dishonest Shameful’
(Justice Amit, pg. 180)
