Anti-Zionists celebrate as Palestinians lose their jobs

I think this is quite a sad story. An Israeli company called SodaStream was the target of a BDS boycott due to having a factory in the Israeli settlement town Ma'ale Adumim.

This month the final product came off the line at the factory due to the boycott and it closed, resulting in hundreds of Palestinian workers being laid off.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/01/sodastream-lays-off-last-palestinian-workers-after-leaving-west-bank

The mad futility of this action is that the town where the factory was, Ma'ale Adumim, is pretty much agreed by everyone to be in the core areas on the West Bank that will go to Israel through land swaps in any comprehensive peace deal (that is, that all settlers will move into a consolidated block of land encompassing no more than about 5% of the West Bank and the Palestinians will get an equal amount of land from inside Israel's borders... both sides agreed with this in principle)

Why should Western BDS activists decide for these Palestinians that they know better? Why do those Palestinians who worked there not deserve their own autonomy and rights in deciding what they feel is appropriate?

“This is a clear-cut BDS victory against an odiously complicit Israeli company,” Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian activist and co-founder of the boycott movement, told the Financial Times.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f1b0ab5c-56d1-11e5-a28b-50226830d644.html

Interestingly, Electronic Intifada claimed the workers there were "enslaved" but managed to include this interesting snippet

M. confirmed Palestinian workers are currently paid “three or four times the salary we can get at thePalestinian Authority”

In the Palestinian West Bank the unemployment rate is about 30% and about 25% of the population live below the poverty line. A well-paid job and regular work at this sort of establishment would probably be a big deal for the families of these workers, and that they would really rely on that money coming in. To lose that job will probably be a devastating blow for those families, it's very sad :frown:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

BaconandSauce

5

I think the BDS movement deserve a pat on their backs for this.

Looks like their campaign is having a real effect

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 2

BeastOfSyracuse

OP

1

Original post by BaconandSauce

I think the BDS movement deserve a pat of their backs for this.

Looks like their campaign is having a real effect

It really is quite obnoxious, isn't it? They don't have a clue about the real world effects of their actions.

Generally Western "anti-Zionists" are quite ignorant about Israeli society and politics, they don't know much about its history or demographics. I was speaking to one who was ranting about how the Likud party is a party of white supremacy.

I pointed out that traditionally the Likud's base was the Mizrahi Jews who come from the Middle East countries like Iraq, Syria and Egypt. I mentioned that it is the Israeli Labour Party's base who are mostly white European Jews (pre the Soviet immigration wave of the 1980s/1990s). He didn't know how to respond, I suspect that even the existence of the Middle East Jews was quite confusing to him.

In this way they are getting involved in a conflict about which they know very little.

Reply 3

BaconandSauce

5

Original post by BeastOfSyracuse

It really is quite obnoxious,

It is.

People really have no idea how their politics actually effect those in the area in real terms

It does seem the issue is more about having a go Israel rather than making things better for the Palestinians.

Reply 4

cBay

15

I have no love for Israel but BDS is just like any sanctions a government has ever placed on another country. It's all about taking the moral high ground but in reality the only effect is worsening the living conditions for the people living in that country. Take North Korea for example.

Reply 5

BeastOfSyracuse

OP

1

Original post by cBay

I have no love for Israel but BDS is just like any sanctions a government has ever placed on another country. It's all about taking the moral high ground but in reality the only effect is worsening the living conditions for the people living in that country. Take North Korea for example.

I would agree that BDS does seem to be worsening the living conditions of the Paletsinians themselves, though I personally do believe sanctions can be a legitimate tool

I find it hard to disagree with you though because of your adorable otter avatar. Are't they just the cutest animals ever? So awesome when they lie on their back, floating in the water. But they are even cuter out of the water when their fur is dry. Look at this pic; the "d'aww" factor is turned all the way up to 11. Don't they just have the cutest curious temperament and such delightful little snouts?

Reply 6

anarchism101

17

"Kitten gets it" logic. It's the same essential argument used not just by opponents of every sanctions or boycotts policy, but also by opponents of minimum wage and workers' rights laws, trade unions, taxes and regulations on business, etc.

Original post by BeastOfSyracuse

The mad futility of this action is that the town where the factory was, Ma'ale Adumim, is pretty much agreed by everyone to be in the core areas on the West Bank that will go to Israel through land swaps in any comprehensive peace deal (that is, that all settlers will move into a consolidated block of land encompassing no more than about 5% of the West Bank and the Palestinians will get an equal amount of land from inside Israel's borders... both sides agreed with this in principle)

This is not "agreed by everyone". The Palestine Papers made it pretty clear that in the 2007-08 talks the Palestinians were unwilling to give up the Ma'ale Adumim area, and I see no evidence that that changed in the 2013-14 talks (and I very much doubt the PLO would have been willing to concede more to Netanyahu than they would to Olmert and Livni).

Why should Western BDS activists decide for these Palestinians that they know better?

Interesting that the particular BDS activist you quote after this is quite clearly described as Palestinian.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 7

admonit

10

Original post by BeastOfSyracuse

This month the final product came off the line at the factory due to the boycott and it closed,

It's according to BDS.

"SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum says the company did not leave the West Bank owing to pressure but because it needed more space. He says revenue has increased fivefold since 2007, and the new factory in Israel's southern Negev desert consolidated jobs from operations in the West Bank, China, Germany and northern Israel."
"An official in the prime minister's office also said the government had supported SodaStream's move with a grant worth approximately $7.5 million."
http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/03/27/471885452/when-500-palestinians-lose-their-jobs-at-sodastream-whos-to-blame

So SodaStream was encouraged by the Israeli government to move its facility to the south of Israel, where unemployment is high especially among bedouins.

"The SodaStream factory was built in a new industrial zone in the Negev administered by the Bedouin city of Rahat, the Jewish town of Lahavim and the Bnei Shimon Regional Council. Around 40 factories will be based in this industrial zone when it is fully developed, providing employment for hundreds of workers, including many Bedouins from nearby towns. A college and hospital are also being built."
http://honestreporting.com/why-bds-still-targets-sodastream

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 8

HanSoloLuck

2

Original post by BeastOfSyracuse

It really is quite obnoxious, isn't it? They don't have a clue about the real world effects of their actions.

Generally Western "anti-Zionists" are quite ignorant about Israeli society and politics, they don't know much about its history or demographics. I was speaking to one who was ranting about how the Likud party is a party of white supremacy.

I pointed out that traditionally the Likud's base was the Mizrahi Jews who come from the Middle East countries like Iraq, Syria and Egypt. I mentioned that it is the Israeli Labour Party's base who are mostly white European Jews (pre the Soviet immigration wave of the 1980s/1990s). He didn't know how to respond, I suspect that even the existence of the Middle East Jews was quite confusing to him.

In this way they are getting involved in a conflict about which they know very little.

It's actually quite a good tactic, if their goal was to create a swamp ignorant hatred towards the Jewish people.
When the Palestinians lose their jobs and end up living below the poverty line for the region, no doubt they will be looking for someone to blame, and the 'anti-zionists' will be there to direct the hatred right at Israel.

I'm not suggesting that education would solve this issue, even partially, if anything it would make it worse. Highly educated terrorists and terrorist sympathizers are much, much more dangerous.

It's a failure in reasoning and logic, not something an education can really fix. If the Jews really wanted to wipe out the Muslims they would have done it a long time ago, and they wouldn't need too stop at the West Bank or Gaza Strip.

Reply 9

username2228735

15

This is what BDS wanted. So, good for them!

Anti-Zionists celebrate as Palestinians lose their jobs

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